Demon's Path

Disclaimer: Yeah... still don't own Naruto. Wish I owned Kakashi and Itachi... damn they're hot. I do own Kaishi. Nariko. and Ryuo. Please, remember to ask for permission, should you want to use my characters. (even though I doubt anyone does)

***Warning***
There is an actual lemon in this chapter. So, be warned, I suck at writing lemons! (the consequenses of knowing next to nothing about sex myself, I apologize)

Chapter 6: Confronting Itachi

~*~*~*~

Kaishi stared at the fire with a sadness. Nariko felt for her teammate, she truly did. To have lost so much, to be so alone for so long. She would never understand the Onibashi family traditions. There was the tradition to separate siblings, especially since every Onibashi birth resulted in identical twins. Kaishi hadn't even known she had a sister until Yumi had come to her on Kaishi's fifteenth birthday. Yumi was so kind and open, the exact opposite of Kaishi's cold and closed off personality. Yumi is an assassin of special rank, one that worked in the geisha district and acted like one.

Yumi was married now, with two boys, living on the Onibashi land on the outskirts of the village. She still did her job, coming to the geisha district and performing necessary assassinations so Konhoa wouldn't be blamed. Yumi was a poison expert, and usually consulted by medic nin if they needed a certain antidote or any other natural remedies.

Kaishi was hurt when she found out that she had been denied her sister as a child. Just another thing though. Kaishi wasn't exactly considered a person to her parents, but a tool to be used to further the Onibashi name and bloodline. She was given minimal care by her parents, in essence raising herself, and pushing herself so she could graduate from the academy and leave home.

No, Nariko didn't envy Kaishi. For all the power the crimson eyed girl possessed, she didn't know how to interact with others, save herself, Kakashi, and Naruto. Nariko smiled at the thought of Naruto. He was the one joy in Kaishi's life. The child that Kaishi had raised and called her 'oneechan'. He was the one that saw her laugh and relax. Hell, he was the one that made it possible for Kaishi to be that way.

Nariko then thought of Kakashi and sighed heavily. Kakashi had been a stable part of Kaishi's life since Itachi had betrayed them all. He had become even more so when they started dating. Nariko had known, though, as they all did, that it wasn't a relationship of love. Merely convenience and sex. That foundation had begun to break when Kaishi made it her mission to find Itachi and either kill or save him. It had further broken when Kakashi started training Shakaku Miaka and eventually started falling in love with the girl. It had finally shattered when Kakashi had cheated on Kaishi.

It had been a one night affair, or so Nariko had heard. He had gotten far too drunk for his own good and then seduced by one of the girls that had a crush on him. It had been Kaishi, returning home from a mission, that found them together that next morning.

Kaishi's fury was unmatched by any storm. The woman nearly killed when Kaishi attacked her viciously. Kakashi had faired no better, being beaten within an inch of his life for what he had done. Both were still in the hospital, although Kakashi had already attempted several times to escape.

It turned out that the woman was a spy from another village and had laced Kakashi's drink with drugs in an attempt to find secrets of the village. It was because of this that Kaishi wasn't in prison right now. Also why Kaishi had been sent on this latest barrage of missions, she needed to escape the village and the villagers with their prying eyes.

Ryuo broke Nariko's thoughts when he re-entered the camp. "Perimeter's set up," he announced as he plopped down beside Nariko and sighed. "Almost feels like old times, ne?"

Nariko nodded. "All we need is Hisho-sensei."

Kaishi made a short sound that seemed like between a sigh and a snort as she stood and moved towards her bedroll.

Nariko looked at the remains of the dark haired shinobi's meal and frowned. "You barely ate."

"Wasn't hungry," Kaishi answered a she laid herself down and turned her back to her teammates.

Ryuo sighed again. "She's been acting funny lately."

Nariko nodded. "She's still hurting."

Ryuo shook his head. "She never stopped," he corrected. "This ain't over Hatake. Hatake was just a buffer she used to ignore that she still hasn't dealt with Itachi."

Nariko seemed puzzled. "But it's been two years."

