A/N: Hello, there! This here is my first ever fanfic. I'm still pretty new to this whole thing, so be gentle ;)

If you have any questions or comments, please let me know? Like I said, I'm new to this, so feedback is EVERYTHING! Please let me know what you think!

Edited: 02/11/2015

Word Count: 2,648

Chapter One: Arrival

Sweat dripped down her face, matting a few rebellious strands of hair to her forehead. Her lungs burned as she struggled to take in the much needed oxygen. All in all, she felt her speed was improving vastly over the past few months. Her vigorous twice a day training regimen was finally paying off.

At 24 years old, Katherina Clare was in the prime of her life. Though she struggled through many obstacles and hardships in the past, she was a living, breathing example that life does indeed go on. After losing her parents at a young age and being left alone in the world, she often times felt that loneliness would consume her. But as the years continued to pass, the more she reveled in her solitude. She truly didn't mind being alone. Not anymore.

And it was on cool nights such as these that she felt the most alive. Running made her feel. It brought to life all the emotions she sometimes wondered if she still possessed. It made life seem simple, and she was free. Plus, she was excellent at it, so what better outlet for life's many frustrations?

The current source of her frustration was likely vibrating away somewhere in her house, in the form of a cell phone she rarely used. Though she accepted, maybe even preferred, being by herself, even she had to admit that she felt lonely at times all the way out here by herself.

She was living in the very house, situated on the same chunk of land that she and her parents once occupied many years ago. Upon their untimely demise, they had left behind a will stating that in the wake of their deaths, their only living family member would inherit all their worldly possessions. Their sixteen year old daughter, Katherina.

Though they were few, and she wasn't allowed to claim possession until she came of age, the house her father had built, and the many acres of land it lay on, were included.

It was haunting.

Nothing had really change much since her childhood days. It was almost like living in a crypt. A crypt of her many happy memories as a child and adolescent. The same tiny kitchen and quaint living space. The same cabinets her mother hand-painted years ago in an attempt to give the room a warm touch.

So, naturally, after a few years, in an attempt to end her seclusion, she began dating. One guy in particular. Chase Arrington. AKA- guy who she had nothing in common with, but decided to give him a shot since he was seemingly a nice guy. Later, she would admonish herself internally for having such horrid judgment.

It had been a year since she had called it quits after a mere three months of dating. An entire year, and in that time Chase had yet to grasp the fact that she just didn't have any romantic feelings whatsoever left for him. The entire relationship had been a farce as far as she was concerned, and she did them both a favor by ending it when she did.

Though clearly, he had yet to arrive at that conclusion. Not if her phone ringing around-the-clock was any indicator. She had to hand it to him, that man was nothing if not persistent. He had continued to plague her through four changed numbers and several half-hearted threats to file a restraining order. Why? She had no idea.

With one last burst of speed, she ran past the old oak tree she had mentally dubbed her start/finish point, halting the timer on her stopwatch.

17:38, she read. Not bad.

Much better than last week's times. Struggling to calm her breathing, she sauntered over to the towel and water bottle she had lying next to her favorite resting spot. As she reached for the towel to mop the sweat from her brow, her eyes wandered to the old tire hanging from the tree's largest branch.

Feeling a wave on nostalgia sweep over her like a wave, she quickly looked away. Some memories were better left buried. Ones of her late father, in particular.

Instead, she focused her efforts on rehydrating herself before she collapsed. Today had been the perfect temperature for running, and she had taken full advantage of the pleasant weather. Both her morning and evening workouts had proven productive. Stretching out on the grass, she gulped her water slowly, enjoying the feeling of her muscles relaxing after such a strenuous workout.

Closing her eyes against the last rays of sunshine, she rested her head against the old oak's sturdy trunk, dreading returning inside to face what was surely to be an obscene amount missed calls and angry voice messages that awaited her. Quietly resting under the rising moon sounded infinitely more appealing. Her last thought before nodding off was how she wished she had thought to bring a blanket.

