"Katon: Ryuuka No Jutsu!"

Hinata spitted flames from her mouth that came into a shape of a dragon, travelled straight into the direction guided by the wire strings that she held and attached onto to the dummy as the target. It was the twentieth time she had do the jutsu and this time she was successful in hitting the dummy with the jutsu, engulfing it in flames. The previous tries had her unable to make the fire dragon reached the dummy as they extinguished halfway through.

Although she was now successful in performing the jutsu, she had used up a lot of her chakra and needed rest to replenish it.

"Alright, let's call it a day."

"H-hai!"

So far, Hinata had learned three fire jutsus: the Great Fireball, the Phoenix Sage Flower and the Fire Dragon Jutsu. Throughout learning all of them, she was able to learn each in a day, as her powerful chakra control helped her to do so. For Sasuke, even when his Sharingan could help him better understand and adjust the necessary chakra control to perform each such jutsu, it would still take him more than what she could have attempted. Usually a day or two, or even three before he could get the hang of them, and a few more days or few more weeks of continuous training before he could fully master them, and to have Hinata already having some skills in performing them merely in a bit more than ten times of tries, he had to admit that it was an incredible feat of a chakra control she possessed, something that he wished he could also have.

Burn marks had appeared all over her palms and callouses were visible on her fingers as the result of her constantly utilizing the Fire Style jutsus. But it didn't make the hands of hers ugly or imperfect. In fact, it showed her power and pride as a shinobi, and Sasuke was no different. Hence she thought that the marks and callouses weren't necessary something she should be worried about or needed to be treated.

"You did good, but you need more practice to be able to master the jutsu, Hinata."

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun."

The couple decided to rest under a tree before they returned home. The two of them chatted for a while before Hinata descended to sleep and Sasuke rested against the tree gazing at the sky to make himself feel tired just from looking. He began to recall the moments Hinata had wanted to confess her feelings to him yesterday. It sounded easy when he asked her to forget about what happened between the both of them but in actuality, neither could really get over it and he was pretty well-aware of the fact. Sasuke himself had now known that Hinata really liked him, and it was undeniable. Hinata had embarrassed herself after the failed attempt to confess her love, and she also won't be forgetting about it anytime soon. He loved her to the fullest of his heart, but to truly fall in love with her together in this time was inappropriate, he thought. He needed more preparation, and like he had originally planned earlier, he would need to wait to become a chunin first before he could actually start that kind of relationship with her as he saw fit. But now, there had been major changes to his plan.

Given the situation at that time, it can be assumed that Sasuke had probably 'rejected' her, technically. But he knew well that she would still not give up her feeling for him and neither will he, considering that he now better understood Hinata as he was always with her every time and was now her closest friend, and basically her soon-to-be boyfriend. He just needed her to wait, 'till the right opportunity came.

Turning his head to check on Hinata, he put up a soft smile as he saw her sleeping soundly. She was sleeping on her left side, facing the Uchiha, and in his perspective, she looked really cute when she was like this. He recalled his conversation with Hiashi yesterday when he stayed in her house for the night.

FLASHBACK

It's 10 at night, and Sasuke had yet to fallen asleep. He was wearing the white kimono shirt provided by a maid that the Hyuga males would normally wear and was watching the rain outside from a window in the rather dark living room that he chose to not illuminate to avoid waking the others.

"Haven't sleep yet?"

Sasuke turned behind with his Sharingan activated to see who was it. He saw Hiashi facing him with his eyes glowing in the dark even without the Byakugan activated. Hiashi reached to turn on a light that illuminated only parts of the room.

"Ah, Hiashi-sama... I'm sorry for using my Sharingan on you," Sasuke apologized while deactivating his dojutsu.

Hiashi sat down on a couch as he assured, "No, you don't need to apologize. I don't mind about it at all."

The clan leader turned to face Sasuke again after sitting down, "In fact, that's the eyes that I've missed seeing for years."

Sasuke's eyes widened at his words. He then asked Hiashi, "You mean, my... father?"

"I'll admit, I missed your father's eyes, and his stern looks. Seeing that Sharingan of yours was nostalgic, Sasuke. It gave me the chance to see the eyes of my best friend again."

Sasuke sighed and proceeded to sit down on the other couch, and leaned his head against it. He open his mouth to ask the Hyuga, "Do you still, like, I mean... do you still miss my father? Because... Everytime when we talked, you would always mention him..."

