The Secrets We Keep *COMPLETE* (Sasori x OC? / Itachi x OC?)

Thrown Away

Itachi meets Deidara as he enters the base, ignoring the man's injuries to ask Maeme's whereabouts. Before he can answer, the sounds of singing drift through the hall behind him. Tobi comes into view, Maeme cradled in his arms as he sings a strange lullaby about the pretty lady. Itachi's expression darkens into a glare as he shoves his way past the blond to tear his lover from the man's arms. Tobi's song cuts off, turning into a sad whine as Itachi carries Maeme to his room.

After kicking the door shut, he carefully lays her on the bed to check her for injuries. Nothing looks too bad except a large cut on her forehead disappearing into her hair line. Aside from the random smears of blood, her entire body is coated in a thick layer of dirt. As he gets ready to carry her into the bathroom, she wakes up screaming. Itachi gently hugs her to his chest until the screams die into heart-wrenching sobs. Kisame bursts into the room, having heard her scream, and asks what's wrong.

"Where is he?" Itachi asks, shooting a look up at his partner.

Kisame's mouth draws into a thin line at the question and he shakes his head.

"Bring me Deidara."

Maeme's cries fade and her breathing evens out as she calms down.

Once Kisame leaves, he asks if she would like to shower, then helps her to the bathroom after she numbly nods. He gathers a pair of her underwear and one of his shirts for her to change into and places them on the sink before Deidara and Kisame return. They enter the room, Deidara grumbling about his surgery being interrupted but his complaints fall silent as Itachi glares at him.

"So, what's going on, un?"

"What happened out there?"

"She and I led two of the ninja away and left Sasori with an old lady and a young girl. Maeme was fine until the old lady came back,I guess she knew her or something. She started shouting something about an oath then went on a murderous rampage and tried to kill the lady, un. She had four people trying to kill her so I managed to take her away on the bird. Whoever that woman was killed Sasori." He pauses, remembering her breakdown. "She refused to accept his death, spending almost all of her chakra supply trying to bring him back before Tobi dragged her away, then passed out shortly afterward."

"That was his grandmother." Itachi explains. "She made Maeme take an oath to protect Sasori with her life when she was younger."

"Wait, you knew about that?" Kisame chimes in.

"You knew?"

"She lost a bet." Kisame shrugs. "I tried to get her to tell you."

Itachi shakes his head and sighs. "She needs to rest for a while. Who is Tobi?"

"Zetsu showed up with him and said he was taking Sasori's place, un. Pein is having Sasori's stuff cleared out right now, un."

Kisame and Itachi share a look. "That's not going to end well."

The bathroom door opens to reveal Maeme, dressed and clean except the trail of blood running down from her hairline. The trio turns to look at her, Itachi's gaze focused on her puffy red eyes and blank, dead stare. He crosses the room and gently leads her back to the bed so he can stitch her cut closed. The door opens again, revealing Tobi with two puppet arms in his hands.

"Senpai! I found you some fake arms in our room! Now you don't have to worry about getting them sewn back on! Leader-sama was just going to throw these away and they used to belong to the dead puppet guy-"

"Tobi I am going to kill you!" Deidara hisses.

"Sasori..."

Maeme gets to her feet and runs out of the room before anyone else can stop her.

"Get him out of here before I set him on fire." Itachi orders as he heads out after her.

Maeme crashes into Hidan's chest before trying to absently push her way past him. The foul mouthed member latches onto her wrist, snapping at her to pay attention. She ignores him and pulls her arm free, continuing down the hall to stop in the doorway to Sasori's room. Konan is standing in the room with a box, gently placing his belongings inside. The woman pauses as she notices Maeme, an apologetic look on her face.

"Maeme, I'm not supposed to allow it, but if there are a few things you'd like to keep, I won't say anything." the woman gently offers.

"Why are you touching his stuff? He doesn't like it when people mess with his stuff. He will be back soon." Maeme's voice comes out soft and vaguely terrifying.

"Maeme, you do know that Sasori is-"

"There you are. You need to get some rest Maeme, let's get you to bed." Itachi stops behind her and places a hand on her shoulder, giving Konan a pointed look.

"Sasori is going to be mad that she's messing with his stuff though."

"Well, Konan can deal with that when the time comes."

After getting Maeme back into his room under Kisame's supervision, Itachi returns to Sasori's old room to ask Konan to keep a few of his belongings that he thought Maeme would like to have. When he enters his room again he is surprised to find Maeme sleeping on Kisame's shoulder. The swordsman gives him a silent plea for help so Itachi carefully lays her down and stitches her cut closed.

"Did she say anything while I was gone?" He asks.

"Well, she complained that Sasori would be mad that his stuff was being messed with."

"She said the same to Konan when we got there. I don't think she's accepted it yet."

"She also uh, said something else as she was falling asleep..." Kisame mumbles, avoiding his partner's stare. "She'd started to cry again and said something about how she thinks she loved him."

Itachi tenses but nods.

"I'm going to stay with her while she sleeps." He finally says.

"What is going to happen to her now? She wasn't a true member, she was just his subordinate. Defending Sasori was the only purpose she felt she had. Her whole life revolved around it. She's going to be broken for a long time."