Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Time to Burn

A/N: I usually put my notes at the end of the story but I would like for you to listen to the song "Time to Burn" by The Rasmus. (I own nothing, credit goes to them, not me)

This story was inspired by this song so if you listen to it before reading the story, you can see where my mind was going with this. It is a beautiful song and it fits Itachi's internal struggle perfectly.

I am leaving this as a one-shot but depending on reviews I might add to it. Please let me know if you could see this story going any further?

Anyways, enjoy the story… and please review.

Smoke filled the surrounding field. There were large craters of missing rockbed beneath his feet.

There had been a battle here not that long ago.

The dark hooded figure cast his senses out to form a radius around him to seek all living lifeforms.

There was a spark of life about a mile south; the chakra signature was faint but at least he could pinpoint its exact location.

The shear destruction of the area made him curious as to who fought here.

His sandals barely disturbed the earth beneath him as he followed the path to the faint chakra signature that was before him.

The man arrived in a clearing that was decimated and felled trees lay everywhere.

He took in everything that he saw around the young girl covered in blood. There were bodies all around, the faint traces of a strong genjutsu still hovered around the area and the smell of death lay around him. What he imagined to be her katana lay a couple feet from her, and it was still dripping with what looked like fresh blood.

He noted that there was a severe wound on the girls back that was spilling crimson blood all around her.

She would die if he didn't help her, but what was she to him?- A kunoichi that had battled some rogue shinobi and he had managed to cross the path of the aftermath… that's all that she was…

He took a step forward and came up close to her, but still well out of striking distance.

His eyes memorized every detail about the kunoichi that lay dying on the ground.

She let out a groan of pain and then slowly opened her eyes.

He looked straight into the same green eyes of the girl who was supposed to have been his brother's teammate. The shock of pink hair triggered all the memories of watching his little brother train from afar.

She wasn't supposed to be ANBU. She had been weak, last time that he saw her. She was the same as all the other girls in the village, hopelessly infatuated with his younger brother. There had been times that he heard his own brother call her an annoyance himself. Could this be the same girl?

He thought about the destruction that he had witnessed in the last 2 miles.

Could this girl have been capable of doing so much damage by herself?

She continued to look at him and kept a steady gaze on his own crimson Sharingan.

He knew that she was losing a lot of blood from the wound on her back. It must have been a pretty strong hit to pierce ANBU armor.

She was going to pass out any minute but she tried her hardest to stay conscious. Her hands came up and she started performing a series of complicated hand seals.

He immediately recognized those seals and lunged to prevent her from doing the last one.

He was Uchiha Itachi and he knew about this self-destruction jutsu.

Only high-ranking ANBU officers were taught this in case they were captured, or as a last resort when absolutely outnumbered and with no possibility of beating an S-ranked criminal like himself.

As he lunged at her, he pinned her hands, one over her head and the other near her hip.

She groaned as her wounded back hit the ground, but still said nothing.

He had somehow managed to look directly at her and was able to cast a strong genjutsu to knock her out.

Her limp body stopped fighting and lay still beneath him.

It had been a long time since he had felt the warmth of a woman and her soft body lay pressed up against his, causing certain thoughts to invade his mind in an instant.

He cleared those thoughts away and quickly picked her up and disappeared into the forest to look for a place to set her down and treat her wounds.

He found a large cave that twisted and turned in the darkness that emitted no chakra signatures.

As he took the unconscious kunoichi into the depths of the cave he noticed her delicate features, she had a soft jaw line, delicate eyebrows, eyelashes that fanned and framed her eyes. He remembered those green eyes that dared to stare straight into his Sharingan as she accepted her death and would die for her village as she took him out, along with him and everyone and everything in a 50 yard radius. He continued to study her soft lips and almost had the urge to touch them.

He thought what on earth possessed him to do what he was about to do.

Uchiha Itachi gently laid the girl down and carefully removed her armor. He placed all of her ANBU supplies and weapons near a corner of the cave and he took out his water bottle and cleaned out the wound. Once it was cleaned to his satisfaction, he noticed that it would not stop bleeding and he did the only thing that he could think of to save this woman's life.

He took out his kunai and used a small katon jutsu to sterilize it and heat it up.

Itachi was glad that she was unconscious but she still managed to wriggle in pain as he seared the skin closed and stopped the bleeding the only way that he was able to.

When he was done, he took out some bandages from her pack and a burn salve that he found. He applied the salve and wrapped her wound as she continued to sleep under the effects of the genjutsu. The blood had stopped and she now lay quivering on her side, yet still asleep.

He thought about leaving her then.

She was ANBU, she could take care of herself. He knew what it took to be part of the elite group of individuals that donned masks to hide their features and took the most difficult missions for the sake of the village.

Something, however, pulled him back to where he sat and he continued to watch her.

He was analyzing the destruction and magnitude of the power needed to cause the damage that he had witnessed. This girl intrigued him, and maybe that is why he took off his robe and placed it on her sleeping form.

