WRITERS NOTE
Originally I wasn't going to make my OC's older brother a main character and that's why I hadn't named him! He now has a name and I'm unashamed at the AOT reference ;-;

CHAPTER TEN: POSSESSIONS

"Tsunade-sama what do you mean Eden has been missing for 2 days!?" My voice echoed violently in the hokage's office and I'm almost certain the whole of Konoha would have heard but not a single part of me could care. I couldn't contain the anger welling up inside me, how could my little sister be subject to any harm? I was wholly promised her safe return..

"Eren please-"

"You promised, Tsunade! You promised me that Eden would return completely safe and that's why you wouldn't allow me to seek the Akatsuki-"

"Eren-"

"I absolutely would not have let her go and you know this!"

"EREN!"

I was shaking with rage. I don't care that I'm ANBU and that I have my own responsibilities but this was above all of them.

"Tsunade she is like a daughter to you, you should have never allowed her to leave Konoha. Especially when you know who is with the Akatsuki.."

Tsunade's furrowed her brows and shot me a typical glare worthy of the Hokage. Had the Hokage had been a man I would have fought it out right here and now. It was just Tsunade and me in this room so I felt absolutely no need for pleasantries.

"Eren stop this nonsense." Tsunade's firm voice cut the tense air. "If I had ever known she would take off from the group then I would never have dreamed of allowing her to leave. She was the strongest in the group I sent so I'm thankful the rest returned safely too-" this meant so little to me right now.

I angrily sighed and I couldn't focus my vision on any one thing in front of me due to feeling so restless. My thoughts kept shifting from between the last time I'd seen Eden at home so many weeks ago and so many fleeting images of what could have happened to my little sister. Or more specifically, I was thinking of who could have done something to her.

I focused on deep breaths and tapping my foot to calm down. Nothing ever throws me off balance except family; Eden was the last thing I have left.

Tsunade still kept her solid exterior but I knew she felt every bit responsible for this situation and I softened slightly feeling empathy towards her, being angry wasn't going to help anyone.

"Tsunade," somehow my thoughts were gathering but I still couldn't quite take all the information in, "did you know the Uchiha would be there at their hideout?"

Tsunade fell silent, immediately telling me what I needed to now. Here came the anger again.

"You knew!? You knew and STILL you allowed Eden to leave!? How can you sit there and call yourself Hokage when you may as well have signed Eden's death warrant yourself!?"

"Eren if you don't calm down I will make you calm down."

I was shaking so much and I'm sure there was steam coming out my ears but I bit my tongue and forced myself to sit down. I placed my head in my hands between my knees and stared at the floor.

"Eren I'm fully aware of the situation and you are right, I am at fault with this.." Tsunade turned to face the windows that opened out to see the whole of Konoha. "I owe both you and Eden an apology when we find her-"

"If." My anger was flowing to my face in the shape of tears forming in my eyes. "If we find her-"

"We'll find her, Eren," Tsunade challenged as she tilted her face to my direction. "Before she left this office I placed a tracking seal on the paperwork she kept with her. I'm not stupid enough to send her to Akatsuki territory knowing Itachi Uchiha could easily harm her. I haven't forgotten.."

My head absentmindedly snapped up at Tsunade's hopeful words. "So you mean we can track her? She always keeps mission logs close, it's unlike Eden to miss out any details-"

"We can.."

Tsunade turned away again. Great. There was a 'but' coming..

"I know Eden's chakra like my own, it took me no time at all to create a way of locating her.. Her chakra changed at some point yesterday morning, it's been impossible to sense her.."

How can someone's chakra just, change?

I got no answers so I left, politely of course. I needed to get my thoughts together so I found a quiet place near the exam fields to just sit and process everything.

There was a slight breeze behind me and I sighed knowing that I wasn't alone.

"Kakashi it's rude to show up uninvited."

The copy ninja chuckled to himself and ambled to my side, joining his gaze in the same direction as mine over the exam field. My head told me that I wanted to be left alone but maybe being around a close friend like Kakashi would help put my swirling emotions at ease.

"We'll find her Eren, relax." Kakashi looked over me from the corner of his eye, the same way he always did. Neither of us have ever been very good at showing much affection but I guess the mutual awkwardness made us both understand each other even more.

Kakashi had always been there for both me and my sister and I'd always been so thankful for it. Even though we were the same age I sometimes felt an older brother aura from him and it made so much easier to handle knowing I could always look up to him. Even though he had a Sharingan it didn't unsettle me but maybe it made him feel more like a brother; he had an Uchiha's power but not an Uchiha's darkness.

