Prologue-

The door opened, just as the students were getting ready to leave. A girl suspiciously familiar to most of them, but with radical lavender locks that defied their expectations slipped in. She had eyes only for the teacher as she slipped in. The other students stopped looking at her as soon as they remember who it was, and remembered who it wasn’t.

“Sir, the Hokage sent me in. he said for you to place me in one of the groups.� He looked perturbed for a moment. After all, this wasn’t a common occurrence.

“Our groups are all even at the moment, I’m afraid-“

“The Hokage said that a group of four was permissible in my case…� Pale blue eyes glimmered forth from her pale skin. She was young, but her eyes…they were serious at the moment. There seemed to be something hiding behind them. Something that was lurking there, something positive, yet stifled. A serious modesty, but a seriousness that portrayed her in such a way that her modesty was placed as a barrier.

Iruka gave the room another glance. The jounins were in the back of the room, and all four had eyes on the girl. She was slight for frame, dressed in a familiar pattern to most, yet it was dark blue, with icy blue trim, icy blue that just about matched her eyes. Yet there was little about her eyes that was truly icy.

“Groups? Who is willing to accept a 4th member?�

There were a few moments left in silence before the silver haired one stepped forward. She knew his name- her sister rarely shut up about him. This wasn’t a god sign. Kurenai would have been preferable.

“I’ll take her.�

When she hesitated but a moment, Iruka gave her a shove, which she barely managed to turn into a graceful almost planned step. She stepped up to Kakashi and gave a little bow. “Sensei Kakashi…�

“You’re the one the Hokage is moving up early?�

“Yes…�

“Name?�

The girl looked up, brushing lavender hair out of her eyes briskly, blue eyes on him as she spoke softly. “Sumiko Haruna.�

He quirked an eyebrow, coming to the conclusion she had earlier, the instant she saw him. “This…will be interesting.�

That was all he had to say…Miko however knew she had a challenge ahead of her. Proving to jounin, genin, chuunin, and Hokage alike that she could handle this. That her technique was strong enough to be useful in combat. But she had more to prove than that.

It's too short for me to establish a proper critique of it, so I'll lurk for the moment. Grammar and punctuation seems fine, but there are some expressions I wasn't able to understand. Perhaps I've fallen behind times. ;]


A few errors that could have been easily spotted with proof-reading (maybe):

“Sir, the Hokage sent me in. he said for you to place me in one of the groups.� He looked perturbed for a moment. After all, this wasn’t a common occurrence.
A capital letter after a period seems to be conventional... :3

“The Hokage said that a group of four was permissible in my case…�
At the moment of speech, a group of four is permissible for the young ninja.

She was slight for frame, dressed in a familiar pattern to most, yet it was dark blue, with icy blue trim, icy blue that just about matched her eyes.
"yet it was dark blue, with icy blue trim - icy blue that just about matched her eyes."

It's too short to determine the personalities of the characters, so I can't say without doubt that the characters are behaving believably (both for Naruto characters and the OC). I generally avoid any fanfiction with OC(s) as they tend to be a one-way ticket to Mary-Sue disaster, but feel free to surprise me. :3

Yes, It's a prologue, it isn't supposed to be long. At least, I try not to have mine be. I do my best to keep them IC.

Thanks for the proofread. I always miss things like that... T_T

Don't worrry. Miko is a far cry from a Mary Sue. She has faults...


Chapter 1-

“Sasuke, Naruto, break it up. I’ve got someone I’d like you two to meet. I trust Sakura doesn’t need an introduction.�

Sasuke and Naruto turned as if on cue. They recognized her, that showed. They likely didn’t have a name for her fair face, half emotionless n expression. Of course, Sakura looked up as well. She was too stunned to steal Kakashi’s thunder however.

