You Let Your Guard Down

"God, Miyuki, you're always so slow!" Akira scolded after Miyuki had notified her of the current circumstances

"Huh? What do you mean? We're going at the same pace." Miyuki responded naïvely.

"Oh never mind!" Akira replied agitated.

The snow-white wolf sighed at how clueless the Anbu was. How could someone so stubborn be so dense?

After traveling silently for about ten minutes, the large canine spoke up.

"They're about two kilometers away. It seems like they're in the midst of fighting," Akira's ears twitched forward, "There's also a running stream of water." The wolf reported.

"Perfect," Miyuki exclaimed, "The stream will make it easier for me to use my water techniques."

"Yeah," Akira agreed, "And I'll be able to wash up after the battle."

The masked girl chuckled at how sanitary the white wolf was.

"All right then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Miyuki said eagerly as she continued with renewed determination towards her target.

Once the auburn haired girl heard the sound of running water, they moved into the bushes and concealed their chakra.

Miyuki peered through the thick branches and emitted a strange noise that sounded a lot like a gasp of horror and surprise.

Standing about a foot away from the river were two figures wearing the infamous black cloak decorated with numerous red clouds – The Akatsuki.

One of them was a blue skinned man carrying a giant sword. Miyuki guessed him to be Kisame Hoshigaki – one of the seven ninja swords men of the mist.

However, that was not who the masked girl was interested in.

There, standing about 3 meters to the right of the shark was none other than Itachi Uchiha.

Miyuki felt a sudden rush of anger that she couldn't control. The years of concealing her hatred for the murderer came rushing back. It was like seeing the Uchiha was the key to unlocking the door that was sealed shut the night Itachi disappeared after killing his clan. Rage spread through her like wild fire. There was only one clear thought as her blood boiled to a dangerous extent:

'Itachi Uchiha will not be forgiven'

Akira, who had undoubtedly sensed her sudden buildup of chakra, knew exactly what the Anbu was going to do.

The auburn haired girl launched herself at the man with red eyes just as Akira screamed, "Don't do it!"

But, of course, it was too late.

Itachi, who had already sensed Miyuki's chakra, pinned her down effortlessly and gave his partner a meaningful look.

The two must've had a strategy for Kisame swiftly turned to leave the scene of battle.

Miyuki, with some difficulty, managed to shove Itachi off, just as Akira jumped out of the bushes and attacked Kisame.

The two teams were evenly matched.

Whether this was due to the fact that both S-ranked criminals were weary from taking down 12 Anbu members, or the fact that Miyuki and her partner had gotten stronger, was undetermined.

Regardless, it was clear that this was going to be one long battle.

In the midst of the fight, Kisame took off with Akira hot on his heels. The blue skinned man knew that they wouldn't be getting anywhere if they continued the fight. So, he decided to test his agility against the wolf. If he could out run the canine, then their mission would be complete.

Meanwhile, Miyuki and Itachi were in a dead lock. The dark haired man threw multiple kunais at the masked girl while she skillfully dodged them all. Miyuki tried a few jutsus but none of them seemed to work thanks to Itachi's sharingan.

After a couple of hours, Miyuki was tired out.

She really didn't want to fight the Uchiha but she felt obliged to. Her feelings towards him were clearly full of hate so then why did it feel so wrong?

As these thoughts passed through Miyuki's head she became more distressed. Her concentration was disrupted and her movements grew sluggish. Itachi saw that the Anbu had let her guard down and took the opportunity to aim a kunai directly at the masked girl's head.

Miyuki only had an instant to recover and veered away from the approaching weapon. However, her reaction time was slow and the kunai sliced through the string that held her mask in place, taking a few strands of her hair in its assault.

The white mask fell to the ground and Miyuki's identity was revealed.

If Itachi was surprised he didn't show it. There was a moment of complete silence that made the gentle stream of water feel embarrassed for roaring so loudly.

The Uchiha was the first to speak, "It's been a while, Miyuki."

His voice seemed to flow in perfect harmony with the melody of the breezy wind. It was like music to Miyuki's ears. Emotions have not once betrayed this man and it was frustrating for the unmasked Anbu to not know what went through his head at this precise moment.

So at a lost for words, she decided to play the unmoving damsel and said stubbornly, "Not long enough."

The lie tasted bitter in her mouth. If it were true, then she wouldn't have felt like it had been a thousand years since their last meeting.

Now that her identity was revealed Miyuki had no idea what to do. Heck, she didn't even know that she was going to meet Itachi today, and quite honestly it may have been a lot better that way.

Even if she spent forever telling herself that she didn't want to see that murderous traitor ever again, it wouldn't change anything. Something inside her knew that that wasn't true and this encounter proved it.

The Anbu was speechless and that rarely ever happened. As the silence dragged on, the stream of water began to sound unnervingly familiar. Miyuki struggled to stay focused but failed as a long forgotten memory swam into her line of thoughts. The stream of water roared ever so loudly – ever so insistently – in her ears.