Kakashi was maybe stronger than I was at supporting Eden growing up, we'd both shown her love in different ways. Of course a brothers love is unconditional, Eden can grind my gears at times but still she would be my best friend at the end of the day. To Kakashi, Eden can do no wrong. She could break him, the most composed and tactical ninja, to a clumsy and awkward mess of a man with just a smile or flick of her hair. In an ideal world, if our pasts hadn't clouded us siblings, I would have thought Kakashi could have taken her hand and I would have been happy for them both.

I sighed and subconsciously let go of the animosity I was holding.

"It's hard sitting here knowing there's not much I can do Kakashi," I pinched the bridge of my nose in defeat. "I can't help but think Itachi is involved with this somehow, call it paranoia or just intuition or whatever. I just don't have a good feeling-"

"If he is, we deal with it. If he isn't then we still deal with it." Kakashi turned away from me completely, maybe trying to hide his own irritation towards Eden's disappearance. I knew he needed to confirm her safety as much as I did, even if maybe for different reasons.

"Eren you've just got back from a mission, you must be hungry. Let's go to Ichiraku and try and figure out what to do from there," Kakashi turned and offered me his hand to pull me to my feet. I could tell he was smiling even with half of his face covered. Maybe I did need a break, maybe I was overreacting and maybe like every other time Kakashi was right and knew what was best for me.

We left the hideout before dawn, before any prying eyes could see. I wondered how long it would take to reach Konoha but only for the thought of wanting to know how much time I had left with Itachi. He kept a fair distance from me and was silent but I only assumed this was a defensive matter, whether it was against any ambushes or whether he was trying to defend himself from me. My heart felt heavy and all I wanted to do was pull him towards me tightly and disarm his glowing red eyes.

His Sharingan. These were the one thing I hated. These were his barrier and they restrained the Itachi I loved most. My Itachi..

Before long Itachi stopped and my feet followed the motion. I turned to Itachi and his eyes were fixed on the leaf village a good few miles away clear on the horizon. I can never seem to exactly make his thoughts out, but I could tell that this wasn't easy for him to be so close to home yet so far away in more ways than one.

A cold morning breeze blew around us which made me shiver slightly. Itachi instantly tilted his head and instinctively shifted his line of sight to me in the corner of his crimson eyes. He didn't hold my gaze and shifted to stare at the ground around us and the tide of silence didn't feel like it was going to change. Not hearing Itachi's voice was becoming painful and making me more anxious in saying goodbye. It was taking so much strength out of me to not cry and I clenched my fists to try and fight it.

"Eden this is where I leave you, I can't get any closer to the village."

Yep. I was going to break. I was not ready to say goodbye. Not yet..

"There are ways I can watch over you but just make sure you don't take any detours and go straight to Konoha-"

"Itachi.." the tears in my eyes were almost overflowing. "Why can't you look at me properly.."

If I hadn't known better it was almost like Itachi had turned to stone, I realised right then that he had been avoiding me as best as he could the last few hours.

"I don't want to say goodbye.."

Itachi turned fully and walked towards me in only a few steps and stood directly in front of me, raising a hand to cup my chin.

"I don't break promises, Eden. I told you I'd come to Konoha, I will come to you. Please, believe in me a little.." Itachi's Sharingan swirled into their black origin once more, he must have known now how his eyes comfort me. I was lost for words or at least I couldn't find the right ones and I was losing the battle of trying to withhold tears from falling from my eyes. Like before, Itachi caught each one and wiped them away so softly, I was amazed I paid any attention to anything other than his onyx eyes.

I was defeated entirely, I was such a weak pawn and this was checkmate.

"Don't.. keep me waiting.." were all the feeble words I could croak.

Without saying too much I somehow tore myself from Itachi and I could feel his eyes watch me every step or stumble I made on my solitary journey back into the leaf village. I didn't turn back once, I didn't want Itachi to see my red face from still crying even if he was a good distance off. I'd promised to keep as much control over my chakra as possible, I couldn't let anyone in Konoha know about my Sharingan for my own safety and also to spare explanations. The one person I was going to have to lie to was my own brother..

I reached the huge village gates and stopped momentarily, I was home yet it felt so far from that now. I hesitated but I turned to scan the horizon behind me, the sun starting to set overhead made the usual green vicinity glow gold. Somehow I could make out the silhouette of the man who still held my heart fixed in the same place I had left him, and I could feel a weight pull me down from wanting to feel his warmth on my skin.

Internally I confessed my affections and turned to make my way home, at least it was a place to lay my head. A gust of wind whipped through my hair as a flock of black crows broke out into flight above me. They captivated me entirely as I watched them circle over the village before returning to the horizon behind me.

Home is where the heart is and my heart wasn't in Konoha.