A/N: I would like to thank everyone who added this story to their favorites and follows as well as everyone who reviewed the last chapter.
(A month later)
"Your sister sure is popular," Botan observed, leaning forward to have a better look at the scene before them. She offered Yusuke a curious glance before looking at the chest-fallen boy, who now walked away from the apologetic-smiling Natsuko. "This has to be the third confession, this week."
Yusuke nodded and offered a shrug. "She used to get more confessions but I guess punching our teacher during my wake was enough to make the boys scared to ask her out."
A rather loud giggle came out of Botan's lips and the black-haired boy shook his head before gazing at his sister. The smile on her face faded, replaced with a rather blank look. It was odd. Very odd because his sister almost never made those expressions. There was always some kind of emotion on her face.
Now it was as blank as a piece of paper.
With a shake of his head, he turned away from his sister and stared at the sky. How long would it be before he could come back to life? He missed being able to talk to his sister, missed annoying the crap out of her whenever he could…and maybe her nagging. God, the world must be ending if he missed that.
It had been so difficult to avoid her when he had that one day that he could go back to his body. If anyone knows that you can come back for one day in a month then the deal is off. He had been lucky that Keiko pretended to be asleep during his ordeal and even luckier that his sister had a whole day of work.
He jerked when the air around him seemed to darken and lightening began to crackle around them. Dark clouds swirled together until it looked like a halo from above and it wasn't long before a bluish-black light bolted down from the above. Yusuke blinked and blinked as the light faded to reveal a man with long black hair and blank black eyes.
Itachi.
There might have been one meeting between them but it was difficult not to recall how he pissed Koenma off by presuming the black-haired man was in charge of the Spirit World.
"I-Itachi-san," Botan squeaked, gripping her ore with a tightness that Yusuke had never seen her used before. His lips twitched when he saw the growing pinkness creeping up on the Shinigami's face. "What are you doing here?"
The spirit lifted up his notepad and patiently answered, "Koenma-sama requested that I observe Yusuke-kun for the day. Normally, the job would go to my nephew but considering how Takibi-kun requested for some time off to visit his descendants alongside his brothers' descendants…I have been given this duty."
Right, the other spirit mentioned about visiting his descendants but did it really take three weeks for the guy to visit his family members? He glanced at Botan and frowned when the girl opened her mouth to say something before furiously shaking her head as if getting rid of the idea from her mind.
Yusuke grunted and inspected the man before him. If it wasn't for the obvious Adam apple on his neck, he would have mistaken the man for a woman. With how long his hair was alongside the long eyelashes, well it was certainly made the man look feminine. Although now that he had seen Takibi and now Itachi, he couldn't help but notice…
"You don't have those whisker marks like your nephew," Yusuke blurted out.
The man turned and looked at him with emotionless eyes before curving his lips slightly as if he found his observation to be rather amusing. "My nephew and his brothers inherited those birthmarks from my sister-in-law."
Fondness leaked out of the man's tone and Yusuke glanced at Botan. The blue-haired Shinigami kept glancing at him and Itachi with suspicion lurking in her eyes. Did he say something weird? Did he point out something that he shouldn't have? Probably. Natsuko always complained about how he wasn't observant enough.
Till this day, he didn't know what his sister meant by those words.
"Botan, may I ask who are we currently observing?" Itachi flipped open a notepad and Yusuke gawked at the pen that had suddenly appeared in the man's hand. Was he making notes? Why did he have to make notes? He glanced at Botan and twitched when he saw the wonder and awe in her eyes.
Great, the Shinigami had enter a state that he had no idea how to break her out of.
A scowl played on his lips when he nudged at the blue-haired girl and he grinned when the blue-haired girl reddened to a shade that was even brighter than any rose that his sister brought back home. The girl cleared her throat, smoothed her expression and replied. "We are currently observing Yusuke's sister."
"Sister? Urameshi Natsuko?" Itachi flipped the notepad and scribbled down something. "Which one of those girls is Urameshi Natsuko? I didn't have the time to look at his file due to…reasons."