Katherina jolted awake, suddenly overcome by an overbearing feeling that she was no longer alone. Unable to come up with a rational explanation for why someone would venture out this far away from the main roads, and onto private property, she was immediately overcome by alarming thoughts.

One of the most prominent was the possibility that Chase had grown tired of blowing up her phone and decided to take his stalking a step further and had come to see her in person? But then, if it were Chase, and not a stranger, why would he lurk in the darkness instead of approaching her? The man wasn't exactly known for his subtlety. That theory was out.

She checked her watch. Several hours had passed since sundown. The air had cooled considerably, the last rays of day long gone. Looking up at the sky, she noted the moon hung full in the cloudless night sky. It was nearing ten o'clock. How had she managed to sleep out here all this time? One thing was for sure, it was much too late to entertain visitors of any sort. Not that she ever actually had visitors.

The question rang in her ears. If not Chase, then who would be all the way out here so late...?

Muggers? The thought made blood rush to her ears, her pulse kicking up a notch. Surely not. She had very few material possessions apart from her car and home. It would be a waste of time to venture into the middle of nowhere only to leave empty handed. Highly improbable.

Finally willing herself to move into an upright position, she tried in vain to cease her paranoid thoughts. Perhaps it wasn't a person at all. Maybe it was an animal? It wouldn't be all that uncommon for this area. She was practically surrounded by forest from all directions, it was completely plausible to think that one of the forest critters had wandered into the clearing.

But still, this presence she sensed...it was far too powerful an aura to be that of some wayward animal.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly rose to her feet, positioning her body away from her house. She had a gut feeling that whatever was out there was in that direction. Deciding that she would never be able to sleep until she properly investigated, she forced one foot in front of the other, heading toward the northern tree line.

Just under a quarter mile from her house, there was a small meadow, situated near a brook. She headed in that direction after running into her house to grab a small flashlight to help her navigate through the trees. She could see the break in the tree line just up ahead, leading into the small meadow.

Turning off her flashlight in order to avoid detection, she pressed past the last of the trees into the clearing. She stood there, still as a statue, listening for any signs of life.

Nothing.

All was silent.

Awesome. This is what I get for spending all of my time alone, she thought despairingly. My brain has actually resorted to creating imaginary visitors.

Heaving a sigh, she turned away from the empty meadow, mentally kicking herself for letting her imagination run away with her. She trudged back into the woods, flicking her flashlight back on.

As she paused to step over a particularly thick fallen tree, she heard it. It was so quiet that for a moment, she thought she had imagined it. But no, there it was again. A voice. A male voice, to be specific.

And whoever he was, he must've been in pain. There were no clear words formed by the voice, only shallow groans of pain. Her head snapped back in the direction immediately. Feet moving of their own accord, she took off back into the meadow, heading toward the owner of the low, masculine voice.

Shining her flashlight around the field, she quickly spotted a dark, crumpled figure on the ground less than 15 feet in front of her. She paused, hesitating momentarily before slowly approaching the figure.

Absently, it occurred to her that she should turn around and just call for help upon returning to her house and bolting her door shut. She didn't know this man. She certainly had no idea how he came to be here, in the middle of nowhere so late at night. If she were smart, she would turn tail and run.

But in the end, her compassion won out over her survival instincts. It didn't help that just as she was contemplating hauling ass away from there, the guy let out another heart-wrenching groan of pain. Wincing, she took the last remaining steps toward him, halting three feet away just to be safe.

She studied him under the glow of her flashlight, taking in his size. He was definitely male. Long and lean, dressed all in black, almost completely concealed by a cloak of some sort. Though that was all she could gather at this distance. He had long, dark hair that fell over his face, masking his features.

Drawing in a deep breath, Kat walked over to the man, dropping down on one knee. At this proximity, she realized that he was very pale. Whether due to injury and the cold surroundings or simple genetics, she couldn't be sure. She itched to see more of him, to check for injuries, but refrained.

Kind soul or not, she was hardly stupid.

As she pondered over all the possible reasons for someone to be on her property, she almost missed it when he moved ever so slightly, turning his head to face her. She let out a small yelp of surprise upon seeing a pair of dark eyes focusing on her. She scrambled back a few feet, purposely shining her flashlight into his eyes to blind him.

