When seven year old Yusei walked into the kitchen that morning, he found his mother on her knees crying, her head in her hands as her shoulders trembled. His heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. He rushed over to her side and shook her gently. "Mom! Mom! What's wrong?"
She started to laugh and looked up at him with a smile. He hesitated for a moment, frowning in bewilderment. She pulled him into a tight hug and laughed. "It's over! The war is over! Itachi will be coming home tonight!"
Yusei barely remembered his father but he was happy to see her smile so broadly again. He hugged her back and laughed too.
"What did you say?" Asked a woman with short purple spiky hair as she poked her head through the doorway. "The war is over?"
About halfway through the war, most of Kirigakure was destroyed and there was no time to waste on reconstruction. The refugees were divided between the countries with a good number sent to Konoha. Miko had wished to take in more; her heart went out to all of them. But there was only one spare bedroom and most of the families that immigrated were too large. Ritsuko and her daughter Katsuye seemed ideal, especially since her daughter was only a year older than Yusei.
While the kids had gotten along from the start, it was a different story with Miko and Ritsuko. They were two completely different personalities. Ritsuko was everything Miko wasn't; sarcastic, private, and pessimistic. She wasn't rude on purpose, but it was clear that she wasn't interested in getting close to anyone. Miko did her best to put on a cheerful face, assuming that it was just the trauma of leaving home that was the source of her pain.
But it wasn't until Miko saw a confrontation in the village when she learned that Ritsuko had a dark secret. One of the Mist villagers taunted her about her husband. This surprised Miko because she had no idea Ritsuko was married. Not only did she have a husband, but he was Kisame Hoshigaki, an current member of Akatsuki. Ritsuko's face was calm, but the look in her eye was thunderous. She held back until the verbal attack was directed to her daughter. Then she knocked the lout off his feet and roughed him up a bit before kicking him aside. "Leave her out of this! It has nothing to do with her!"
Katsuye was crying and Ritsuko quickly picked her up and carried her away. Miko followed after them to make sure they were alright. She found them in the alley, Ritsuko crying along with her daughter as she hugged her close.
"Is Daddy a bad man?" Katsuye blubbered.
"No, no he isn't," she gently shushed her. "He's one of the best men who ever lived. The others just can't understand that."
Just then she looked up to see Miko, Yusei, and Tsuki standing there and she turned bright red and lowered her gaze. Miko whispered in Tsuki's ear to entertain the children. The two chased after him, his tail wagging as he taunted them to grab it. Ritsuko remained on the ground, face calm but silent tears still fell. "What happened back there?" Miko asked gently.
Ritsuko refused to look up. "It isn't your concern."
"You're right," Miko agreed as she sat beside her. "But I still want to help if I can."
Ritsuko chuckled grimly. "I'm past help Miko-san. Look, I appreciate your kindness, but the less you know the better."
Miko threw her arms around Ritsuko's neck and hugged her tightly despite her protest. "My husband used to be in Akatsuki. I know how it feels to have others hate you. I have felt the pain and shame that comes when others ridicule the one you love. To hear the slander hurts almost as much as being apart from them."
Ritsuko was still for a minute until she hugged Miko back and cried into her shoulder. "I miss him so much!"
It reminded Miko of how Itachi was when she first met him, strong on the outside and lonely on the inside. She held Ritsuko close and let her cry it out. After that Ritsuko warmed up considerably and they became genuine friends. Because they had both shared the same pain it connected them in an indescribable way. They confided in each other; Miko revealed her Kitsune identity and Ritsuko told her about her terrible childhood.
"That's right Ritsuko-hime," Miko grinned as she approached her. "After four terrible years the war is finally over."
Ritsuko glared, but its intensity failed to diminish Miko's high spirits. "Will you quit calling me that? I'm not a princess. Now I wish I never told you about my parents."
"Well it doesn't change the fact that you are a princess," Miko countered with a wink. "You deserve the title."
She sighed wearily. "I keep telling you that bastards don't count. But anyway, how do you know the war is over?"
"I just got the message from Itachi. He says it's official now that Akatsuki has been defeated and the Impure World Resurrection Jutsu has been lifted." She paused for a moment. "You don't look very happy. Is something wrong?"
Ritsuko shrugged as she walked past her to get some breakfast. "Just because I'm not jumping for joy doesn't mean I'm not happy the war is over. So when does Itachi-san return?"
Miko frowned after her, trying to figure out her mood. "Sometime tonight."
Ritsuko nodded as she took a sip of tea. "That's give me plenty of time. We'll be out of your way before then."
"You're leaving?" Miko's jaw dropped. Yusei's eyes widened and he raced out of the room. Miko approached Ritsuko. "But why? Kirigakure hasn't been rebuilt yet."
"I'm not returning to Kirigakure," Ritsuko said as she peered at Miko over the top of her cup. "I've already found another place here in Konoha that's just right for Katsuye and I. I was just waiting for the war to end before we moved in."
Miko took her cup and set it aside, looking gravely serious. "But why leave so soon?"
