"You haven't told me where we're going yet, Itachi." Kisame uttered under his breath as he leaped from branch to branch through the trees, the only reply he got being the chirping of birds and rustling leaves. "By the looks of it, we're heading up north, straight toward Konoha." Again, it was only Itachi's silence he was left to take as an answer. "Not that I mind coming back here, but what might the reason be this time? Surely the Leader isn't planning anything for now."

But even Kisame could tell when his partner was in a bad mood and today was one of those days so his questions had to wait at least until Itachi was feeling less like beating him to a bloody pulp. As far as he knew, it was nothing concerning his younger brother, nor any secret mission the Leader had entrusted him with so soon after completing their previous one. Something else was going on. As for Konoha, Kisame had been right. The walls were already in sight and Itachi was still heading full speed toward them. What could be so important for them to return to the Fire Country?

"Kisame."

"Hai!"

"Let's wait for nightfall."

The curt order was respected at once. They both stopped between the branches of the trees, where no one could spot them unless looking for them on purpose. Kisame leaned against the rough bark, still expecting an explanation that he knew wasn't going to come; at least not from this Itachi. So he waited, counting the moments it took the light of the setting sun to fade to an absolute darkness, as his partner had chosen a moonless night to sneak into his old home village.

They moved swiftly, sneaking past the walls without any problem and dashing across the streets at a speed Kisame considered no less suspicious than their red-cloud robes. After their last infiltration, everyone in Konoha knew how Akatsuki affiliates looked like and if anyone spotted them their visit would be shorter than they had expected. If only he knew what Itachi was up to – it irked him not to know what was going on.

Itachi stopped at an intersection and seemed to focus his charka. Kisame waited respectfully, his tongue itching to utter the dreaded question. But the raven-haired man didn't give him much time to think about his itching tongue because he resumed his fast pace, leaving the streets of Konoha for the rooftops. It was a quiet night, so quiet their steps seemed to echo too loudly into the night and its hollow depth. Finally, he stopped again, this time in front of a window, through which a simple room could be seen. In the bed underneath the window, a man could be seen sleeping with a kunai close to his head, tightly held in his fist.

"What are we doing here? Who is that man?" Kisame decided to try his luck again.

Surprisingly, this time Itachi replied, and the fact that he replied was far less astounding than his words.

"My former ANBU teammate."

"Who are you two and why are you sneaking around?" another voice surprised them, making Kisame turn around instantly and Itachi close his eyes patiently, taking in the sound of the familiar voice. "Akatsuki!" he spat, his grip on the kunai tightening until his knuckles became white. "I'm warning you, don't try anything. Now, turn around. Slowly." He said, looking at Itachi without taking his eyes off Kisame for too long either.

Itachi turned his head only and fixed the man with one blazing sharingan orb, making him start visibly in surprise, his kunai slightly hesitating in the air.

"Uchiha Itachi!" he exclaimed in a whispered voice. "What in the name of the earth are you doing here?!"

Kisame grinned.

"Hey, no wonder you were ANBU teammates. You almost got me fooled with that sleeping replica."

"Don't tell me this weird looking brute is your partner."

Itachi finally turned around completely, apparently oblivious to the man's weapon aimed at his heart. Kisame bit his tongue after looking at his partner, deciding it was better to leave things to him this time. The man continued, in a cold tone.

"Why are you here? I'm sure this is not just a courtesy visit."

The Uchiha's eyes narrowed, glowering spitefully.

"Where's Shikyo?"

Kisame watched as the man's face changed color at the sound of the name, but he quickly recomposed and shook his head.

"How am I supposed to know? She's a missing-nin. If I knew where she was, she'd be dead by now."

At the end of this confession, Kisame heard what he thought was a low sigh coming from his partner.

"You know where she is, Koichi." He hissed like a snake ready to sink its fangs into the flesh of its victim.

The man's heart was starting to flutter nervously. He fidgeted, trying to stretch his lips in a confident smile Itachi didn't buy.

"What makes you think that?"

"I have no time for such foolish games. You will either tell me where she went, or I will hurt you and you will tell me where she went."

The other man seemed to take his time considering the two options, but finally sighed contemptuously and spoke.

"You're the same man I knew, Uchiha Itachi. Damn you. She went into hiding and as far as I know, she should still be in Yukigakure."

Itachi gazed deep into his eyes to make sure the man wasn't lying, then knocked him unconscious with a single swirl of his sharingan and off they were, heading north again, to Yukigakure as Kisame suspected. The Kirigakure nin waited until they were safely away from Konoha to resume his train of questions as to who these characters were and why was Itachi going through so much trouble to trace them.

"Who's this Shikyo we're after?"

Itachi didn't feel like giving any explanation. He was tired from the previous day of constant traveling and from tampering with Koichi's mind so that he wouldn't remember anything of that late-night visit and the last thing he needed was a curious Kisame to stick his nose in his business. However, this man was his partner and was ready to stand by his side should anything unexpected occur, so the least he could do was explain the situation to him.

"My other former ANBU teammate."

He couldn't understand why suddenly this man who had broken all ties to Konoha and those he'd left behind was suddenly so dedicated to finding his former partner in a remote location such as Yukigakure. Itachi had never spoken about his childhood or his experience as an ANBU, so Kisame found it curious for them to trace one of his long lost partners. Even so, he refrained from asking anymore questions, for fear Itachi might both get angry with him and not give him any answers as well.

The trip to Yukigakure was over in less than a week, which was quite fast considering the distance between Konoha and Yuki, but then again, Itachi didn't like to waste any time and Kisame didn't mind going along, with his immense chakra supply. The weather proved to be their biggest hinder, holding them back one night, during a snow storm.