"Hm?" Hiashi looked at him confused, but then realized and chuckled with a wisdom reply, "Well, Sasuke. I had knew him for who knows how long and he was my best friend after all. Of course I missed him. His death was rather unexpected, should I say, and I was deeply impacted and saddened... Even to this day, I will always look at all of the pictures me and your father had taken together whenever I'm free to remember all of the moments we had. As Fugaku's son, I'm sure that you still miss your father, right?"

Sasuke nodded and let out a longer sigh as he ran his hair. "Yeah... Back when he was alive, my father had treated me wit nothing but constantly putting me down his shoes and comparing me with Itachi. I was angry and resented him, but in the end, I still find myself loving him, and missing him and mother 'till this day, even what he had put me through..."

Hiashi shook his head and denied Sasuke, "It wasn't that he had wanted to compare you with your brother just to humiliate you. He had wished you to become strong and so he did this to try and motivate you."

Sasuke chuckled and straightened up to look at Hiashi, "I knew. My mother had told me how father would talk so highly about me when he was alone with her everytime. I thought it was all her made-up lies but then I realized that it might be true after all, although I still can't confirm it yet..."

"Well, Fugaku had not been good with his words," Hiashi stated as he stood up to reach to the window. "But deep down, he loved and cared of you as his son, the same applied to Itachi."

"But then Itachi took his love for him by granted and betrayed him and mother."

Hiashi paused to look at Sasuke, who was expressing slight anger. He exhaled and turned back to look at the rain outside, reminiscing, "Everytime when me and Fugaku were talking about our kids, he would bragged about how his youngest son were catching up to his brother. He told me how hard you were working and training to improve yourself. Maybe you were skeptical about my claims as you didn't really hear him say things like that but he was really proud of you, Sasuke. He even told me that you had grown into a true 'adult' the moment you were be able to master the Great Fireball Jutsu. You were his pride, a truly excellent child of his."

Sasuke tilted down his head to look at the floor as he rested his arms on his knees, then holding them both together as he began fidgeting. "Father would always talk down on me and be disappointed in me. He had always preferred Itachi over me just because Itachi was talented and I wasn't. I knew that I couldn't stay like this forever so I trained as hard as I could, just to get him to acknowledge me, so that he won't have to keep saying that bullshit to me every single time. But, like you said earlier, he probably did this to get me motivated. Well, he did acknowledged me once, and I was really happy about it. It's just..."

Sasuke's face turned sour, visibly sad, "I never got the chance to express how happy I was to him at that time..."

Turning a sympathetic look, Hiashi approached and placed his hand onto Sasuke's shoulder, "It doesn't matter, Sasuke. Even though he's no longer with you in this world, he's still up there, watching you grow. Your achievement, he saw, and he was very proud of you."

Sasuke lifted his head up, and asked, "How can you be so sure he may be watching me from heaven?"

Hiashi sighed, and kneeled to utter words, "Because you are his son, Uchiha Sasuke. No parent would ever neglect their children, even in death, they will always watch their children from afar, just beyond our point of view. I'm very sure that he's so happy to have seen you grow into a strong shinobi."

He reached and patted his head, before standing up again, walking to a few distance away, before stopping and spoke without turning toward him, "Do you know why your father named you as 'Sasuke'?"

"Hm?"

"There was a legendary shinobi named Sarutobi Sasuke, who was one of the most talented and powerful ninjas of his generation along with the Shodaime Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and Uchiha Madara. He was a man of his words, and a man of his strength, never even once faltered. He led his clan into hundreds of battles and had won hundreds of times. Like Hashirama and Madara, his enemies trembled cowardly when they faced him in battle."

Sasuke's jaw dropped and eyes widened in surprise to hear the story, murmuring shakily, "W-wasn't, he...?"

Hiashi turned around to Sasuke once more, "That's right, Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, is Sarutobi Sasuke's son. But, as powerful as he was, Sarutobi Sasuke hated war, and he wished conflicts between humans would cease. But to achieve the peace he so desired, he fought for it and in the end, with the establishment of Konohagakure and the Five Great Nations, the peace he had wanted was achieved, though only momentarily as conflicts between shinobis didn't completely end. Your father had named you 'Sasuke' because he wanted his youngest son to become a splendid ninja just like Sandaime's father. And it's no doubt that you are on your way to becoming one, or even better yet, a ninja that surpassed Sarutobi Sasuke and even every known Hokages."