There was almost a dark look on his face, looking almost like those dark monsters that his sister used to tell him stories about. For just a brief moment, a shiver of fear ran down his spine before it faded to nothing. He is like me but why does he feel different? Even his nephew feels different from me. There was just something odd about him.
"Natsu-chan is the blond-haired girl over there," Botan replied, jerking her finger at his sister. "Yusuke is very overprotective over her and the same seems to go for her."
Itachi didn't look away from his notepad. "The bond between siblings isn't something that should be taken lightly."
There was almost a layer of regret in his tone and even though he had a blank expression, Yusuke almost had the sense that the man was frowning about something. He has a brother. That was something he could pick up on and Takibi did mention that his Dad was in hell, so maybe there was a connection between them.
God, he should leave the thinking to Natsuko because she loved these kind of things.
Speaking of his sister, he should go back to observing her. Yusuke clasped his hands behind his head and felt his lips tugging downwards when Natsuko stood in her spot. Her bright blue eyes seemed to be fixated in a certain direction. A direction that he needed to follow because why did his sister have such a weird expression?
He followed her line of sight and frowned when he saw that it was in the direction of Itachi. The spirit had his hand on his notepad and a tightened grip on his pen but there was a rather odd emotion behind the man's eyes. It wasn't an emotion that he could put his finger on but if he had to put a name on it, then it had to be guilt and sadness.
The only question was why did the man look at his sister like that?
"You have a rather…interesting family, Yusuke-san," Itachi said quietly. "I'm going to enjoy observing the people in your life."
In that moment, his sister's frown deepened and Yusuke watched with a heart filled with suspicion when his sister turned away from them. He wasn't smart. He wasn't like Natsuko or Keiko when it came to their studies but he did know something was up. Two spirits had looked at his sister like they knew her.
But how did they know his sister? His sister was 15-years-old and had been born in the living world. She had never died. He would remember if his big sister had been in his situation because…Natsuko kept them afloat. Without her, his grades would be terrible, all of their money would be spent on booze and their house would be dirty.
Something about this whole situation didn't feel right.
"Are you sure you can keep an eye on Yusuke's body? I know it is short-notice but that asshole decided to quit in the last minute and now I have to pick up his shift until the boss finds a replacement."
If it was not for the fact her brother was hovering over her like an overprotective mother hen, then Natsuko would use her shadow clones to go to work while she tended to him. But her brother was currently watching her alongside that Shinigami and her brother-in-law. There was absolutely no way that she could allow them to know about this.
Especially Itachi.
Keiko nodded and glanced down at the sleeping form of Yusuke before looking back at her with a warm smile. "It isn't a problem but…where is Aunt Atsuko?"
"Working," she answered vaguely. Her foster mother was probably out getting some money from the pimps who owed the Yakuza Boss money. Usually the man would send his scariest men for those jobs and considering where Yusuke's love for violence came from, it made sense for the man to send Atsuko.
With her mother being a month sober, she presumed that it would be a quick job.
"What do you mean working?" Keiko probed, combing through Yusuke's hair. "You and Aunt Atsuko never explain what that means to me or Yusuke."
Well I don't want you to get the shock of a lifetime and Yusuke should have connected the dots whenever Atsuko used her connections to keep him in school. Oh, how she wanted to say those words but her foster mother would sob if she knew that her daughter knew about her work. The reason that she kept her knowledge a secret was to prevent the crying.
"If you still want to know then ask me again when you are 18," she answered, picking up her bakery apron from the chair. From the window, she could see her brother's friend wrinkling her nose and scowling at her. A sigh escaped her lips and Natsuko added. "Or you just accept one of Yusuke's marriage proposals."
Keiko spluttered. "You know that he's never serious when he make those silly proposals."
"You sound almost disappointed that he isn't serious," she commented with a sly smile as she tied the apron around her back. Keiko kept quiet and Natsuko glanced at the window. There was a pinkness around her brother's face and Itachi scribbled something down in his notepad.
The brown-haired teen huffed. "I'm not disappointed."
"You know one day Yusuke might be actually serious about his proposal," Natsuko commented, mouth curling into a teasing smile.
