A/N

I'm ngl, it took me awhile to be satisfied with this chapter, but I love writing this story so far. As usual, my interpretation of the timeline is :) a little loose :) but I'm mostly going to try and stick to the canon of anime so don't worry (but also sometimes I just forget about entire episodes so sorry when there's discrepancies lol)

enjoy!


During her mass decluttering of the Sandaime's things, Ito uncovers Tsunade's old notes and scrolls. Learning ninjutsu was previously of no interest to her, but as she scans over the Sannin's medical texts, her curiosity piques. Since no one is ever paying any attention to her, it isn't difficult to smuggle them away. They find a new home sprawled across her desk at her apartment. The next time Itachi sneaks over, she sees his eyes flicker crimson red as he drinks in their secrets. It is the first time he smiles wide enough for her to catch a glimpse of his teeth (perfectly straight, perfectly white, she notes with a tinge of annoyance).

(Otherwise, his smile makes her heart beat in a way it never has before)

He begins to make extra time for her, precariously balancing his free time between her and Sasuke. Ito finds that he is an excellent teacher, and she grasps the idea of chakra control relatively easily. He tells her that her chakra nature is water. She half-wishes for something more exotic, and perhaps he can tell she is disappointed, because Itachi shrugs and tells her it makes sense.

"Why do you say that?" She questions. Over the past year, the boundaries of their personal space has become less defined; they sit on the floor of her apartment, legs tangled together in order to fit in the cramped space.

"People with water natures are typically level-headed, unyielding," he shoots her an amused glance, she knows he wanted to say stubborn. "And compassionate,"

Ito hums thoughtfully. "And what are you?"

"Zealous, cunning, and fearless," he answers blandly, rolling his eyes.

"Fire?" Ito guesses, a smile playing at her lips. She has been watching him spit flames for over a year now.

"You get smarter every day," he applauds wryly.

"Yes, it must be from the direct exposure to your intellect. Some days, I think your genius generates its own gravity," she replies, fighting to keep her face straight.

He deadpans and helps her to her feet. They regard each other for a moment before he departs. After the briefest hesitation, Ito wraps her arms around his neck tightly. He smells like jasmine and old books. Itachi tenses with a sharp inhale, but relaxes into Ito's grasp a second later. He even lifts an uncertain hand to pat her on the shoulder affectionately.

"Please be safe, Itachi-kun," Ito whispers. He lingers for a second longer before leaving, forcing himself not to look back.

By June, she has memorized Tsunade's lessons and can heal a fish without referencing the scrolls. By July, she has her first human patient. The moon shines high in the sky when a crash at her door interrupts her slumber. Kunai clutched in hand, she cracks it open to see a mess of silver and red. She yelps upon realizing what is in front of her, clapping a hand over her mouth to staunch the sound. The Copy Ninja himself, Anbu mask torn off and thrown haphazardly to the side (regular face mask still present), blood pouring down his temple and matting his hair. Kakashi is heavier and taller than her, and it is a struggle to drag him inside. With a thud and a groan, she is finally able to shut the door.

It becomes clear to her that the boy needs a hospital and a medic-nin that has actually been trained; she places a towel under his head for comfort, and it becomes soaked with blood. Her hands begin to shake, and with a grimace, she splashes cold water onto his face. It successfully shocks him into consciousness, and there's terror in his eyes until he recognizes her. Ito wonders when and how she became his go-to in a crisis.

(They have ramen roughly once a month, but when he reports to the Sandaime, he pretends that she doesn't exist)

(Yes, she knows it's him in the dog mask, it only conceals his identity as well as it covers up his hair)

"So how is your medical ninjustu coming along?" He asks her, panting. She pushes him back down to the floor when he attempts to sit up.

"I don't murder my fish anymore, but there's no way I'm equipped to deal with this, Kakashi-san," her brow is knitted tightly together in concern.

"I don't really care for doctors, so I'm willing to give it a shot if you are," he says, and she sighs in disappointment.

"You are getting bloodstains all over my floor," she complains, but her heart isn't in it. She tenderly removes his hitai-ate, wincing at seeing the laceration responsible.

"Head wounds are really overdramatic, I feel fine," he assures, one eye fixed on her steadily and the other closed with practiced ease.

"Ah, feeling fine is what brought you to collapsing on my doorstep, hm?" She questions, prodding the boundaries of the wound. If he is in pain, he doesn't show it.

"Felt like a good choice at the time," he shrugs.

"I hope, for your sake, that it was," she huffs, beginning to channel chakra into her fingertips. She bites the inside of her cheek in concentration, refusing to give the boy another scar.