Sasuke was taken aback once more, and his mouth and eyes opened wider than they were previously, as he listened to Hiashi's speech, "You are a strong and talented ninja, Sasuke. But if you work hard and without ever giving up despite all the challenges you may have to face, you will eventually become one of the most powerful shinobis of your generation. And maybe you will be the one to unite the entire world that has been long divided with different nations and ideologies, so that world peace could finally be achieved, just as what the former Sasuke had wanted in his life. Perhaps you will inherit his will, Sasuke."

Remembering that Naruto also used to say earlier that he would become the Hokage and unite the entire world for peace, Sasuke closed his lips and smirked. This looks like a deja vu for me, ne, you usuratonkachi?

"So that's what the definition of my name 'Sasuke' really is, huh? It is a good name, with such deep meaning."

Sasuke stood up and returned to the window he stood by earlier, as it was his turn for speech with his new found determination, "I've decided, Hiashi-sama. Like you said earlier, my father named me 'Sasuke' so that I would grow up to become a splendid ninja just like Sandaime's father. That's why, I will continue walking on the path I've believed in."

Turning back his head to face Hiashi with his Sharingan, Sasuke uttered, "Just so that I will live up to my own name and become a shinobi that could change the world for the peace envisioned by Sarutobi Sasuke and Shodaime Hokage."

He paused for a moment, then resumed to finish his sentence, "And lastly, to achieve my lifelong ambition of restoring the Uchiha Clan."

Hiashi nodded and praised, "That's the spirit, to be expected from Fugaku's son. I have faith in you, Sasuke, and I'm very sure that you will."

"Thank you, Hiashi-sama."

Wanting to confirm if he has forgotten his vengeance on Itachi, he asked, "And what about your brother? What do you want to do with him though?"

Sasuke frowned at Hiashi's question, expressing disgust as he stated clearly, "He can rot in hell for eternity, Hiashi-sama. As long as that traitor do not get in my way, I have no interest in him anymore. I am going to restore my clan with or without killing him."

Hiashi took a moment of breath and let out a sigh in relief, "Good, it seems that you have let go of your hatred. Remember, Sasuke, vengeance only breeds more vengeance, and eventually leads to destruction. I'm so glad of you for forgetting about it altogether rather than being completely consumed by it."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted with a smirk, and told Hiashi, "It was your daughter who had taught me to let go of my hatred and my desire for revenge, Hiashi-sama. It was her that made me realized that. I should be thanking her for it. Still, I won't ever forgive that traitor. I just hope that I don't see his disgusting face right in my eyes again."

Hinata, huh? Oh yeah... Hiashi chuckled, "So it was my daughter who managed to talk sense into you? Well, seems that she has grown a lot now since she graduated." Realizing something, he told the Uchiha, "Oh, Sasuke. If you want to restore your clan, I will let my eldest daughter to marry you when you grow up as an adult."

Sasuke gave him a surprised look in confusion and asked, "Eh? Wh-what.. did you say?!"

Hiashi chuckled and asked the Uchiha, "Regarding your relationship with Hinata, you're in love with her, aren't you?"

Sasuke's left eye twitched, and his cheeks slowly blushed pink. He nervously nodded his head, admitting his love for his eldest daughter.

"Well, before I finalize my conclusion, lemme tell you things first. The Hyuga Clan had long practiced marriage between clan members only, mostly between cousins. We prohibited our clansmen to marry anyone outside of the clan. This was to preserve the pure Hyuga bloodline and to protect the secret of the Byakugan."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, feeling anxious as he asked shakily, "S-so... Does that mean?"

"But you know, as the time passes, anything in the world must change as well, particularly the tradition and culture of our clan. I'm the leader of the Hyuga Clan, and I make every rules here. I have been planning to ease the restrictions regarding our clan's marriage policy, but as for now the marriage of Hyugas are strictly limited to a only few clans that are closely affiliated and trusted by us, including yours. So, Sasuke, when you've grown into a fine adult, I'll let her marry you."

Such a carefree father... Sasuke thought, completely in disbelief at Hiashi's approval of getting Hinata married to him, but at the same time he was happy to have him not objecting to their relationship.

"S-so, even if I fall in love with her right now, you'll still approve?"

"Considering your age, hmmm... Frankly, it's out of question. You're still too young for it, Sasuke. There are things about love that you haven't gotten to know or understand. So... For you to fall in love with Hinata when you're still very young, there would be tremendous amount of risks that you personally do not want to handle... hm?"

"What do you mean... W-what 'risks'?"

"The burden of falling in love, Sasuke. You have no idea how stressful it would be to maintain such relationship, especially in this current age of yours that's absolutely unprepared for such things. So as for now, you will have to wait until you are older, and that, my kid, will be the right time for you to really fall in love with my daughter."