“Sumiko Haruna is going to be joining our group.�

The girl looked partially embarrassed, but mostly under control. However, her sister was much less calm. “What? But she’s too young! She’s a whole year younger!�

“The Hokage has seen fit for her to move up.� No way to really contest that now was there? Sakura still didn’t look too happy, but Naruto promptly distracter Miko from focusing on her sister’s feelings. “So, you’re Sakura’s little sister huh?�

Finally, the girl seemed to be lightening up. She gave him a nod and a soft smile. “Yes. Miko.�

“Naruto. And the brooding boy over there is-“

“Sasuke.�

Her eyes meant to look at him, without being intrusive, but somehow, they’re eyes met. She was a sensitive person. And just meeting his eyes, she could see a lurking pain there, one that Sakura had perhaps mentioned once or twice in her fan like ravings. But one thing Sakura would never understand was this: Blind devotion cannot heal all things- and what Miko saw in his eyes after simply a moment was one of those things. But try telling Sakura that…

She gave him a nod, not showing any outward signs of emotion to her sister. If her sister suddenly got the idea she was competition in any way, bad things would happen.

“So, Miko.� Kakashi broke the lying silence. “Show us your best jutsu. Let us have a feel for your strength…s…� blue eyes looked startled, but he received a nod.

“Al…right…�

She took a step back from the group, and closed her eyes, her fingers wove the first two signs slowly, and there was a chirping noise heard, as she gained in speed, there was more chirping. Her hands moved through the last three signs quicker than she could reliably count on. She relied on instinct to finish them for her. The chirping had combined to form a melody, and little dots of fire began to appear.

“FIRE SPARROW PHOENIX GUARD FADE TECHNIQUE�

The dots of fire formed themselves into birdlike shapes, flying a lap or so around the area before nosediving to the ground in front of their summoner. The droplets combined to form a flame that rose from the ground in the shape of a large tropical and extravagant bird. A phoenix stood there, waving blazing wings as a defense to protect her from some oncoming attack. Miko let the jutsu fall. While she was more than a little tired, seeing the faces of the audience she’d performed for gave her the strength to stand a little bit longer. Even Kakashi looked openly amused.

“Animal Jutsus…without an animal companion.�

“Yes sir. I form them out of the elements using a combination of Genjutsu and Ninjutsu. Ninjutsu forms the fire, and Genjutsu shapes it for me. The technique is much more effective than a stand alone illusion.�

Sakura couldn’t seem to believe her younger sister had done that, while Naruto seemed excited, and Sasuke merely looked amused. When Miko looked away, she no longe saw that Sasuke was still looking at her, studying her. How could an academy student come up with her own jutsu?

In truth, Miko simply had a lot of time and inspiration. Some of that she owed to people. The rest she owed to the animals and the mythology.

______

The group dispersed after that, for a short break. While Miko was still endeavoring to stand straight and still, it wasn’t easy. Energy had been drained through that technique, and the little bit of training they’d done afterwards. For all her strong points, she didn’t have a strong body composition, that was for sure.

Just as she felt she was going to collapse if she didn’t sit down soon, two pairs of hands pushed her onto a bench, firmly. And because of her current weak state, there was nothing she could do about it but sit. As she looked up, searching for the identity of her rough saviour (After all, she might have pushed herself further had he not intervened) she was a bit shocked to find it Sasuke. He didn’t say anything as he looked at her before coming around and sitting on the bench she was on. There were a few more moments of silence before he spoke.

“You exhausted yourself. Maybe not entirely, but you were definitely shaky. We hardly did anything.�

Miko aimed her head at the dirt speckled ground. “I showed off a little too much. I normally don’t combine those two jutsus…� At his funny look she paused to explain. “They are two separate techniques- Fire Sparrow Technique, and Phoenix Guard Technique. By adding the word fade I combined the jutsus. That is more draining than they’d be separately.�

He nodded, understanding, but clearly not approving of it. Such a shameful waste of energy. She knew that. But still, she sighed. That was how she worked. She gave her all, all the time, and it often tired her out.

“You need to build endurance.�

“And stamina. I know.�

Silence fell again. She knew why he withdrew into silence like this. She might not know exactly what the problem was, but she knew he’d been hurt somehow. The fire in his eyes was so strong, yet dormant. He had an aching passion, and it was tearing him up. He dwelled on it far to often to be free from it’s influence. It took her a while, but eventually she spoke.

