A/N: No flames about OOC'ness please.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

I was sitting on the high cliff, underneath the single willow tree just outside Konoha, as I always did at sunset. I was thinking about something that bugged me especially badly these last few days.

Flashback

I was sent out along with Naruto and Sakura, under Kakashi's guidance. Sasuke was in hospital because of overuse of his chakra, and he knew nothing about our mission.

The ANBU had finally found traces of the most famous Uchiha prodigy to date: Itachi. I had heard many rumours of him, along with the one about him killing his entire clan safe for that annoying Duck-Butt, Sasuke.

Even though I knew it was a monstrous act to commit so many murders in one night, I couldn't help but somehow feel sorry for Itachi. How does one live after commiting such a crime?

Kakashi told me and my team mates all about the Akatsuki then, and about some of the members that Konoha had managed to find traces of. Even though I didn't admit it out loud, they seemed fascinating, and I had the urge to join them just to know what it was like.

While all of us were off-guard, an exploding tag kunai had found its way through the trees and onto the branch we were sitting on. I had managed to get away just in time and escape with nothing more than a few burn wounds, and after a few minutes I knew that the others were unharmed, as well.

During our fight with Itachi, I took my time in admiring his features. There was nothing wrong with looking at a S-rank missing nin, right? Nothing wrong with thinking about his gorgeous features during the fight, either, right? Or trying to come up with something cool to say while my life was on the line every second?

Finally he fled for some reason, and the four of us split up to try and find him. I was a considerable distance from my team mates, and hidden among the trees, when I saw a blur of black and red, and he was standing in front of me.

Before I could cry out to the others, he pressed a kunai to the back of my neck with one hand, and his forefinger softly to my lips with the other, causing a lump to form in my throat. I gulped uncomfortably and stared into his red eyes. I was afraid in a way I have never been in my entire life.

Suddenly he started leaning forward and several thoughts came to me at once: was he trying to get the perfect angle with which to cut my head off? Was he just trying to get comfortable to grip my head properly and snap it off instead?

I flinched with surprise when he simply breathed into my ear, "You will hear from me again, Naresome Yume," before disappearing with a flutter of crows. Seconds later my team mates found me.

Flashback Ends

I started rocking backwards and forwards, hugging my legs. It's been two months since that day, but I still remembered every detail of it: most of all his smooth, husky voice and his warm breath to my ear.

I cringed without really knowing it. Was I in love with one of the most dangerous people on the face of the earth?

The last rays of light disappeared behind the horizon, but I had no desire to get up and go home. No one would miss me, anyway. My elder brother was out on a mission with my father, and my mother didn't care where I went as long as I was home by midnight.

I got up and walked into the forest. I needed time away from everything; I could see the whole village from my cliff, and I didn't want to. I needed complete darkness, where nothing could get to me, while I resolved the issue at hand.

I can't go falling in love with a S-rank wanted criminal! What was I thinking? He killed his entire clan, for goodness' sake! For all I knew, he would snap my neck if I just looked at him the wrong way. I whined loudly and clutched at my hair.

"What is wrong with me?" I cried. No one would hear me; I was too deep in the forest.

"I was not under the impression there was anything wrong with you …"

I flinched, my fingers still tangled in my hair. I knew that voice. I knew it so well it hurt. I turned around really slowly, hoping that, when my eyes rested on the direction the voice came from, there wouldn't be anything, that it would just have been my imagination.

My breath caught and a great big lump formed in my throat. Illuminated only by the faint moonlight, sitting atop a large boulder, none other than Uchiha Itachi leaned against the trunk of a nearby tree, one of his knees up and his elbow resting on it. He was silhouetted, but his Sharingan eyes were brightly illuminated and sent jolts of fear through me.

"You might want to let go of your hair, you're starting to bleed," he said in that smooth, husky voice that set my head spinning and my legs turning to jelly. I let out a shaky breath and lowered my hands from my hair, staring at him.

"What are you—why are you here?" I breathed, clearing my throat.

"Did I not tell you that you will hear from me again?" he asked smoothly. My breath caught again. He chuckled, "Do not be so tense. I have no intention of hurting you."

"That's kind of hard to believe, considering your—ahem—history," I said, letting out a shaky, uncertain laugh.

I heard the whisper of the wind and Itachi was standing in front of me, his mouth to my ear again. I couldn't pull away or scream for help. I wondered if he had cast a paralyzing technique on me.

"Come away with me."

"W-what?" I stuttered, wondering if I had heard wrong.

My breath caught once more when he ran the tips of his fingers over my jaw-line and forced me to look him in the eyes. His Sharingan eyes faded into an onyx colour similar yet so different from Duck-Butt Sasuke's. Sasuke's were simply filled with hatred. Itachi's were somehow warm and comforting and I felt myself getting lost in them for a moment.

"Come away with me," he repeated in a whisper, just loud enough so I could hear.

"I don't—I don't understand," I said.

"Leave this village and come with me to Akatsuki," he said, and I felt my heart clench and my stomach squirm, "I have been watching you. You do not want to be here. You do not belong here. The people of this village are ignorant, and they often do not appreciate what is right in front of them. I appreciate what is in front of me."

My stomach started aching with butterflies as he leaned in and softly pressed his lips to mine. It was a brief touch, and I felt myself melting in his hold when he pulled away again.

"I will go with you," I whispered.