"I see..." Sasuke sighed, looking slightly distressed.

"So right now, you should be prioritizing your career as a ninja. Do not let your feelings to get in the way, Sasuke, especially your love for Hinata. I understand how much she means for you but take note: I do not care if you are the son of my best friend, you'll still have to wait until you are older to be in love with Hinata."

Hiashi turned to slowly walk away, as he gave the Uchiha the words he needed to remind him, "I've entrusted things to your sensei, and should anything happen between the two of you, he will let me know and you will be the one I need to see. So for now, remain as her best friend, and do not do anything bad to Hinata."

As he reached the stairs, Hiashi stopped walking again, secretly giving away a smile and told Sasuke, "Ever since you got close to Hinata, my eldest daughter has improved tremendously from the shy and timid girl she once was. She has gotten really strong and more confident, just as what I've pictured her in my mind before. You are her strength and hope, Sasuke. Without you, I cannot imagine what she may have become in the future. It was you who proved to me that you are the best fit for Hinata. But just you wait, Sasuke. Wait for the right time 'till I can safely entrust Hinata to you."

Disappearing out of his sight, Sasuke smirked and raised a thumbs up as he agreed and promised him. Then he murmured, "Seems that I have to wait for a bit longer..."

Flashback ended

Sasuke straightened up and stretched himself. He then turned to look at Hinata who was still sleeping comfortably. To kill the time, he decided to run his fingers on her hairs but did it gently enough to not wake her up. He had wanted to plant a kiss onto her, but restrained himself from ever doing it and so he merely continued rubbing her hairs like a pet, and it was enough to make himself happy.

Sasuke had always imagined the thoughts of him being in love with his dear Hinata. He had wanted her to be by his side, loving and adoring him 24/7, enjoy the fun times with her, and always wake up to find her sleeping next to him for the rest of his life. Thinking about everytime when he came home from work feeling exhausted, he would always find Hinata at home cooking delicious dinner for him and helped treat his fatigue, or when he came home to see his children rushing to greet and hug him, then looking up to find the smiles on her face. It was all he ever wanted from her apart from wanting her to help him restore his clan when they got married together in the future, to live a simple, yet happy life together. Such imaginations put a smile on his face every single time he thought about it.

Originally, he had planned to wait until he passed the exam to become a chunin to be able to confess his love for her, but since Hiashi had knew about their relationship and wanted Sasuke to be old enough to fall in love with her, he had decided that he shouldn't rush even if he did got promoted for chunin and that he should waited for the right time instead. He was frustrated himself when he couldn't quickly be in the relationship, but again, he agreed to what Hiashi had said as doing so would make him and Hinata extremely vulnerable to unforeseen dangers as he was still too young. Hence, he should be patient and waited until he had grown matured and old enough for it.

Half an hour later, Hinata woke up and yawned as she stretched out. She rubbed her eyes to find Sasuke sitting next to her as he gazed at the sky.

"You're awake," he stated when he turned to look at her.

"H-how long have I been asleep, Sasuke-kun?"

"30 minutes," he answered. As she was still fresh awake, Sasuke poked her into her forehead, stimulating her to be fully awake.

"Huh?"

Sasuke stood up and said, "Come on, let's go home now."

Hinata absentmindedly rubbed her forehead, and asked, "S-Sasuke-kun, b-before we get home, I would like the both of us to eat something first..."

"Hm? Yeah, fine, it's lunchtime now by the way. What do you want to eat?"

"Um... I want to eat cinnamon rolls, i-is that alright?"

"But we've just eaten yesterday, how about something else better?"

"O-oh, I guess you're right," Hinata looked downward and began fidgeting her hands as she thought about what she should eat for lunch. Seeing her seemingly looking disappointed as he rejected her idea of eating the rolls for lunch (when she in fact wasn't), Sasuke offered, "How about we go and eat at the cinnamon rolls shop that I've bought from yesterday?"

"N-no, it's not that, Sasuke-kun. L-like you said earlier, we had just eaten the rolls yesterday, right? How about we go to eat at the restaurant you introduced back when we were having our first survival exercise?"

"Ah, that. Alright, my treat."

"My treat, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke sighed and rubbed his head sheepishly. Suddenly, he found himself being pulled away by Hinata who grabbed his left hand as she stated, "Come on, Sasuke-kun. Let's go, I'm kinda hungry now."