That night he noticed that she must have started to develop a fever and he knew that she would be in trouble if she didn't wake up soon. Itachi thought to himself about how he could take her to the nearest hospital… but that was in Konoha… He couldn't go back there... Not anymore.

That was a life that he had willingly given up in hopes of saving his little brother. He gave everything that he was, stood for, and loved for Konohagakure, yet he would never be welcomed within its walls ever again.

What should he do with this young woman?

He laid some traps and placed a protection seal around her as he headed outside to go to the spring that he saw on his way in to get more water.

In his hands he carried his own water bottle and the pink haired woman's.

Itachi maintained his senses alert and knew that she was still asleep within the cave.

On his way back to the cave, he looked around and found some herbs that would help with fever and pain. He also took some firewood and was able to capture a wild hare for dinner.

There was no reason to fear this young woman. She was unconscious and had lost a lot of blood. He felt that her chakra was low and would take time to restore naturally. He didn't know much about her but he was careful in his handle with her person.

When he got back to their camp, the woman still laid asleep on the ground but she snuggled into his robes and looked very much at peace. The tea with the medicinal herbs was brewed and he gave her small sips every couple of minutes.

The small campfire allowed for some light and heat in the deep, dark cave and it only seemed to enhance how fragile this woman looked.

He somehow stayed and cared for this pink haired woman who meant nothing to him other than being the teammate of his younger brother.

In his mind he heard the voice of his mother say to him, "Son, she is part of our village. The village that we swore to protect. You need to help her, even if she doesn't know your true allegiance."

Itachi sighed and went to check on her again before daybreak.

The next day he continued to care for her. During the worst of her fever she became restless, so he took her in his arms and when his fingers moved a stray lock of hair from her face she murmured, "Please… stay…"

He placed her down again and tried not to think about what her words meant.

Surely they were not meant for him, maybe they were for his brother, maybe for a lover that she had in Konoha?

That night he saw her shivering even though he had left his cloak around her small body.

While he knew that it was a bad idea, he went to the side of the sleeping woman and wrapped his arms around her. She stilled as his warmth seeped into her and he heard her sigh in contentment.

His Sharingan memorized every detail, every movement, every breath that the young woman took as if it would be the very last thing that he saw.

That night, the moonlight over the top of a crevice in the cave was the only witness to the gentle kiss he placed on her cheek as she fell into a deeper sleep.

When the young woman opened her eyes the next morning, she was looking across a small fire where the one and only Uchiha Itachi sat silently looking back at her.

There was an incredible pain in her back and she felt a bit weak and out of chakra.

She could make a run for it and probably get 5 feet away before he killed her, or she could wait and see what the infamous Uchiha did next.

He looked at her for several more moments and then said, "You were injured, I closed the wound as best I could. The herbs to the tea I have given you are next to the cup, so you could check them yourself. You have been asleep for the last 3 days. There is food in that sack and your water bottle has been refilled."

He continued to study the emotions passing through the young kunoichi's face as she opened her mouth to say something but found that she either lacked the energy, or the ability to speak to him, after the shock of what he had just insinuated.

Uchiha Itachi had just nursed her back to health and protected her for the last 3 days while she laid unconscious.

The pink haired woman suddenly found her voice and whispered, "Thank you."

He was torn and so was she. Neither was willing to acknowledge what had just happened in that cave so the S-class missing nin from Konoha stood up picked up her supply bag and threw it near her as he turned to walk away. His robe still lay around the woman, but he made no move to get it from her.

She wanted to ask why? Why... had he helped her out and... well.. she couldn't really think straight as she held onto his robe as if it were her lifeline.

Her curiosity was begging her to tell him to wait and ask him to stay with her a bit longer, but she held her tongue.

He was a member of Akatsuki, the black robe with red clouds that was in her grasp claimed him to be... She couldn't let her guard down with him around.

The elder Uchiha walked outside the cave and sighed as he made his way back to the forest.

His thoughts kept going back to the woman who he left behind in that cave. Sure she was awake and should be able to care for herself until she regained enough chakra, but her sleeping face kept interrupting his thoughts. The way that she unconsciously curled into his body seeking the warmth that his arms provided was something that he would never forget. Her pink soft lips flashed before his eyes as he remembered how he managed to stop himself from taking a taste when she laid her head on his shoulder and placed her hands on his chest, as she drifted off to a deeper sleep the night before.

He continued to travel in the opposite direction and that night, he laid underneath the stars and thought of his village and how things could have been different for him and his brother had his clan and the elders of the village chosen a different path.

He knew that he was sick and would die soon. The years of going without any medical intervention had taken a toll on his body, but his sheer will made up for it as he continued to pose as the ruthless killer that everyone thought him to be. His only goal was to see his little brother once more. Itachi was just waiting for Sasuke to find him and finally give him the peace that he desperately sought.

There was no way that he could think of what life he could have, no… should have had.

Could he have had a woman to share his life with? To have his children? To love?

No, he had burned that bridge a long time ago and there was no going back to that.

He had irrevocably given up that right to that kind of life on that fateful night.

