The more Karumi thought about what had happened to her just a few days ago, the less she understood. Sure, she'd often been told that the only way to fix her sight required inhuman amounts of chakra - and the one-tailed beast, Shukaku, was definitely not human - but why had it hit her in the first place? Sure, Karumi had been standing close to the chakra stream, but couldn't comprehend why it had diverted from its path.

Perhaps the chakra had a mind of its own and wanted to be anywhere but that terrifying statue; or maybe it naturally drifted toward the nearest human host. Whatever the case was, Karumi would probably never know.

What she did know, however, was that being able to see - even if only half her sight had been restored - made her life so much easier, regardless of how poor her depth perception was. She worked faster now, whether it was in making medicines or treating her patients, and although Karumi found it difficult to keep up, Tetsuya was taking time every week to teach her to read and write.

Currently, Karumi sat at her work table, working at a speed she'd never worked at before. Her boys sat beside her, separating the leaves and roots of various medicinal herbs, asking every now and again what the plants actually did.

Karumi heard footsteps in the hallway before she heard the thudding knock at the door, and, knowing it wasn't Tetsuya, she looked up from her work. "Come in!"

The door opened slowly to reveal the familiar blue-haired figure of Konan, her face somewhat grey and sunken with exhaustion. "You seem well," she murmured, closing the door behind herself.

"Sadly, I can't say the same for you," Karumi laughed, standing and offering her seat. "Have a seat. I'll get some tea ready."

As she went about her work, even without looking, Karumi could feel Konan's eyes on her, watching intensely. "Pain told me you'd regained your sight," she stated. "I'm surprised to see you've adjusted so well."

Karumi smiled. "Only half my sight," she corrected, adding a mixture of herbal tea leaves to a cup of hot water. "But things are definitely easier."

Konan flashed her a grateful smile as she took the cup, taking a long sip before heaving an exhausted sigh. "Sasori is gone," she murmured. "Killed in action."

A chill ran down Karumi's spine. "Who..?"

"A Leaf Village ninja named Sakura Haruno," Konan stated. "With assistance by Chiyo of the Sand Village."

"The puppeteer?" Karumi blurted, though quickly regained her composure. Despite Chiyo's expertise concerning puppets, Karumi knew her more for her talents as a poison specialist; much like Sasori was. "That's unfortunate."

Konan nodded in agreement, quietly taking another long sip of tea. "I wanted to talk to you," she murmured. "No as a higher up, but as a...friend."

Speechless, Karumi could only nod. Despite being the only females in the organisation, she and Konan weren't exactly close. Usually, the older woman would only visit if she had a job for Karumi to do - or bad news to deliver. "What did you want to talk about?"

"You have helped the Akatsuki immensely," Konan stated. "Despite not leaving the city, support for our organisation has increased dramatically since you began treating our sick and injured."

Her gaze wandered over to where Hotaru and Tonbo sat, staring at the two women.

"I wanted to talk to you about you and Itachi," she continued. "And their future."

"That's Papa's name, isn't it?" Tonbo asked, looking up at Karumi.

"Is Papa coming home?" Hotaru asked excitedly.

"Not for another few months," Karumi murmured, gently stroking his hair. "But we'll see him soon."

"That's what I wanted to talk about," Konan spoke. "What are your plans on the off chance that Itachi..."

She glanced down at the twins once again.

"Fails a mission?"

Karumi swallowed tightly, moving her hand to rest on Hotaru's shoulder. "If...it would be safe to do so," she muttered quietly. "I would likely stay here. I have a job, a place to live, and plenty of support."

She pursed her lips, feeling her stomach sink further the more she thought about Itachi not being around anymore: the same aching feeling she'd felt many times before when having her own unprovoked dark thoughts about her and Itachi's future.

"Besides," she added, trying not to let her voice shake. "I'm used to him not being with me."

XXXXXXX

It had been two months since Itachi had last 'seen' Karumi - although that was only a silhouette - and despite the fact that Pain had reassured the group that she was safe, the Uchiha had found it increasingly harder not to worry about her. He'd ignored Kisame's teasing to the point that the Mist Ninja was now bored of making fun of him at all.

"I'm going to go find an inn," Kisame muttered, looking up as the blue of the sky began to disappear completely behind the dark grey storm clouds. "You coming?"

Itachi stared ahead as the skyline of the Rain Village came into view. "No," he murmured. "I have some business to attend to."