Ryuo nodded. "And despite everything the bastard did to her, she still loves him."

Nariko leaned against her boyfriend of three years and sighed. "You know, you can be rather profound when you want to be."

Ryuo wrapped an arm around his girlfriend and nodded. "I keep tellin' them all that, but they never listen."

Nariko chuckled. "That's because the evidence against you is almost overwhelming."

Ryuo pouted. "That hurt, koi."

Nariko smiled and blushed slightly. "Gomen, Ryuo-koi, but sometimes the truth hurts."

~*~*~*~

Kaishi sped forward through the trees, her teammates left far behind. She should have slowed down, or at least paused to allow them to catch up, but she didn't. She was sick of Nariko's sympathetic looks and Ryuo's just pathetic attempts at acting like he cared. They would never understand her. Never understand that she could never, ever heal.

She and Naruto barely saw Sasuke anymore. His current caretakers believing them not 'good enough' to be within the Uchiha heir's presence. She hated the Sondaime for letting the elders take Sasuke from her. These thoughts of course eventually lead to Itachi, like most things did these days. She couldn't enjoy dangos anymore without seeing him. She saw him when she would go alone for a drink at the bar, when she passed the Uchiha compound, when she walked by the river, whenever she had to dress in her goddamn ANBU uniform. She saw him everywhere.

It made her sick to leave the apartment now, Naruto had to practically drag her everywhere. The only places she would willingly go were the hospital to visit with Nariko, the training fields, and the Hokage tower to receive a mission. She asked for missions like crazy, of course not taking too many so she could spend enough time with Naruto.

A rustle in the leaves to her right broke her from her thoughts and she veered towards them to investigate, her teammates wouldn't be catching up for a few hours now. She had time to sate her curiosity. She landed on the edge of a clearing, her eyes fixated on the figure in the center of the ring of trees. He was garbed in a black cloak decorated with red and white clouds. There was a jagged line crossing through the leaf of Konhoa on his brow. He looked just as he had before he left, empty and quiet.

"Itachi..." she gasped.

"Kaishi," he greeted in that dark monotone.

She stepped into the light and approached slowly, her fingers curled around a kunai. Kaishi's gaze narrowed as she moved closer to his still form.

He was suddenly in front of her. "You look tired."

She leapt away from him, her kunai flying towards his back. With a quick movement, the kunai was imbedded into a tree and Itachi was standing with his back to her. Kaishi stood a mere few feet behind him, her back facing his as she stared at the trees standing a good ten feet away, the kunai's metal surface glinting from one of the trees before her. A breeze blew rapidly through the air, tossing the end of her scarf and her hair into the wind.

"Did you regret it?" she asked softly.

Itachi's head lifted. She was going to speak to him? After all he had done she would still ask him that? "Nani?"

"Killing everyone you ever loved... did you ever regret it?" she asked again.

Itachi was silent for a beat. "I didn't kill you... I didn't kill him."

Kaishi stiffened. "Do you expect me to believe that you ever loved me?"

"Have I ever given you anything to doubt it?"

She swallowed visibly, or would have if her throat weren't covered by her scarf, and turned to face him. She gasped at how close he had gotten to her, his face a mere few inches in front of hers. "You betrayed Konhoa and murdered your clan in cold blood."

"I have yet to hear your argument that I didn't love you."

"No one that could do that so coldly, and then to torture Sasuke by making him relive it... you say you didn't kill him, but you did."

"Kaishi..."

"When you did that, when you left, I knew. I knew that what I felt for you was love because you broke my heart. It might have never had worked anyways, but... but if you had stayed-"

Itachi interrupted her by grasping her by the arms and pulling her close. With one hand he held her by the small of her back, and the other, he pulled down her scarf, revealing her face to him. With a sad smile he moved forward, his lips pressing against hers softly.

Kaishi froze, her eyes wide as she felt the pressure of his kiss. For a moment, she let herself give in, and returned it, she forgot who she was, who he was, and why they were here in the first place. For a moment, she forgot about the blood that stained his hands and the brother he destroyed with a whim.

