The deep voice resonated through the cave they had discreetly met in. Pebbles shook as the echoes reverberated with the timbre of his voice. Itachi stood tall in front of the humming and buzzing outline of the leader of Akatsuki. The silver rings of Pain's eyes gathered up the image of Itachi's perpetually solemn appearance. Sharingan finally met Rinnengan and with eyes locked Pain continued.

“You must go and find this girl, Itachi. After intense training she will be a great benefit to Akatsuki. We can't afford to let her slip through our fingers, or for another ninja organization to find her.”

“Where will I find her, Master Pain?”

“She lives in a small village located in the River Country between the great Fire and Wind. Go by yourself. Obtaining her now will be fairly easy since her village has no ninja and she is still young and untrained.”

“Why do you wish to recruit this little girl?”

“She has a great potential for unique genjutsu. From what we know she probably possesses an unknown Kekkei Genkai. This is also why you will train her, being an unrivaled master of genjutsu. She has a dark past, and I can speculate that this will make it easier for her to make our goals her own. Go now, I want you to start towards the River Country as soon as possible.”

“Yes, Pain-sama.”

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Streams of sun leaked through the trees, making the individual leaves shine a florescent green. As he jumped through the branches and the wind nipped at the openings of his cloak, Itachi was thinking of how he came to be in this position. His dark eyes flickered with rare emotion and the lines underneath them creased when his dusky hair whipped across his face. Thoughts of taking on an apprentice only brought memories of training in the woods with his brother.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Itachi flew from the last branch and his foot touched the ground of the girl's village with the sound of crunching grass. He looked toward the horizon and the sun shone a hazy orange. His eyes scanned the village and he noticed a cramped hut that hovered just outside the outline of the other houses. He was certain this was where she was, people were so predictable it was almost disheartening. He would find a place to rest and move in after the sun set.