Kisame snorted dryly but said nothing, disappearing from sight as Itachi continued his steady pace toward the village, the slow build up of anxiety he'd been feeling all this time finally beginning to subside as he grew closer and closer.

To say Itachi wasn't cut out for family life would have been a lie. In fact, he wanted nothing more than to settle down permanently with Karumi and his sons; but he had a mission, and Itachi had proven to himself time and time again that his mission was more important than his own wants and needs.

That resolve wavered, however, as Itachi finally reached Karumi's building, climbing the stairs up to the floor that held her workroom. Despite it being so late at night, Itachi had no doubt that Karumi would still be working. After all, she couldn't tell how dark it had gotten, and often became so absorbed in making medicine that she didn't really care.

Then again, as Itachi peered down the hallway, into the examination room, and into the apothecary, he realised he may have been wrong. The floor was empty of people, and, even when Itachi focused on listening to the sounds around him, he couldn't hear any signs that there were children anywhere near the building.

A creaking noise sounded from the floor above, and Itachi moved quickly, fearing the worst. It was unlikely Karumi would be out so late, so where was she? Could someone have broken in? What reason would they have to kill the village's most skilled medical ninja?

Itachi made his way up to the next floor, pushing at the door to find it unlocked, letting it swing open easily. Slowly, he made his way inside, heart beating in his ears and adrenaline coursing through his veins despite the fact that he'd almost certainly faced stronger people before.

Despite the darkness, Itachi noticed movement at the end of the hallway, narrowing his eyes and reaching for a kunai, readying for a fight.

But that fight never came. Instead, the ceiling lights flickered on, making Itachi flinch slightly and blink rapidly as the figure at the end of the hallway came into view: petite, with unkempt long white hair cascading down her shoulders, wearing a large grey t-shirt and loose jade green trousers. Her large eyes stared back at him, one, the marble white Itachi was used to; the other, a deep zaffre blue he'd only seen in his son.

"Itachi?" the young woman asked with the - albeit sleepy - voice he'd been longing to hear for months. "What are you doing here?"

"Karumi," the Uchiha breathed, unable to stop himself from glancing at the flurry of inky black markings that surrounded her blue eye, effectively taking up half of her face. "I just-"

Before he could finish, Karumi was running toward him, flinging her arms around his torso and pressing her face into his chest. "I missed you," she mumbled, her voice muffled against his cloak, before she tilted her head up, surveying his expression.

"I missed you too," Itachi murmured, looking up at the empty hallway. "Where are the boys?"

"They stay with Tetsuya and his mother once a week," Karumi explained, stifling a yawn. "It gives me time to catch up on work."

As she moved to pull away, Itachi's hand grabbed hers, and he gently brushed his fingertips against the black markings that covered half her face, feeling her cheeks flush with warmth.

"Side effects from the one-tailed beast's chakra," she muttered, averting her eyes as she touched the markings as well. "Sorry, they're not all that-"

Not letting her finish, Itachi gently cupped her face and closed his eyes, placing his lips against hers, moving his hands to wrap around her waist and pull her body to him. He'd been wanting to do this ever since he'd left her side, and now that they were together again, there was no way he was letting her go. As their lips moved together, Karumi's arms reached up to rest on his shoulders, pressing her body even closer, though she was soon forced to pull away, panting breathlessly.

"...attractive," she finished, unable to take her eyes off Itachi despite both her face and neck flushing dark pink.

Once again, Itachi cupped her face in his hands, running his thumb over the intricate design, as though it had been expertly tattooed onto her skin. "I think they're beautiful," he muttered, watching Karumi's eyes widen and her cheeks grow even redder.

As if she couldn't hold herself back anymore, Karumi's lips were once more pressed against Itachi's, her arms once again reach up to wrap around the back of his neck. Unlike Karumi's previous attempts at initiating kisses, which were always clumsy yet incredibly endearing, this kiss was different. This kiss was confident, sensual and incredibly alluring.

This time it was Itachi's turn to pull away, resting his forehead against hers, unable to stop the corners of his mouth from lifting into a smile. "Are you going to invite me in?" he asked, his heart beating so loudly in his chest that he could barely hear himself think. "Or are we going to spend all night standing in the doorway?"

Karumi laughed, placing another quick kiss against his lips before stepping away from him, taking both of Itachi's hands in hers and intertwining their fingers. "You started it," she murmured coyly, pulling him further into the house and toward her bedroom, ready to demonstrate how much she'd really missed him.