“You hide a pain, don’t you? A scar, a challenge, a quest… I can see it in your eyes. I’m not going to pry about it Sasuke, really. I just wanted to ler you know…. If you need to talk to someone…I’m a good listener.�

He seemed shocked, but she gave him a quaint smile and slipped off the bench and disappeared down the street.

It took weeks before Sasuke approached her again. During training they were perfectly pleasant( well Miko was) and she didn’t bring up his pain again. They didn’t fight or argue, something she couldn’t say about the rest of the groups relations with him. Naruto and him reeked of bickering best friends, and Sakura seemed to annoy him, and she in turn was simply adoring.

Idly, she wondered why the girls insisted on being so attached to him, openly admiring him. He clearly didn’t like it. While she liked his strength, his level headedness, and his frank honesty, she didn’t fawn over him on sight. Perhaps, that was because her relationship with her sister was already sketchy. Sakura didn’t like being bested. And offending the other fan girls…that was just asking to be miserable. Besides. He didn’t like that attention.

Training for the day was over, and almost every muscle in her body was sore. Not to mention she was rather sticky with sweat, and could use a nice long drink. She slipped off to the edge of a body of water, sinking her head in the cold water and bringing it up rapidly, sending water flying in plenty of directions .As she took a seat on a rock and slipped off her shoes, she saw a shadow in the trees. She reached to the string around her neck, which supported a single kunai. A tug of the string and it’d be free, and flying toward the possible danger in the trees.

It wasn’t necessary. The shadow came out, revealing its identity to be Sasuke. She released the kunai and leaned in toward the water again to get her hair a little more wet. She did not speak, instead, she let him find a spot on a fallen tree branch. (Naruto had knocked it down earlier with an over zealous taijutsu) the water wrung out from her hair fell in quick droplets before Sasuke finally began to speak. He told his tale looking out over the water, telling of the treachery of his brother in killing his parents, and all the rest of his clan. He told, to the quiet Miko, of the struggle to figure out why his brother spared him, and the frustration, anger, and hatred that fueled his drive to excellence. When he finished, Miko paused, finishing off the braid she had worked her hair into, tying it off in that same sympathetic silence.

With that task complete, she turned sympathetic gentle blue eyes onto him. Simple condolences were portrayed simply from the light that danced in there. She was a highly emotional person, and simply knowing that he chose to confide in her caused her to become even more so. She didn’t cry, but it showed, clear on her face she felt his pain. She moved next to him, and rested a hand on his shoulder. If she wasn’t afraid he would find hugging a sign of pity, he would have done that.

He didn’t want pity. She wasn’t sure what he wanted. But…well, sympathy and pity were different things. She let her arm move into half of a hug, quietly consoling him, hopefully. She sat next to him now, staying in that position, watching the water flow beneath their feet. When she finally spoke…

“Life…doesn’t always make sense. It isn’t always fair either. But, you are strong. You will make it through this, just as you have been.�

She paused for a moment. “Thank you for confiding in me. I’m here, anytime you want to talk about it. I’m always accessible, if you need to vent, or simply talk to someone, about anything. I’m most certainly here if you want to get away from my sister and the fan club. I’m not going to go berserk next time I see you, or any time I see you. But I’ll be here.�

She gave a quiet nod and stood, ready to leave. Sasuke said nothing until she took a step forward to leave. He pulled her back down, a firm grasp on her elbow was used to do that. After a while, it slid down to her wrist and stayed there. Though Miko blushed a little bit, she said nothing otherwise. Until darkness began to close in around them, they stayed like that, in stony silence, but it wasn’t that stony was it? Brooding, and thoughtful, but not stony.

Feelings went under evaluation during this quiet. Both were comfortable at the moment, and while Miko was trying to figure him out, Sasuke was trying to figure himself out. Why did he come to her, and why did he keep her from leaving? While he thought, his hand slipped down into hers, causing the slight blush on her cheeks to grow brighter. It had to be how she treated him. She gave him his space, she respected him, and she didn’t fawn. Because she didn’t seek him out, it made him seek her out.

