Inevitable

Itachi and Amejisuto sat in the middle of a clearing in a forest that was property of the Uchiha compound. They decided on doing introductions before they started, so they could know where the other was at in their lives. Hands folded on laps as they thought about what to say. The Ishi went first.

"As you know, I’m next in line to be the leader, though I bet Sora is going to take my place since I suck at even being a team leader. Mom’s even been hinting at it,” she laughed. “I am sixteen years old, and will be seventeen next month…"

Itachi stiffened at that. 'How could I forget? Only a year before she's stuck with me forever....'

"I like learning new things, my friends, cool foods and fighting for what I believe in, and I don't like being underestimated even though it’s better than being overestimated when fighting, and I really don’t like feeling useless, especially when it comes to protecting things that are important to me," she continued.

"What's your goal for the future?" the male inquired.

"My goal is to become a famous and respected kunoichi, and maybe even get into ANBU," she beamed, having a reasonable goal. “Now, your turn.”

"I'm also next in line to be my clan leader, and I plan on taking the position. I’ve just turned twenty-two years old. I like training, going on interesting missions, and my mother and Sasuke. I don't like war, arrogance or the clan council, but please don't tell them I said that," he winked at the brunette, who smiled and did a lock sign over her lips. "My goal is to protect the village and its people no matter what."

"Nice goals," Amejisuto gave thumbs up at his selflessness. "Now are we going to start training today?"

"The Uchiha techniques that I’m hoping to teach you are complex and take most people years to master. First, we should spar so I can know your average skill level, and then we should take a few missions together," Itachi planned, with the Ishi listening intently and nodding. They put on a few pieces of training gear and did some warm ups so their muscles wouldn't be too tense.

The sparring battle was ready to start. "The first match will be taijutsu only," Itachi announced. “Begin.”

Amejisuto nodded and rushed at him with immense speed. She tried to distract him by aiming a fake punch to his face while her main intention was to trip him, but he leaped in the air and flipped over her, kicking his foot across where her feet were moments ago. She followed his technique and leaped over him, twisting her body to avoid a punch to the stomach, barely kicking his back, since he moved, and landing crouched so his next kick could swipe over her. He punched as she tried to get to the other side of him, and it made impact on her left shoulder.

She jumped out of the way of another punch and tried to trip him again, and he blocked her foot with his own before skillfully lifting her slightly by the foot and twisting her so she landed on the ground with a loud thud. She growled, spun while getting up slightly and bent backward like she had no spine, effectively landing a kick under his shoulder.

Their movements soon became too quick to see, each landing a few blows (Amejisuto ended up being hurt more than her sensei, of course), and after a few minutes, Itachi caught both fists trying to punch him, twisting her around so her back was pressed to him and her arms were crossed. She tried kicking but he locked her legs with one of his own. "We're done for now in taijutsu. You need to improve greatly on that, but I applaud you on managing to even make contact. Let’s take a break and then you can show me your ninjutsu,” he ordered right as Mikoto arrived in the training area.

"Hey there, are you thirsty? I brought iced green tea," she offered a small tray of drinks before sitting with them. Amejisuto complimented slightly on how she had perfect timing, and they sat together for a few minutes, idly chatting, and soon Mikoto left the area with a tray of now-empty glasses.

Itachi stood up and stretched. "Now, please show me any uncommon jutsu you know.”

"Ok, first is my most powerful wind style: sound of destruction, but I have to work on it a bit more," she took a deep breath and whistled low and strong.

The Uchiha activated his sharingan, making his eyes shift from soft black to piercing crimson, and saw the chakra from her breath fuse with the wind and visibly destroy her target: a pile of leaves. She was out of breath after a minute of keeping a steady note until the leaves were in pieces. "That one is rarely used, since it takes up too much time in a fight, and it’s not powerful enough yet.