For his part, he remained motionless, still attempting to fix his eyes on the woman in front of him. She studied his face carefully, not being able to place just where she had seen this man before. His features, though still partially hidden by his hair, seemed very familiar to her. Pallid skin. Prominent cheekbones. Large dark eyes, delicate brow. Such familiar eyes.

She was the first to break the silence.

"...Are you injured?"

"I am not sure," he answered quietly. His voice sounded strained, as if it hadn't been used in quite some time. He cleared his throat quietly before speaking again. "Where am I?" He asked, moving a hand to rest on his chest, feeling for injuries, more than likely.

"You're on my property," she answered curtly. "How did you come to be here, and what happened to you?"

The man paused. "Could you lower your light? It's irritating my eyes."

Hesitantly, she did as he asked, shining the light away from his face. "You didn't answer my question," she pointed out quietly.

He looked at her then, eyes searching her face for a brief moment before turning his attention to the night sky.

"That's because I do not know," he answered simply.

She crawled closer to him, silently, not trusting herself to speak. In truth, she didn't know what to say to this stranger. Gently, she reached out a tentative hand to rest it on his chest, applying gentle pressure. She studied his facial expression, waiting for a grunt of protest or cry of pain that never came. So, no chest injuries, she concluded, moving on to his torso and repeating her actions.

Finally, after inspecting all his vital points and extremities, she discovered he had no apparent injuries. Which posed the question-why on earth was he passed out in a field in the middle of the night? He didn't look to be homeless, he was clean for the most part, and was hardly clothed in rags.

She ruled out the possibility of him being a drunkard, for his breath didn't reek of alcohol. Also, he seemed completely coherent aside from not knowing where he was, or how he arrived here.

As she continued to marvel over the strangeness of the situation, her eyes met his mysterious gaze. His expression was completely guarded. Stoic.

Just who was this man?

"I'm no doctor, but from what I can tell, you don't have any obvious injuries. However, if you stay out here in the cold, you'll catch something for sure. My home isn't far from here," she offered. Tearing her eyes away from him, she retrieved her flashlight from the ground and rose to her feet, dusting herself off before extending her hand to help him.

He took it hesitantly and allowed her to pull him to his feet. He shifted his weight uncertainly, as if trying to remember how to use his legs to support his body weight. He gave her a silent nod of thanks. Or at least she took it as such.

This night was certainly proving to be most interesting.

As they finally entered her home, she turned to face the man standing by her door. I swear, I know him...I know I've seen those eyes somewhere before, she thought, searching his face.

Mentally shaking herself, she turned away from him, walking through the living room to toss her keys and towel haphazardly onto her coffee table, consequently knocking her entire manga collection to the floor. Groaning at her blatant lack of grace, she kneeled and began collecting the comics, sorting them into the correct order. Finally picking up the last one, she rose to her feet, sliding them back into their slot on the shelf beside her couch when she spotted it. There on the cover was the face of her favorite anime character. Uchiha Itachi.

Her blood froze in her veins and she visibly stiffened. All of a sudden, her tiny home felt much smaller. Slowly, she turned to face her guest, still situated by the door, unmoving, regarding her curiously. He was scrutinizing her every move as she looked back and forth from his face to the picture in her hand. Her jaw dropped, eliciting a frown from him.

Gulping, she took an instinctive step away from him, as he cocked his head to the side at her sudden change of behavior. She attempted to steady herself only to almost lose her balance completely as he appeared right in front of her in a split second, his black cloak falling forgotten to the floor behind him. Gasping, she glanced at the doorway he occupied a fraction of a second earlier and back to him. His entire aura had changed.

No... she thought, numbly. She tried to remember how to breathe. It was impossible. There was no way that this man could be...it just wasn't feasible. But as she studied the lines marring his cheeks, the way his bangs framed his narrow face, the deep, deep black of his eyes...she realized this was where she had seen this man before.

This man was Uchiha Itachi.

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