"A-ah? Oi-" It was a surprise for him to see the shy girl as the one being so straightforward to pull his hand with her. But then he remembered how he also did the same to his brother. He had hated the memory of it but he also had to admit that it was a rather pleasant one, and so he smiled.

"Hey, Hinata."

Hinata turned back to him as she held his hands, sounding, "Hm?"

"Y-you know, there are things that I don't know about you but... Seeing you acting so nice, I really like that about you."

Hinata stopped walking as she paused to look at him when he said so. She began to blush, but then she restrained her shyness and put up a wide, genuine smile as a sign of affection to him along with a clear giggling.

Oh gosh... She looks so precious when she smiles...

Sasuke released his left hand from her and turned to grab hers instead, making her blush even more and began walking with her together.

"Come on, let's eat lunch."

"U-um... Un!"

The couple walked down the path to the restaurant as they held hands while they chatted and cracked jokes together on their way there.

xxx

Kilometers away from Konohagakure in a forest somewhere, Itachi was frying his fish by the campfire. Another person was fishing at the river and the other one was practicing to throw shurikens and kunai knives to a target board attached on a tree. The person who was fishing tilted his head to see the sunlight directly illuminating toward him as the clouds cleared out, causing him to raise his hand to block the sunlight.

"Dang, it's really hot here..." the person complained.

"It can't be help, Shisui. We are in summer, so bear with it."

"Good thing that we made our tents under the trees to keep the sun out. Otherwise, I'm gonna be fucking fried when I slept in my tent at noon."

Itachi chuckled and shook his head. Shisui resumed to fishing. Itachi then turned to see another fish that had been properly cooked, "Yumi-san? I think you can stop practicing and come to eat your fish here, it's been cooked."

The woman turned around to give a glare with her Sharingan activated, then her eyes softened up as she deactivated it and pulled away all of her shurikens and kunai from the board.

"Coming!"

Yumi approached the campsite and sat down on a log opposite to Itachi and grabbed her cooked fish to start eating. Itachi also had just finished frying his fish and began eating along with her. Shisui came back from fishing with his hands grabbing both the fishing rod and a bucket filled with fishes.

"Have you guys helped cook mine?"

Yumi picked one up and handed him, "Here."

"Thanks, Yumi-chan," Shisui placed the bucket and the fishing rod nearby and took the cooked fish from her and began eating as he sat down next to Yumi.

"You're too close, Shisui."

"Ah, my apology," Shisui grinned awkwardly and moved a bit away from her.

"I never said that you should move away, baka," Yumi responded sarcastically.

"Does that mean I can sit closer?"

"No."

Shisui tightened his lips and rolled his eyes. Seeing his expression, she snapped once more, "What? You're angry, huh? Hn, talk about a temperament dobe."

Shisui glared at Yumi and muttered, "You know, sometimes you can be a real fucking bitch."

"Hn," Yumi grunted with a smirk, then retorted, "Beat me to it, airhead."

Itachi covered his mouth as he tried to contain his laughter when the two argued. She noticed and worded, "Laugh at him, not me."

"I swear, Yumi. I'm gonna smash your fucking anus later that you be begging me and Kami for forgiveness all the day."

Itachi giggled, desperate to hold his laughter. Yumi grunted 'hn' again with a wider smirk, this time blushing as she heard him saying it. "Try it, you ushiratonkachi. I highly doubt that you even have the chance to shove your Susanoo's Furaibi Katana into my ass."

"Tch!" Shisui clenched his teeth in response to her insult, but then sighed in order to calm himself.

"Can the both of *pfftt* y-you stop arguing for a while? I'm tryi-trying *pfft* I'm trying to have a nice lunch here," Itachi asked as he suppressed his laughter.

"You heard him, boy."

"You too, lady."

"Hmph," Yumi rolled her eyes and Shisui tightened his lips once more and narrowed his eyes, before taking bites of his fish. Itachi sighed and shook his head These two are hopeless...

Uchiha Shisui and Yumi were the two Uchihas that had participated in their clan's massacre along with Itachi four years ago. However, the both of them, were presumed dead along with the other clansmen except for Sasuke by the Konoha shinobi community except for a few trusted jonins, the Anbu and Sandaime himself as Itachi had personally requested that he would be the only one bearing the responsibility as the traitor and criminal, hence they weren't marked and wanted in the Bingo Book list as they were thought to have been killed.