"The second is the wind shuriken that Naruto taught me. I adjusted it so it wouldn't break my chakra points, but in exchange, it’s not as destructive on targets," she held out her hand and focused, letting her chakra seep out, creating a ball of swirling energy that soon mixed with the wind. She threw it at a thick tree stump, cutting it in half horizontally.

She displayed several jutsu, starting with ones she wasn’t as good at, which therefore used up less chakra. Some techniques that she had already mastered included wind style: body blade, where she could use any edge of her body to shallowly cut things, though she could adjust them to sharper blades, water style: steaming geyser, where she planted her hands on the ground and could make different sizes of boiling hot water streams burst from the ground, and water style: water purify, which could make very clean water emerge from the plants around them to rehydrate.

After doing a few of those, she was pretty much out of the mystical energy source, but managed to show off a large batch of mud clones, which was the only earth technique she knew, and it was the last jutsu that wasn’t taught in the academy that she could show he mentor.

"Amejisuto, are you efficient at using genjutsu?” Itachi asked as she was fighting to regain her breath. She shook her head and fell on the ground; her batch of clones drained the last of her abnormally large reserve, and it wasn't like she had the Kyuubi to add extra chakra like Naruto could. "For now, we will only train once every two days. Otherwise, you won't be able to store up enough chakra without it being gone right away, since I’m going to help you master your own jutsu before learning any new ones."

"What will we do in the meantime?" Amejisuto panted.

"Go on missions every once in a while, study Uchiha history… You can also follow my mother around on your days off. Since you will be here for a while, it would be best to stay on my parents' good side by helping out around the house," he suggested.

"Will do. Also, warning: I haven't used this much chakra before so I think I'm gonna pass out," the Ishi wheezed before coughing and then falling asleep from chakra deprivation.

"She did a good job, considering that after a round of taijutsu sparring, she displayed over twenty A-class techniques," the Uchiha mumbled, impressed, before picking his student up and carrying her back to the house.

---

Mikoto gasped at the sight of the sleeping girl. "Is she alright?"

"I made her use up too much chakra, but she'll be fine tomorrow. I'm going to take her to her room," he started to walk towards the hall.

"Itachi, your father told me about the arranged marriage. I hope it won't be too hard on you guys when the time comes," she mentioned, obviously worried about them.

"It's alright, I'm sure it's all for the best. Now if you'll excuse me," he walked to his apprentice's room and took off her headband, shoes and gloves. He put her in her bed and pulled blankets over her before leaving and closing the door behind him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Every member of the Akatsuki organisation were gathered in a large room. "So, what's happening now?" sighed Hidan, annoyed that recently there had been more and more group gatherings.

"We will start the tailed beast hunt in six weeks, since the demon statue is almost ready. We have decided that we will take Itachi Uchiha and possibly his young apprentice, but time is running out, so it can’t be our top priority right now. The most important thing at the moment is that the nine tailed fox is the most powerful demon, and its container is growing stronger each day. Any questions?" Pain spoke.

"Why don't we just capture the nine-tails first?" asked a bored and mostly uninterested Kakuzu.

"The order has to go from one to nine, or else it won't work and the creatures will run loose," Konan explained.

"When will we get Itachi?" Kisame asked half-heartedly, concentrating on his sword.

"We're planning on hopefully giving Itachi a reason to leave and join us."

"Tobi wants to know if he can capture the first demon!" Madara was back in his 'idiot' character, fooling almost everyone.

"No. The hunt has already been arranged and will be assigned with every new jinchuriki we get. The first demon will be captured by Deidara and Sasori," Pain turned to the two mentioned. "You will find it in the current Kazekage, Gaara of the desert."

Zetsu was sent to spy on Itachi and Amejisuto while the rest of the Akatsuki discussed different ways to find and capture the tailed beast containers. Madara slipped away too, but nobody cared. He went to his room and started scheming on how to manipulate the Uchiha clan and end up with Itachi in the end. "I'll use the girl too. I bet Orochimaru would love to observe an Ishi," he thought. "And Itachi is a very persuasive man when the right buttons are pushed. This could be so easy..."