The moment passed.

Kaishi's eyes snapped back open, her arms grasping his shoulders tightly as she pushed him away. Itachi smiled to her, a sight all too disturbing for the older jounin. "Let go of me!" she hissed.

Itachi's face held onto that smile as he loosened his grip on her and watched as she backpedaled away from him. "Kaishi..."

She shook her head violently and turned her back to him. It should have worried her, turning her back to a s-class criminal like him. But, at the moment, she didn't care. "You're a murder, Itachi... what do you think is going to happen now?"

Itachi's arms came around her and she felt his chest against her back. She should have pulled free, or fought back. But she was just so tired. She let herself fall into his embrace, let him hold her with those arms that had been used to slaughter all that carried the Uchiha name, save one little boy. She fell then, her legs losing their strength as they both moved to the ground and he merely held her as she stared out at nothing.

It would be so easy to just leave everything behind. Just so easy to let him take her away from everything. She closed her eyes as tears fell. Why was it that in his embrace, she felt whole? Why was it that when he was near, life wasn't so hard? Why was it that she didn't feel hurt when he was near? Why him?

He turned her in his arms, and her watery, cat-like, stare locked onto his black. Neither said a word as they sat there before he moved forward and captured her lips again. She didn't protest this time, her arms wrapping around his neck and deepening the kiss.

When they parted, his eyes were as red as her, the sharingan eyes. She gasped at this sudden change. Within moments she was in that world again, where the sky was black and the sun the color of fresh blood. She was lying on that bed again, her body nude with him above her.

"Kaishi... onegai," he pleaded softly to her.

She smiled this time, kissing him to show that she wasn't going to fight this time. Wasn't going to protest as his thigh parted her legs and his weight settled between them. Her every nerve was aflame as he let his fingers trail over her throat and collar bone, his hand cupping a breast as he began to play with her nipple. She arched her back, a small noise sounding from the back of her throat as his lips trailed down her neck to her untouched nipple. His teeth worried the bud as his tongue soothed it, every motion causing a pull to Kaishi's womanhood.

She cried out as his free hand trailed fire down her flat belly to the black, soft curls that lay there and slipped past her slippery folds and entered her. Everything he was doing was causing shards of white hot pleasure to shoot up and down her spine.

For what felt like hours, he touched her and caressed her with his hands and mouth, bringing her closer and closer to that desired peak. Suddenly, he stopped, causing her to whimper with loss before moaning as he filled her with his manhood.

At first, his thrusts were long and slow, causing her to writhe beneath him. Soon, he was slamming himself deep within her, her clawing at his shoulders and arching into his every movement. Their sweat-slicked bodies rubbed sensually against one another as they neared that peak.

Suddenly, Kaishi tensed, her eyes snapping open as waves of pleasure erupted forth, causing her to whisper his name brokenly with him following her shortly into that realm of euphoric oblivion.

This repeated over and over for what felt like days. Until he broke the link at the arrival of her teammates. When he finally did, she was too exhausted to do anything but slump forward into his arms in a state of blissful unconsciousness.

Nariko and Ryuo stood, tensed and ready to defend themselves as he easily unfolded himself and stood, lifting Kaishi into his arms as though she weighed nothing at all.

Ryuo growled as best as a human could. "Let her go, Uchiha!"

Itachi merely grinned as he looked at the pair. "No."

Ryuo attacked Itachi fiercely, his fist only hitting earth and causing a good sized crater to form beneath his fist . When the dust settled, though. There was no sign of Itachi or Kaishi left, leaving Ryuo and Nariko to stand alone in the clearing, a sense of fear falling between them.

~*~*~*~

Levii: Okay! So, again I apologize for the lemon and it's suckiness. Even though I must be asking for punishment, please do send a review or comment. It makes me happy and feel loved. Presents and cookies are welcome. Flames will be used to bake more cookies. It's not that I'm insecure... actually, I am, but that's besides the point. I want to know YOUR opinions on the story. I know you guys are reading it, I just want a little commentary. Thank you and REVIEW!!!