All he had now was his memories and the haunting green gaze of a beautiful pink haired kunoichi that had found the strength to want to sacrifice herself in defense of her village and loved ones. The same kunoichi who curled up to him in her sleep and sought comfort in his arms.

She should be on her way to Konoha by now and would have reached at least the closest outpost.

She could have her injury properly looked over and hopefully someone could heal that horrendous scar that now marred her beautifully soft skin.

The missing nin took off in the direction of the cave after sunrise to check if she was ok and had indeed left to seek help.

When he arrived he was surprised to see her sitting down in a meditative position near the fire. She opened her eyes to look at his approaching figure.

Their eyes locked for a second and when he turned to leave, she whispered, "Please… Stay…"

Her words struck his heart and he stilled immediately but managed to turn around after a couple of heartbeats.

He stared at her, his Sharingan blazing and said, "Why did you not leave?"
She responded, "Why did you come back?"

They both said nothing but continued to study each other.

She broke her gaze first and looked down at her hands.

He took a step forward and stopped to gauge her reaction.

A part of him wanted to go and another part wanted him to stay.

She continued to look down and she said, "Uchiha-san… Thank you for saving me… If you would allow me to repay you for your troubles…"
He looked at her and said in a cold voice, "I don't need your money and you owe me nothing."

She looked up at him, eyes full of wonder, fear, awe and stinging with unshed tears.

He observed her once more and she said, "You could have left me to die, or finish the last seal. You might have gotten away… Please… I don't understand your actions but I… I am grateful for them nonetheless. I think that I somehow felt that you were ill when you must have touched me to bring me here. I am a medic nin and have the ability to feel other's medical needs by a single touch."

The woman allowed the information that she had just said to sink in as she said, "Please allow me to heal you this once… and… I can feel that I have settled my debt to you. I will make sure that I don't mention your involvement at all."

Itachi shook his head and said, "My fate has been decided by the gods and if this is their punishment I must accept it and bear it."

The kunoichi sighed and said, "And if the gods deemed for you to meet me and save my life so my actions could be a form of payment for your deed? This could be a necessary course for you to live long enough to…"

She wasn't able to finish her sentence because he had her pinned to the floor, his face hovering over her.

'Live long enough' he didn't need for her to finish that sentence but it was as if something snapped inside him, as if this was a sign that he needed. Could he allow himself this, so he was able to live long enough to give his brother the closure that he needed?

She still managed to look directly into the crimson of the Sharingan and Itachi lost control for a fraction of a second as his will crumbled as he gazed into those deep green eyes that stared back at him.

He never had felt this way before and he slowly closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of the woman that lay beneath him.

Her breath hitched as she took in his expression. Uchiha Itachi looked vulnerable, he looked lost for a second. She couldn't believe that he was allowing her to heal him. There was a feeling that she couldn't describe building inside of her, she wanted to place her hands on his chest, but he kept his hands over hers. She slowly let her chakra flow into him through their intertwined hands and began to heal the damage to his internal organs.

There was so much damage that she wondered how this man could even stay upright. She was amazed by his will to stay alive, even with the damage that he carried internally. Her compassion towards anyone that was ill or injured won out and she pushed back the fear that she had for this man. She knew that he was an S-ranked criminal that was said to have killed his clan in one night... yet his actions here clashed with what she had thought of him to be in her mind. He had cared for her and protected her. She concentrated her healing chakra at his center and she felt no malice or an aura of hate surrounding his heart, she felt resignation, guilt, sadness, and love. Yes, she felt it there and it startled her.

She finished healing him as best she could and then withdrew her chakra and stayed absolutely still as he opened his eyes once more.

This time they were not the crimson of the Sharingan but the same onyx color that belonged to her estranged teammate Sasuke.

His eyes somehow softened and he took one last look at her as he leaned into her ear and said, "I wish things could have been different and we could have met under different circumstances. Thank you…"

With those words he breathed into her neck and caught her lips as she gasped.

His kiss was soft and gentle, full of an unsaid emotion that neither could have guessed at that time.

She suddenly kissed him back and when she tangled her fingers into his hair and let out a shaky breath he was lost in the depths of her green eyes.

His own fingers tangled into the pink locks and he kissed her again but with a deeper urgency and passion that he didn't even know that he possessed.

She softly moaned into his kiss and he broke the kiss to leave small little kisses and bites along her neck to her collar.

She groaned out, "Itachi…" as he held her close to his body and made sure that she could feel what she was doing to him.

He suddenly remembered why he couldn't take this path, how this road had been closed to him because of the actions and orders that he followed.

He breathed into her neck and said almost defeated, "I can't… I shouldn't… I don't deserve this…"

She pulled his face to hers and whispered, "Please… stay… "

He kissed her as if she were made of porcelain and said, "I can't… put you in danger… because of my past… Forgive me…"

With those words he disappeared from the cave and ran at unimaginable speeds in the opposite directions of the pink haired woman that he had in his arms seconds prior.

The young kunoichi sat up and touched her lips and called out to him, "Find me again… Itachi… "

Both of their lives had changed and neither was willing to say to anyone how they had stolen each other's hearts on a cool day in September.