As she stood up to try to leave again, hearing her name called, she found herself yanked back down, and against him. Not entirely against him, but enough that their lips met.

Please don’t let anyone find us…

It wasn’t a long meeting, but it was a meeting nonetheless, and she still let herself go for a small amount of time, letting emotions flow from both sides. When the gentle embrace finally ended, both disappeared from the site, blushing at least a little bit from their tiny splurge.

Life was a tiny bit awkward after that. Not to the point where they couldn’t look at each other without blushing (it was like that for the little while though) No, but every once in a while, when no one else was watching there would be a secret smile shared. Simple, sweet, and totally oblivious. If anyone saw those private moments, Miko would have a price on her head.

Speaking of private moments, the blushing stopped after the second time they got together, away from the rest of the world. A quiet meeting outside, by the river again degenerated yet again. But was it truly degeneration, or was it rising to another level of connection? She loved those moments where neither feared the retribution of another living soul, only enjoyed each other’s company.

She should have known it wouldn’t last very long.

Rumors went around the village. And they went fast. This one, thankfully, had nothing to do with them. But it had everything to do with Sasuke. Rumors were, Sasuke’s brother had been seen in the village. When the rumor hit her ears, Miko slipped out of her family meal, excusing herself quietly, saying she had forgotten something at the training grounds. She checked there first. Sasuke wasn’t there. Perhaps, he was taking a break.

As unlikely as that is…

She rushed next to his place, knocking on the door politely. For once, the girl was wearing an honest skirt, one that grazed the floor as she walked. Her top was simple, a sweater. It was starting to get cold here, but she was adjusting to the fall temperatures fairly easily. She opened the door quietly.

“Sasuke?�

No answer, the room was dark. She stepped inside, and started looking around. “Sasuke. I heard the rumors… and came to try…� She peeked around a corner. No shinobi. “…to keep you from reacting too quickly….� After looking through the entire place, she sighed exasperated and leaned against a wall. “…but, it looks like I’m too late….�

A shadow moved out of the corner of her eye, and Miko moved forward. “Or maybe I’m not…� the shadow kept jumping through the darkness, and Miko kept following. “Sasuke, come on. Stop running from me.� It moved like Sasuke did, if not quicker. It had to be him, else why was it in his home?

“Sasuke!� The shadow disappeared into a room, and she sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head. Disgusted, no. Disappointed, maybe a tiny bit. Amused and relieved? Greatly. She even gave a little laugh. “Alright, Alright Sasuke…I’ll go…. You know where to find me, if you feel like talking… I’m always here, you know that.� Perhaps, he didn’t want to speak right now… She moved back to the light pouring in from the partially open door. After all, their relationship was close, but not close to the point where they could be called a true couple.

She managed to get a foot out the door before she found both her wrist grabbed, and her whole body yanked back into the shadows. She didn’t have even a chance to make more than a little noise of surprise before there was a connection with the back of her head. The first didn’t knock her out, but the second connection with the base of her skull turned the lights out.

The sound of wind rustling through tree branch leaves woke her. There wasn’t much underneath her, nor was there much above her, and there was absolutely nothing side to side. She opened her eyes, and moved her arms out to try to push off the ground, only to hit air. That wasn’t a good sign. Yet something was supporting her. Long, skinny…earthy smell…. Tree branch. She opened her eyes, a little noise escaping as she saw she was totally correct. The ground was a good 10, feet below her. She was almost dizzy.

A cold voice cut through the air, sharper than the kunai around her neck. Why was that still there? “Don’t think of escaping if you wish to live. We’ll know if you try.�

She looked to the side a little bit, and saw, two figures. Neither were looking at her, and she could only see the top of their heads from here. One had an odd skin color ,and the other had dark hair. She closed her eyes, answering quietly. “A-Alright…�

They didn’t speak to her again. It was at least two hours before she even thought of moving, so serious had the voice been when it spoke. She kept her thoughts light, or tried to, until the unforgiving contour of the tree branch began to make her uncomfortable. If she could just be on her back instead, she’d be much more settled. Maybe even able to sleep. It wasn’t until the discomfort starting making it harder to breathe that she tried the rearrangement. She managed the first part okay, but the second part sent her tumbling over the edge to the ground, head over.

