"What is he doing here?" Akemi panicked pouring tea into cups and placing them neatly in lines on the tray. "He should not be here," She sucked in a breath and calmed her nerves. "T-This is not okay," She placed sugar and milk on the tray, too, because Gaara, and probably Itachi, had a sweet-tooth.

"My lady?" Neji arrived in the kitchen. Admittedly, he never allowed himself inside because he constantly saw Hinata, but he worked for Akemi now. Neji had to push his own tears aside.

"Yes?" Her frantic voice was small. He tried really hard not to furrow his brows in concern. His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Nothing, I just, was worried," his voice was gruff and painted over with grief. She looked so much like her. It was basically torture.

"Lord Neji, you mentioned the Hyuga disbanded. What happened?" After setting all the condiments and tea on the tray, Akemi turned and looked at him. Her fingers gripped her sleeve. Her lavender sleeve.

Neji nearly cringed. Akemi had to be Hinata in disguise. The Empress couldn't be dead.

"Empress Hinata, my dear cousin, declared that the Hyuga would disband. She said she could not stand the seal of our family, and asked every Hyuga to leave, but not before she removed our seals. Then, after almost everyone had left, the Empress set the Hyuga household on fire. The only few left in that palace was the Empress, a few loyal guards, and I. Only the guards and I escaped."

"Neji, I-I," she began and he pursed his lips. She stuttered the same way.

"I wish you could have met her. You and Hina, the Empress, would have been very good friends." Neji looked down towards the floor. Funny, Akemi's kimono ended in black with snowflakes at the bottom. "Where did you get that kimono?" Neji suddenly asked.

Akemi's face smiled softly.

"It was a gift from my best friend. I do not know her name, but I do know that I can only reach her through my dreams. One night, I was speaking to her, and she said to visit a sight twenty miles south-east of Suna. I made a pilgrimage there, and found this," she gestured towards the fancy cloth.

"She speaks? Does she have a chakra signature? This could be very dangerous, Lady Akemi," Neji said sternly. Peculiar. Why hadn't Akemi told him earlier? He remembered the pilgrimage, but the kimono was never mentioned.

"Oh! The tea will be cold soon, I am very sorry, Lord Neji, the elders would be mad at me, if the tea is not served on time," her small frown wove its way into his heart, and Neji sucked in a breath. She walked shakily outside, genuinely worried over the opinion of the elders.


Itachi lay awake that night. He could not find the confidence to leave his room and request for water or peppermint tea.

"She looks a lot like me," her voice whispered into his ear. He nodded, knowing fully well who was speaking. "You fear her, and what she could do to your mind," her voice contained complete and utter concern. Even in death, Empress Hinata Hyuga was still a caring person.

"It was not my fault," she continued. "I cannot help what she grew up to be, or who she looks like."

"Did you have to give her your kimono?" He spoke back, in whispers. Her chakra signature was strong. She could manifest anytime now. That didn't mean he wanted her to.

"No, but I felt that Neji would be soothed if she looked more like me," Itachi took a moment to digest her words.

"Neji did not look soothed. In fact, he was very on edge today."

Pearly eyes stared straight at him. Smooth white skin began to appear as if someone was painting her into physical existence. Midnight hair began to flow like a waterfall. Soon, a figure donned in a red kimono sat on his bed. Itachi did not flinch, he had been waiting. She was taking his chakra and combining it with his own, and creating a form.

"Why did you manifest here? The guards could think there is an intruder, our chakra is very strong."

"They will think you simply paid for affection," she laughed and smirked at him. Death changed Hinata. She no longer shook with human feelings, but she created them according to the situation. It scared him how good an actress she had become.

"Will you join me for breakfast later?" He really wanted her to stay. She spent three years trying to manifest, tying herself to him for an anchor into this world. Itachi let himself get attached to her. He knew that was a fatal mistake, but didn't care.

She, too, knew it was a mistake.

"Of course," she said. She smiled gracefully, and lay down next to him. "I have finally mastered how to manifest, but it will only last as long as my chakra can supply."

"I'm an anchor, remember?" He laughed, and let himself be soothed by the sound of his own breathing. He smiled slightly remembering that she did not have to breathe now.