Ritsuko lowered her gaze. "I don't want to be here when Itachi-san returns. It would be…more than I think I can bear." She looked up to see Miko's devastated face. "Don't give me that look, there's need to get all teary over it. The fact is that the time has come for your family to be complete and I have no part in that."
Miko started to protest but Ritsuko gently rested a hand on her arm to stop her. "I didn't mean it to sound so harsh. I only meant that you need time to reconnect with your husband, and especially Yusei since he barely remembers him. Katsuye and I would be in the way. But don't worry, we'll see each other often enough."
Miko recognized that false smile; the one Ritsuko wore whenever she put on her brave face. Although it had been two years, she still mourned the loss of Kisame. At the time she said that she was grateful, because he was now free of the organization they both despised. But it didn't take away the pain completely. It also didn't take away the reality that he had taken her place to save her. She had always regretted that he had to. In that light Miko could understand why Ritsuko didn't want to be here when Itachi returned. It would be another reminder of something she would never have. Miko knew her friend's temperament well enough by now to not press the matter further. Ritsuko had made up her mind. "All right then, at least let me help you move."
Meanwhile Yusei had raced into the room that Katsuye shared with her mother. She was reading a book when he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her so violently that she dropped the book altogether. "Say it isn't true! Say it isn't true!"
She grabbed his shoulders. "Stop! What has gotten into you?" She cried out.
He hugged her tightly around the neck. "Say you aren't moving!"
"So the war is over then," she said softly as she hugged him back. "Then yes, mom and I are moving."
Yusei started to cry. She was his best friend; she couldn't just leave him behind. "I don't want you to," he pouted. "Stay here with me."
"We're only moving a few houses away," she said. "We'll still be friends."
He pulled back to wipe his nose on the back of his hand. "Promise?"
She nodded. "I promise."
He smiled back as he reached out to touch the gill marks under the corners of her eyes and she in turn gently tugged on his fox ears with a smile of her own. Both were teased by the other kids and it was easier to share the embarrassment of being different when you had someone else who stood out. But that was not the only basis for their friendship. Yusei was grateful to have someone to play with but Katsuye's reasons were very different. When she first arrived at the Uchiha household, she used to wear a ribbon around her face to hide the gill marks. Her mother had tried to persuade her that they were nothing to be ashamed of, but no amount of persuasion could convince her otherwise. While Yusei's ears and tail certainly took her by surprise, she found his playful and mischievous nature very thrilling. One day the ribbon fell off when they were rolling down the hill in a race. As he tried to give it back, he stared at her. She blushed with shame as she snatched the ribbon back. But he stopped her as she tried to tie it back on. "Don't," he said seriously. "You look even prettier without it."
She had never forgotten that moment. The moment she was accepted so completely and she never wore it again.
"Are you excited that your Dad will be coming home?" She asked as she bent down to pick up the book.
He shrugged as he flopped onto the bed Ritsuko used. "I dunno. I don't really remember him."
She frowned. "But all those pictures of the two of you…"
"I was two then. He was only home for a year before the war started." He stared at the ceiling as he tried to remember his father. But it was no use; he had been too young then.
"Will you give him anything special?" She asked as she pulled out her suitcase from under her bed and started packing.
He frowned at her. "Why would I do that?"
"Why else? To welcome him home." She said. "To surprise him."
He tapped the side of his mouth as he thought about it. Then a devious grin spread slowly on his lips and she groaned. "I mean a good surprise, not one of your usual ones."
He scowled at her killjoy manner. "A surprise is a surprise. They aren't good or bad."
"Tell that to Kakashi-san," she said simply as she folded up her clothes and arranged them neatly in their place. "I'm pretty sure he didn't think that explosion tag in his underwear drawer was a good surprise."
"I dunno, I thought I did a bang up job," he laughed at his own joke.
She giggled. "He certainly was surprised, I'll give you that."
"So it was a success," he said as he hopped off the bed. He closed the lid of her suitcase, nearly closing on her hand as it snapped shut. "Do that later," he said as she protested when he grabbed her hand and pulled her out the door. "Help me think of something memorable."
"Why do I think this will be a bad idea?" She asked in exasperation.
"Hey, it's your fault for mentioning it in the first place." He said with a grin.
"Where are you two going?" Miko called out just as they stepped out the door.
Katsuye bumped into him as he turned around. He made his eyes look all big and shiny as he tilted his head to the side and perked up his ears in an effort to look super cute. "We just wanted to plan a surprise for Dad when he gets back, that's all."
Miko approached him and playfully tweaked his ears. "Hey I taught you that trick, it doesn't work on me!"
"Alright, alright," he grumbled as he pulled away. "But it was the truth."
"Let me see this surprise before you show it to him," she said with a warning look. "And don't be gone long alright? Ritsuko-hime will need Katsuye-chan's help later."
"Sure thing," he said as he waved goodbye and they hurried down the street.
"I think your mom is on to your tricks," Katsuye said with a grin.
"Yeah but she hasn't thought it all the way through," he grinned back. "The surprise I show her doesn't have to be the one I end up using."