"I have complete faith in you," he says, which surprises her.

It takes her about five minutes of intense focus on the cut for the skin to meld and pull together, but she is pleased to see that there is no mark left behind. She is breathless and woozy by the time she finishes healing the worst of his other aches and ailments. It's the concussion that requires the most of her chakra. She flops heavily into a chair as he pushes himself to his feet, peering in a mirror to evaluate her work.

"Not bad, kid," he says, head tilted at her with an unreadable look in his eye. "Not bad at all,"

He's gone a moment and a half later, leaving Ito with only enough time to blink as he halfheartedly raises a hand in a wave and disappears. Her jaw drops at the audacity, and she bristles with annoyance. She glares at the mess she's been left alone with, and swears her vengeance upon him. When she finally crawls back into bed, there are already birds greeting the dawn.

(She makes a mental note to ask Itachi how to punch harder)

The Uchiha in question is not scheduled to return until sometime next week, and two weeks had already passed since his departure. It seemed like he was always in and out of the village, rarely getting more than one or two days off between missions. His overwhelming success rate was no secret to Ito, it was her hands the reports were usually passed to at the end of the day. She had always known that he was considered a prodigy amongst the shinobi, and she had always known that he was a killer. The only thing that bothers her is how the entire village was starting to view him as a weapon, not a kid. Not Mikoto's son or Sasuke's older brother.

(Not her friend)

She is forced to confront her blossoming, eleven-year old girl feelings when the third week passes and she realizes that she misses him. Summer quickly becomes depressing with no friends to spend it with, and a terrible melancholy begins to hang over Ito like a storm cloud. Itachi is always on her mind. The time drives her thoughts to wander to trivial things like what it would be like to hold his hand. She wonders, if when he is not too busy, he thinks of her too.

It becomes clear that is not a possibility.

When his team does not return as scheduled, Itachi misses Sasuke's first birthday. The day before the occasion, she had hardly been able to sleep, refusing to believe he would miss it. A storm begins to brew within her; Itachi would do anything and everything in his power for Sasuke (and he was quite powerful). She tries not to think about the danger he is certainly in. The day of, she puts her own feelings aside, and remembers the promise she made long ago. She awakens early, collecting ingredients at the grocery store and returning home to bake. There is not much she holds onto from Amegakure, but there was a Taiyaki stand nearby her master's shop, and she had a fondness for the cookies. Kushina, also, shared a love for them (they discovered this through a bout of one of her many intense pregnancy cravings). The red-headed woman had passed on a superb recipe to Ito.

By noon, she has a steaming batch in a basket tied with a bow. She stops by the Yamanaka flower shop and picks up a bouquet of hydrangeas for Mikoto-san, and she finds a pretty, child-safe trinket for Sasuke to enjoy as most one year-olds do.

(Children that old don't do much else but eat, poop, and stick things in their mouths)

She approaches the gates of the Uchiha compound with confidence now; awhile ago, the guards had turned her away within earshot of Itachi, and he had threatened to set their moustaches on fire. They let her pass with sneers on their faces, but she is quite unperturbed. Mikoto-san is out with Sasuke in the courtyard; though the dark-haired woman is smiling, Ito can see the stress in her forehead.

"O-tanjoubi omedetou!" Ito sings, alerting Mikoto to her approach.

She is surprised, but it is a welcome distraction. "Thank you, but I hope you did not think you had to bring Sasuke-chan a gift,"

"I once told Itachi-kun that I would be there for both Sasuke-chan and Naruto-chan on days like this,"

The two women share a solemn moment. Mikoto is faintly amused at the child's unnatural seriousness and maturity (even for a kid in a post-war ninja village, Ito was intense). Sasuke is set down gently, happily tearing up blades of grass. Ito presents the flowers and the toy to Mikoto with a gracious bow, pleased with the rare smile on the Uchiha matriarch's face.

"Sometimes I think you have the biggest heart in the village, Ito-chan," Mikoto murmurs. Though she missed her son and was deeply concerned for his safety, she could always count on Kushina's girl to fill a small part of the void.

(She was so much like Itachi, too)

"It doesn't seem to get me very far," she replies, her nose scrunched in irritation. "Naruto-chan will also be turning one shortly, and yet, Sandaime-sama seems to be burying his existence,"

"You must be careful with the things you say aloud for other ears to hear, Ito-chan," Mikoto chides lightly, but her eyes are dark. "Trust me,"

She bends down to the child's direct line of sight, her face incredibly grave and no-nonsense.