Something pulled tight and her descent was halted, with an oomf. The noise drew the attention of her captors, and immediately, Miko began protesting her innocence.

“I-I wasn’t trying to escape, really! I just wanted to move over onto my back. The t-tree branch was starting to make it hard to breathe in that position so I was-�

Something hit her feet and she went spinning in a circle, only to have her arm grabbed to stop it. The one with the oddish skin tone was in front of her, eying her intently. He let her go then walked around the other side, so dangling naturally from a rope that was secured, one end to her waist, one end to the tree branch she’d been on. She hadn’t noticed it was there at all. That must have been what they meant by they’d know.

“And why should we believe you?�

The cord around her neck was dangling out now, the kunai glittering in the sun. The man noticed and sneered at her. “Do you even know who I am?� She tried not to look in his eyes, but she ended up doing so anyway. Her eyes were locked on him as she spoke, slowly, as if repeating what she’d been told, but he hadn’t spoken this.

“You’ve done many things. Water, plenty of water…Killed many people,…and are willing to kill again. You fear little, you live for the thrills life has to offer, and consider the rush of battle and the superior feeling of killing someone to be among…�

She looked away, unable to keep looking at him any longer while she finished. “…the finer things in life…� He seemed amused. That was clear by the laugh she got. “The girls a telepath, now she’s got to go.� Miko’s expression suddenly turned panicked. It grew worse as a blade came out, a blade she’d seen in his eyes. He’d killed for that blade. He’d killed with that blade. He sought to kill again with it.

Finally the other one spoke now. “She’s no mind reader. She’s simply intuitive. Likely, she’s reading the story your eyes tell. It’s not a talent only she has. And it’s not something that can be trained. It’s instinct, and it’s more of a burden to her than you, Kisame. Put it away…�

Kisame stepped away, and let the other male approach. This was the one who’d spoken earlier, and Miko turned her head away. He knew what she could do, and he wanted her to the same to him. Likely ,he wanted her to understand, as she now did Kisame, what he was capable of, and the kind of person he was. She didn’t want to know. He stood in front of her while she closed her eyes. There were a few moment before he spoke, turning her head to face him.

“Look at me, or you’ll regret it, girl.�

She couldn’t fight that kind of compelling. Her eyes opened, and met red ones. Red ones that were detailed in different ways than other. Immediately, her body began to tremble. She didn’t want to read those eyes.

“Power…earned at a great price…intrigue, mystery. You’ve committed a great evil, but have gained great power for it. Many fear you, and this you know. You appear heartless nad unreachable, but that only adds to your appeal and mystique. People fear you ,but want to be on your good side none the less. Only one person you really have any respect for…the only person who could match you, should he be willing to sacrifice enough. .� She stopped, gasped and looked away. Sasuke…she saw Sasuke. No more… No more…

“Done are we? Don’t like what you’re seeing?�

Miko let her head slump. The man’s eyes wandered to the kunai dangling from around her neck, as had Kisame’s. The blue skinned man laughed. “Itachi, what are we going to do with her anyway? There isn’t much of a purpose to carting her around. Unless you want some companionship of a different kind than I can provide.�

“Forget it. The girl isn’t your toy.�

“Hmph.�

“She knows my brother. And well enough he’d let her know how to get in the house without getting hurt. She sidestepped the door trap I’d set up, easily. He knows her, and he’ll come after her. Eventually…�

“And in the meantime?�

“We keep her around. I don’t feel she’ll pose much of a problem.�

“Good point. This one would probably tie herself up. Maybe more.�

“…�

Miko was a bit red but there was no use trying to climb back to the tree now was there? She couldn’t pull herself up well enough without a lot of movement, and that’d seem like an escape. That was the last impression she’d want to give to these two men. So she hung there, dangled around her stomach and swaying a little with the tiniest effort. Until one’s voice called out. “Get over here if you wish to have anything in your stomach.�

Gulping, she hung for a little longer before without thinking clearly, she pulled the kunai-pendant off her neck, leaned up and cut the rope. Her landing was graceful, but her journey over to the food was quiet and solemn. Before taking anything from them, she placed her only weapon where it was out of her reach, and where they could see it, and reach it.

