The Key|| Itachi X OC || [AU]

Chapter Two

Itachi stood over her, glaring down at her unconscious form while calculating his next move. A part of him considered leaving her for dead but he knew that wasn't an option. Besides, Pain wouldn't be too pleased to hear that he let a key candidate die meaninglessly. What if this girl is really the key? He thought taking another stare at her while narrowing his red eyes, evaluating her injuries.

Blood and dirt coated parts of her face with a few spots in her gorgeous snowy blonde hair. His eyes traveled down to her petite feminine physique where his sight roamed. Her clothes were torn and dirty from the fall, exposing the scrapes and bruises that mildly damaged her fair skin. Itachi sighed with annoyance, before picking her up carefully, and traveling back to the castle where Kisame waited.

"What happened to not harming her in any way?" Kisame said with an arched brow noticing the unconscious and battered girl in his arms. Itachi held his usual deadpan expression as he carried Zamora back inside the palace. "She did this to herself by trying to escape. Maybe this will teach her not to run off again." He lectured with no sympathy in his tone.

"I mean, can you blame her? The poor girl knew she couldn't escape by fighting, so she did the most logical thing and ran, it was her only option. I kinda like that about her. Little Zamora may not be as helpless as we think, seeing how far she got before you caught her." Kisame's grin widen when he noticed how his last statement annoyed Itachi from the subtle clench of his jaw.

"She is troublesome, there is nothing logical about that. With her in this state we won't be able to leave right away." Itachi stated laying Zamora down temporarily on a cushioned bench in the foyer. "I'll inform Pein that we will be a few days late getting back." Itachi said plainly before taking out a note and writing a message on it. The sudden call of a black crow was heard as it flew into the room they were in through a broken window, landing on his arm. Itachi tied the small note to the crow's leg with a red string before it flew back out the window to its next destination.

"Well at least there is plenty here to eat, most of the food is still fresh. There also may be a medical kit somewhere around here for her. It's a good thing we have a decent place to camp given her condition. If we were already on the road when she pulled this stunt it wouldn't look so good for her. At least here everything is right where we need it. There's running water and the electrical system still works." Kisame informed as he removed his giant sword from his back and took a seat on the fancy-looking loveseat in the room.

"Don't get too comfortable, the moment she is conscious and mobile we will leave," Itachi instructed as he headed to search for supplies that could be used on Zamora's wounds. Kisame just smirked as he watched Itachi with suspicion in his eyes.

How long will you try to hide the side of you that actually cares?

Zamora slowly opened her light blue eyes blinking rapidly against the light while trying to bring her environment into focus. She cautiously looked around the familiar room realizing where she was. The injured girl slightly shifted in her bed causing her to let out a weak moan as the intense pain hit her.