From right behind her, she could hear Yusuke coughing and spluttering while Keiko pinkened even more. Ah, young love. She had almost forgot how nice it was to have a crush on someone. After Sasuke died, there had been no one else in her life. Not that there hadn't been offers because her aging process had slowed down.
By the time she died, she looked like a woman in her early 70's.
"Natsuko, I heard from one of my friends that you turned down another boy."
Oh, they were going to have one of those conversation, were they? Natsuko inhaled and glanced at the clock before shifting her eyes to Keiko. The teen had a troubled expression, lips pulled into a frown and brown eyes that screamed of worry. The girl poked her fingers together, no doubt an attempt to gather courage, and then looked at her with imploring eyes.
She had no idea whether she wanted her to confirm it but well it wouldn't hurt her to admit this. "Yup, turned him down before he could finish his sentence."
"Do you really have no plans to accept anyone's confession?" Keiko asked, confused but also rather curious. She stopped combing Yusuke's hair and frowned. "There are so many rumors going around about why you aren't accepting it, but…it isn't because of Yusuke, is it? Or do you have someone else in your heart?"
Well if she went with technicality then she was a widow and she was free to date anyone but…the problem was her mind. She was physically 15 but her mind was over a century old. Dating a person who was both physically and mentally immature was just…wrong. It was like she was a predator and well she didn't want that.
Although she did miss the physical acts of being in a relationship.
"Yusuke isn't the reason for my lack of desire to date," she reassured her. "I'm just not interested in being in a relationship before high school."
Well actually college would be the perfect time but Atsuko was bound to hound her about the lack of dates. So far, her foster mother had been rather pleased about the fact she wasn't dating. You are smarter then me, Natsu-chan. If I concentrated in school then things would be different for Yusuke and you. Those had been the woman's words whenever she turned down a male in front of her.
The brown-haired girl nodded. "But…if you are interested in someone then you would tell me, right? Because we are friends, Natsu-chan…and friends don't keep secrets from each other."
I have to keep a lot of secrets to protect everyone. She was not 100% Urameshi Natsuko while she wasn't completely 100% Uzumaki Naru. Natsuko was smart and did well in school while Naru was not book smart. Naru couldn't lie to her friends while she had no problems lying to her family and friends in order to protect them.
Sometimes, she didn't know who she was and the fact that she didn't have Kurama inside of her…just reminded her of the difference between her two lives.
"Of course, I'll tell you," she lied with a serene smile. "I don't keep secrets from my friends."
Her brother's friend relaxed her shoulders and Natsuko lifted her bag from the ground. Liar, you are the biggest liar in the living world. That was probably the remnants of Naru because it sounded something that she would say. Naru didn't believe in keeping secrets because it was secrets that ruined her life and Sasuke.
But Naru didn't have a barely-sober mother and a cute little brother.
Those two would never understand her past life and how much it affected her.
If she was being honest, she hated King Enma for giving her this second chance of life without having her memories erased.
"You are working today, Urameshi-san."
The sight of a grinning but exhausted Natsuko almost made him knit his eyes. Kurama kept the polite smile on his face and flickered his eyes to the cakes on display before looking back at the blond-haired teen. In the past month, he ran into the teen three more times in the bakery and slowly learnt the pattern of her work.
Well, he had manage to weasel the information out of one of the other employees.
"The usual guy decided to quit today," Natsuko explained, annoyed and frustrated. She shot a glare at the door as if it was the fault of the door for her bad luck and Kurama felt his lips twitched just a little bit. "And considering how much I need the money, my Boss decided to take advantage of me and made me work on that guy's shifts until he finds his replacement."
He nodded and shifted his gaze to the cake. His mother rather enjoyed the cake that the female had pick for her and it did go well with the blueberries that his mother was fond of eating. Unfortunately, I won't be able to bring her sweets from tomorrow. The heist was set up for tomorrow and he would not be able to visit her.
A rather loud yawn rumbled in the air and Kurama looked at Natsuko. The blonde rubbed her eyes and let out another yawn. She did that the last time as well. A frown crept up on his lips as he took in the dark circles underneath her eyes. That had been growing more prominent as well.