Both eyed it, but gave no mention of the item. She could have gotten away. She could have escaped, but until prompted to free herself, she didn’t. Why? Simple enough reason. Miko wasn’t a fool. These two could and would kill her if she endangered them in any way. Best not to give them the reason. And so, the girl closed her eyes, nibbling quietly on the food given her, then setting her bowl aside. She moved to the tree she’d been hung from, and started, in all honesty, to tie herself back up. One of them laughed told her to just sit. She complied, sitting against the tree with her eyes closed till she felt the night fall. Felt the cold rush in pleasantly, and felt the world go to sleep. Meditation to steady herself was done. She needed to be in control of herself right now- that was about the only thing she could control…

Kisame eyed her supsiciously after too long. "She'll run away while we sleep."

"I don't think she will. She knows we'll catch her, and probably kill her."

He didn't look convinced. "At least tie her to something, or I'll make sure she can't run away." And his methods of thaat was obvious. itachi didn't respond to that, merely standing. He walked past her, the air he displaced moved her hair, but she didn't move or even flinch. The tree shook as he undid the rope. That, made her open her eyes, and look at him with a question that she didn't voice. The query stayed in her eyes only a moment before it faded and she looked away from him.

"Wrist."

Without hesitation she handed it to him. the cord was looped around pulled tight. Tight enough she winced. But it wasn't cutting off circulation. The other end... Miko lost track of the other end.All she knew was there was tension on the line attached to her. She heard conversation that began with the word 'there' but that was all.

Night fell, the fire went out, and she slept. It wasn't a pleasant sleep, as she was upright, but it was a sleep. A short sleep, one to be disturbed in the morning.

Chapter 5

The next day wasn’t exactly much more pleasant. After being kicked awake and being laden down with a few more aggressive threat should she try anything stupid (the ex water shinobi really wasn’t understanding that wasn’t like her was he?) she had then had her wrists looped together and she’d been thrown over his shoulder like a common bundle of rugs or a sack of potatoes. It was rather demeaning. But throughout it all, Miko was practically silent. Only when prompted for an answer did she speak and even then it was a mere “Yes sir� or a drab “No sir.� She wasn’t giving hi ma chance to find fault with her, or giving him a reason to carry out his threat to separate her legs from her body if she tried to run. After all the conformity, did she still have to be carried around like a rag doll?

Apparently, the answer to that was yes.

They took off, at a speed that Miko could only hope she would someday be able to accomplish herself. On her own, she was rather fast. But only for short periods of time. She didn’t have endurance. A fault that in some cases, she was glad she had. Just as she was glad for all her other faults. After all, if she were perfect, what would there be to improve upon?

These were the thoughts that occupied her mind as first the minutes, then the hours seemed to pass by. They stopped on occasion and she was sat down for a few minutes at a time, then she was whisked up and off again. She started to lose track of the time, only knowing morning from night fall by the animals she heard.

It was during one such pause (so short they didn’t even set her down) that she heard the noise in the bushes. First the noise, than the pink hair. Her expression lit up before she could stop it. Sakura was here. Green eyes peeked out of the bush to confirm, and Miko promptly let her expression fall back to neutral. But too late. Though Kisame hadn’t seen, Itachi had, and shortly, he was next to the bush, peering within. But Sakura wasn’t there. He turned as if to question her, but Kisame whipped around to look at him.

“Did you see that silver that dashed behind that tree? It wasn’t any animal, I’ll tell you that.�

“Put her down and we’ll go look.�

While their attention was such occupied, a figure dropped, suspended by a rope, quietly out of the tree. Miko let her expression light up again. “Sakura,� she whispered softly. “Tell me you didn’t come alone.� Her sister almost looked hurt.