The murder of every Uchiha clansmen and the destruction of the clan by their own hands had taken a great toll on their mental health, but Yumi was the one to suffer the most emotionally and psychologically. Her killings of her fellow clansmen had caused her to suffer from PTSD, and she would have nightmares of the massacre often. Back then she used to be calm and collected, but after the massacre, and with the effects of her constant nightmares and PTSD, she became much colder, violent and rude. She was easy to snap on people in order to vent out her anger and emotions. Which was why she had been very offensive to Shisui because he was the only one that she could vent her anger on and he would went along without getting too angry. But for Itachi, even with his calm personality, he wouldn't last few minutes if she kept insulting him, and so Shisui was the best fit for her anger management. Both Shisui and Itachi had also suffered from some kinds of similar mental illness, but they were now much more subdued as time passes.

"You going back this night already?"

"Yeah... Got a mission from the Hokage, Shisui."

Yumi narrowed her eyes in question, "Mission?!"

"I'll be going after a S-rank criminal, to be honest, it was Kakashi who was assigned for the task, but since he needed to train his genins, he personally handpicked me for the mission."

"Seriously?!" Yumi snapped in disbelief and Shisui reached to try and calm her down. "So you are his replacement for the mission, huh?"

"Well, he really needed to train Sasuke and the others for the Chunin Exam, and I was also the best candidate for the mission, so..."

Yumi sighed and facepalmed as she shook her head.

"The Chunin Exam, huh... That takes me back though..." Shisui reminisced in nostalgia. "That one time when I kicked everybody's asses in one swoop."

"That was 'till when you met me in the final match," Yumi interrupted, and Shisui blushed angrily and yelled, "Teme, don't fucking butt in, konoyaro!"

"Oi, you two!"

The two paused to look at Itachi who was trying to stop them from arguing, and Yumi ended up giggling while Shisui rubbed his head sheepishly. Itachi felt relieved and continued, "I will be leaving at night for Konoha, and come back around noon tomorrow."

"Look, I'm not going to stop you from going on to the mission but you better be coming back in one piece, Itachi. We still have to watch out for those Akatsuki motherfuckers and finding the hebi. Even more so, we still have to travel around with that Old Perv, which is enough of a trouble for us," Yumi stated as she crossed her arms.

"Mah, Itachi will definitely come back just fine. He's the most powerful among us three, and maybe even more so than Jiraiya-sens."

"It's not like that, Shisui. I'm not that strong aft-"

"Who's the one to possess the Eternal Mangekyou?" Shisui asked seriously, and Itachi got dead quiet and titled down his head nervously, murmuring, "It's me."

"So that's why, Itachi. Ever since you got Fugaku-jisan's eyes, you've already become the most powerful Uchiha alive in this time, and it's a fact."

Shisui stood up and approached to pat Itachi in the back, "Don't be like that, buddy. Just be more confident, you're Uchiha Itachi after all."

"I don't know about that, Shisui..."

"I agree with Shisui, Itachi. And not only that, you also use your power for good and to protect the innocents. Such quality is what makes you a magnificent ninja, unlike our clan head and the former Uchiha Madara. Don't be too shy and humble about it. It's okay to have confidence and faith in your own strength."

Itachi sighed, and turned to look at both Shisui and Yumi as he smiled, "Thank you, Shisui, Yumi-san."

Both Shisui and Yumi turned to look at each other, then chuckled together.

xxx

At 8 of the night, Itachi was now wearing the black cloak and holding a Anbu mask and a hat together on his right hand, preparing to leave the campsite for Konoha.

"So, I'll be leaving now."

Both Shisui and Yumi was cooking their dinner together when Itachi bid farewell to them as he set off for Konoha. They proceeded to reply and bid farewell to him while he walked away.

"Geez, that brat. I just hope that he doesn't get himself killed in the mission."

"Mah, don't worry. He's not the one who would easily let his enemies touch him in the slightest."

Yumi turned her eyes to Shisui, then put up a smirk as she said, "I don't get you men, duh."

"And I don't get you women," Shisui bit back, and Yumi grunted 'hn'.

"Life is too complicated for us to understand each other."

"Dang it, Yumi, but I do agree on that one."

"Heh heh, no shit."

Itachi walked through the forest as wind breezed through and a leaf floated in front of him in the air, slowly descending to the ground as Itachi paid attention to it. He smirked and then put on the mask on his face, followed by the hat on his head, continuing his way back to the village. As he walked along the trail quietly, images of Anko flashed through his mind, but then he clenched his fists and shook his head to dispel the thoughts of the woman he loved.

Itachi weaved out a single hand sign by pointing his index and middle finger upward, turning into a murder of crows as they headed for Konohagakure.