Yukigakure had always been a village too small to enter any conflicts and was, therefore, home to neutrality - a no man's land where most ninja were refugees who had fled their countries in search for adventure or after committing certain irresponsible deeds. The power of this nation surged from the mercenaries who had established their headquarters there, either in small organizations which were a far cry from the elusive Akatsuki, or merely working as freelancers.

"So, where should we start looking for her?" Kisame asked as they entered the village that cold morning, stopping to look around at the snow-covered buildings around them. "How about some hot sake? You sure look like you need it." He muttered under his breath, his voice ragged after running for so long without a break.

Without any words to approve or disprove Kisame's suggestion, Itachi moved toward the first inn he saw, with his blue-skinned partner gladly following. The warmth inside soaked their freezing bones, making them feel like they were melting with pleasure. The unpleasant tingling that followed brought with it a wish to get back outside, in the cold. However, they went to the bar and sat, Kisame ordering two cups of sake and more to come. After bringing their order, the bartender asked politely if they were going to stay for the night, a question to which Kisame and Itachi both answered at the same time: one with a yes, the other with a dark no.

As the warm liquid made its way down Itachi's throat and into his stomach, the tickling pain of his body becoming gradually less numb began to fade into a pleasant sensation. A hot bath would have been perfect, but they had no time for such things, because they needed to get to Shikyo as soon as possible.

"Sake."

The curt order captured Itachi's attention and he looked at the person sitting on the chair next to him. If the voice had got his attention with its familiarity, then the curly red hair sprawled across the woman's back to her waist removed any shadow of a doubt that so little effort could be repaid so quickly. Even though it had been almost eight years since he'd last seen her and the features of her face were vague in his mind, that flaming red hair was something that could not so easily fade in his memories of her.

"You seem surprised to see me, Itachi-san." The woman suddenly spoke, without looking at him from behind the red curls protecting her face from him.

Kisame looked in surprise at the redhead, wondering if it was possible Shikyo had found them instead of them looking for her all over Yukigakure. Itachi didn't let any of his surprise surface and the kunoichi didn't look at them. She took a sip of the sake the bartender had brought her and remained silent, her lashes half down to her pale cheek, on which no freckles could be seen.

"After all" she continued, in the same flat tone "It's been a long time."

The woman turned her face to the Uchiha, fixing him with a pair of cold, grey eyes that sparkled vividly from behind red curls. Her face was heart-shaped, adorned with full lips on which no smirk was a stranger and steel-grey eyes hard behind the complex net of curled, dark lashes. However, her life as a kunoichi had not left her unmarked, as a scar betrayed that peculiar beauty, starting from the corner of her left eye to her temple, surrounded by soft wrinkles implied by the difficult healing process of an old wound.

"So. What are you doing here?" the woman asked, returning to her sake after scrutinizing Kisame to the smallest of details. "Akatsuki never come here."

"I was looking for you." He replied, finishing his sake.

"Oh? And what business might Itachi Uchiha have with me?" the redhead frowned, pushing her sake cup away.

His eyes narrowed, watching her slender hand move to a pocket in her robes to take out a thin cigarette she lit elegantly after placing it between her rosy lips. Kisame ordered himself another drink after receiving no reply from his partner at his offer to buy him too another drink. It seemed he was out of the discussion for a while.

"How far has your research on the sharingan gone?"

She turned her head, putting on a poker face to hide her surprise.

"Not far. After you were gone, I had no one to experiment with. Kakashi wasn't a very good test subject since he wasn't an Uchiha and your little brother… well, to be honest, even after he gained the sharingan he would have been nothing more than a waste of my time."

"And your medical skills?"

"Just enough to keep myself alive through injury." She said after a small pause and a suspicious gaze.

Kisame finished another bottle of sake, listening to the discussion with much more interest that he was capable of showing. Itachi had been curiously talkative, almost keeping what could vaguely be called a conversation going. Shikyo, however, seemed reluctant to share her experience with him.

"You're losing your sight." She stated casually all of the sudden, sipping the last drop of sake from her cup. "I can't help you, unless you want someone to just soothe the pain when necessary."

Without another word, Itachi stood up, leaving money for both his and Kisame's sake, then paced toward the door, the tall, blue-skinned shinobi following him closely, sulking a bit for the sake he'd not been able to finish. The bartender looked at the redhead gazing in space and frowned, not sure that the two creepy-looking fellows wouldn't come back if she were still there. The woman noticed and threw a glare at him, finishing her sake in one sip before paying and leaving the inn.

"Nee, Itachi. Who was that woman?" Kisame insisted on getting information, having won more guts after drinking quite a few cups of sake.

"Shikyo of the Kobura clan in Konoha."

"Never heard of it." The blue man shrugged.

Itachi didn't bother continue with details as of why that clan wasn't at all known, although his knowledge about it was vast, having been Shikyo's ANBU captain for almost a year. Kisame also felt too drowsy to ask anything else, so they kept on a steady pace for a while, with the howling wind wheezing in their ears and cold snow falling off branches under their feet. In the end, it had all been for nothing. For a moment, just a moment, Itachi had actually put all of his hope in that woman, only to be let down. Years before, when she was on his ANBU team, her medical skills had earned great expectancy, portraying her a successful future as a medic-nin, but now, to hear that all she could use them for was 'keep herself alive through injury', it made him so spiteful toward her that he almost regretted not killing her on the spot. What else was she good for now anyway? Cooking?