“Of course I didn’t!�

Miko breathed a sigh of relief. “Gooood. Now, tell me you didn’t bring Sasuke.� Her sister didn’t have a response to that. Miko groaned, and that noise would have brought her captors attention over there had not an angry yell drew it aside.

The one person she didn’t want to be here, to make an already high emotion situation worse was standing on a branch, not very happy looking at all, believe it or not. As someone who’d seen Sasuke happy, this was just about as polar opposite as he could get from it.

Her captors looked mostly amused. Sakura hurried to shimmy up the rope, as Kisame and Itachi moved back. Miko stood, knowing it was better to stand than be yanked to her feet. As it was, neither touched her for the moment.

“Little brother. Nice to see you again.� His voice lacked true emotion. Miko didn’t need her talent to know that this wasn’t going to be pretty. Not in the least. Infact, this was about to get downright scary.

There was silence above her, on every side of her. Silence, true and dead silence. Finally, someone spoke. It took her a moment to realize completely it had been Sasuke. The voice was low, and brimming with controlled emotion.

“Let her go.�

She felt a hand touch down on her shoulder, but that was all for now. A glance to Kisame told her it wasn’t him. And Sakura was in the tree…

“I don’t believe I will. You see, I rather like having something that you have an attachment to. Don’t try to lie to me. She has some kind of value to you, and I intend to find out what it is.�

The girl in question bit her lip gently. This wasn’t good.

“Why does it matter to you? Just let her go!� There was a thud as Sasuke hit the ground. Rapidly, Miko was yanked from Itachi’s side to directly in front of him. There was a hand on each shoulder, and they slid down to grip her upper arm. Her body froze. Best not to move too much at the moment. Or she would be risking her life.

“It matters to me, Sasuke. And just because your getting so agitated, I know I’ve hit a soft spot. A spot that I assure you…� The hands on her arms squeezed hard enough that she visibly winced. “I’ll be holding on to.�

Her eyes were closed, but she felt the lunge. Or rather, she felt the lunge go right past her. Itachi had moved, sidestepping and taking her with him. Her eyes she kept shut. A string of words came out of Sasuke’s mouth, most of them vile, and not good to repeat. And all of them aimed at the man behind her, who was simply pulling her closer with each insult thrown his way.

There was hot breath on her cheek. Part of her wished to open her eyes. The rest of her decided she didn’t want to know that bad. There was more than breath now, something touching, just grazing against her cheek. As she realized what it was, Miko turned a brilliant scarlet. It didn’t take long before she felt the ground leave, and a much thinner and less stable footing was thrust beneath her feet. Itachi managed to get a good grip on the tree limb beneath her, but Miko had to struggle for a moment or so. Another precense landed on the branch, throwing her off balance again, one of her captors, catching her and tossing her over their shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll take…good care of her.�

A final scream…no…two final screams echoed and disappeared.

Chapter 7

Miko was dead silent. Completely and totally. Again, minutes turned to hours. There wasn’t much said between her captors either. They hardly spoke to her or to each other until after the fire that night had been put out, and Kisame had fallen asleep. Miko had been almost there herself, but when a hsaod well in front of the moonlight, she opened her eyes.

“What is your name?�

She spoke quietly, her voice a little hoarse from disuse most of the day. “Sumiko Haruna. Or just plain Miko…� Then silence again. Itachi crouched down, looking her in the eyes carefully and with an intent purpose. She didn’t return the favor. She didn’t want to see that again.

“Why does he care?�

There was a pause before she answered. “I…understand him. He understands me…we are…friends.�

He gave a bit of a laugh, which Miko turned away at. “No one gets that angry over a mere friend. I’ll be holding onto you, simply because I’ve got something he wants, other than revenge. Not to mention, I like knowing I’ve got something over on him.�

If that was the case, why didn’t he kill her now? Simple logic she thought as she looked over the facts. He can use me to torture Sasuke more when I’m alive. He’s already taken people from him by killing. However, having someone alive, but Itachi’s prisoner is another level of torture. Higher or lower perhaps is the question. The male said nothing more, simply standing and walking off again, leaving Miko to sleep. A short interlude indeed, but one she would not be soon to forget.