"No one has forgotten about Uzumaki Naruto."

(A few days later, Itachi returns home exhausted and shaken up, but more or less safe and sound. Ito is the only one on his mind once he is back in the village; he tugs her out of bed and pulls her into a long, desperate hug)


The rest of the summer had passed without much drama. The lingering warmth of the season kept the September evening pleasant, despite the fickle autumn breeze settling in. She had continued to train quietly in the ways of the shinobi. Taijutsu was not Ito's forte. It was her personal opinion that she was simply too fragile for hands-on conflict. Sparring with Itachi once a week had left her with perpetual bruises and scrapes and bumps. Tonight, he is holding back less than he ever has, and she knows that if it was a life and death situation- she would die.

(It pisses her off)

She grits her teeth and urges the strength in her arms not to falter. Her kunai meets his with a violent screech as she blocks his attack, but his eyes narrow and he moves to sweep her legs out from under her. She can tell from how obvious he is being with his movements that he is baiting her into backing up. Instead, she channels her chakra into her feet and jumps straight up to dodge both of his attacks, raining shuriken from her vantage point in the sky. She stays light on her feet as she lands, anticipating a counterattack that does not come. He's looking at her from the middle of the training grounds, but she doesn't think he is seeing her. His mind looks far away.

"Itachi-kun?" She calls to him uncertainly. He blinks.

"That was good, Ito-san," he says without a hint of his typical sarcasm.

"Something is on your mind," she prompts, closing the distance between them.

"Yes," he says quietly. She has never seen him so upset. It scares her.

"Can you share it with me?" She questions, tilting her head to catch his gaze.

"Only if you swear never to breathe a word of it to another soul as long as you live,"

"Itachi-kun," Ito gives him a bored look. "I survived being one of the Toad Sannin's spies, give me a bit more credit please,"

"I will have to kill you if you tell anyone," he tells her, face devoid of humor. She blinks.

"Spit it out already,"

"Swear it,"

She huffs. "I vow to keep this secret as long as I live and into the beyond, or may the Kami themselves judge me,"

He rolls his eyes, and gives her a pointedly unamused look.

"I have been invited to join the Anbu Black Ops,"

Ito's stomach turns to lead. Images of the faceless agents that had surround Kushina and Minato in their final days, their bodies littered in the streets of Konoha in the wake of the Kyuubi attack. She's seen the tattoo on Kakashi's arm that marks him as one of their ranks, and he had been bleeding in her arms not long ago. She feels the blood drain from her face, and for once in her life, she is speechless.

"It gets better," Itachi hums, a tortured smile twitching at his lips. "Mother and Father want me to accept the promotion 'for the sake of the clan'," he says it mockingly, his voice dripping with resentment.

"For your clan?" Ito's knowledge on the subject is limited, and for once, she fails to see what he is getting at.

"So the Uchiha will have eyes and ears wherever the Sandaime does," he elaborates, shaking his head.

"Oh," Ito's eyebrows slowly pinch together. "They want you to spy on the old man?"

"Essentially,"

"Why?"

"They feel like the Uchiha are being shunned out of Konohagakure,"

Ito hums, reviewing any evidence she might have seen to support this conclusion. Though it is unclear, she does feel like a pattern is emerging.

"What do you think about it?" She asks him softly, he grimaces. Her hand wraps around his wrist, and she finds somewhere for them to sit down. When she lets go, he wishes that she hadn't.

"I don't know. I don't know what to think. I love my family, but I have a duty to the Hidden Leaf," his voice is taut with stress and poorly repressed emotion.

"You will know what to do when the time is right, Itachi," Ito assures, but her stomach is in knots. She cannot fathom someone as young as he is blending in amongst the shadows of Konoha's most elite. "And besides, I can help you,"

"You can help me choose between my clan and my village?"

"Well, sort of," Ito shrugs. "I can do the spying on the old man, I do it all the time. How do you think I got Tsunade's scrolls?"

She grins and nudges him in the ribs, he almost manages a smile.

"I'll just feed you information to keep your parents off of your back and make them feel better, and then you can do the Anbu thing without feeling like a traitor,"

(She feels like a traitor for encouraging him to take the position. For most, joining the black ops is a death sentence)

"You would do that for me?" Itachi asks, expression disbelieving but a bit hopeful.

"It's unlike you to ask stupid questions, Itachi-kun," Ito tuts, sniffing and turning her nose up derisively. He laughs for the first time in a long time, the weight falling off of his shoulders, worries temporarily forgotten. Ito thinks to herself that it is a beautiful sound.