"I don't want to be rude but you look even more tired," he finally said. "If you don't mind me asking but have you and your mother gotten any sleep in the past month?"
Natsuko thinned her lips and touched the area underneath her eyes. "Sorry but what part of my appearance screamed that I look like a million bucks?"
The words were rude but there was something rather amusing about her words. It has been a while since someone treated me in this manner. The chuckle escaped from his mouth and Kurama watched as the blond-haired girl gawked at him. There was almost a sense of wonder in her eyes before it faded into nothing.
"I apologize but it would have been rude of me to jump to conclusions," he explained, holding his hands up. "Your condition is obvious and understandable but I'll be more direct in the future."
She hesitated and slumped her shoulders. "I'm sorry but I'm not really in the mood to figure out your motives, well not today anyway."
The teen looked almost frustrated if that balled fist told him anything and the curiosity inside of him grew even more. It wanted to claw out, tempted him into figuring out the puzzle that was Urameshi Natsuko. He presumed that he had done an excellent job of hiding his desire to prob her.
Yet, it seemed like he had been doing a terrible job.
"My motives?" His lips twitched but he kept the smile on his face. "What makes you think I have any motives?"
The girl snorted and wiggled her finger at him. "Everyone has a motive and while I enjoy your polite mask, I am not quite dumb enough to believe that you are truly a kind and sweet boy."
The smile faded at the comment and not for the first time, he inspected the teen that caught his attention. Her energy was muffled but it still pulsed with so much power. But there is something about her energy that almost reminds me of Master. It lurked underneath the power but it felt almost…like him.
But his master was a red-haired man with red eyes while Natsuko was definitely female.
If it wasn't her body that screamed of her gender then it was her scent.
"But you haven't answered on what makes you believe I have motives," he pointed out. "You made a generalization and I would rather hear what made you presume that I have motives."
There was a rather long stretch of silence until an amused smile played on Natsuko's lips. She wiggled her finger, gestured for him to get closer to her and he obliged her request. The scent of apples filled his nostrils and a warm heat almost radiated out of her body. Finally, she answered. "You remind me of a fox and we all know how foxes are sly creatures."
Does she know? He narrowed his eyes and kept his heartbeat calm but made no attempt to move away from the girl. Blue eyes looked almost innocent but there was a dangerous smile on her lips. This was a trap. She wanted him to confess because if he sensed her energy…then she sensed his own energy.
He was not going to admit to anything.
"Well I am not a fox," he smiled and moved away from her. "But I believe you are more like a fox then I am. You do have those marks on your cheek."
"I'll take that as a compliment because I love foxes," she chirped. There was some kind of dark amusement in her eyes and Kurama kept his expression blank as the blonde turned away from him. "Foxes are sly creatures but when you earn their loyalty and trust, then you could always…"
The phone rang before Natsuko could finish the sentence. Kurama allowed the disappointment to seep out and watched as the blue-eyed girl strolled towards the phone. There was a rather seductive sway to her hips, drew his eyes on her and he paused before shaking his head.
"Mrs. Yamamoto? I'm at work," Natsuko said politely, twirling her finger around the phone cord. If it wasn't for his heightened senses then Kurama doubt that he could hear their conversation. "Wait, what do you mean our apartment is on fire? Shouldn't Keiko be the one to inform me?"
The blonde trembled and tightened her grip on the cord as the woman informed her about how her friend had ran out of the apartment. At least you and your mother are out. That seemed to be the woman's attempt to console the teen but Kurama could feel the energy leaking out of her.
It crackled and lashed out with so much rage.
"I'll come back home." The phone slammed against the wall and Kurama kept the polite smile when the teen came back. She trembled and eyed the bakery, looking even more frustrated. Slender hands tugged at her braid and he blinked when she clicked her heels together and stared at him with pleading eyes.
"Look I know I can't ask a customer to watch the store but my little brother is in that apartment," she explained, removing the apron from her waist and dropped it on the table. He kept quiet and waited for the girl to continue on. "Please look after the bakery while I go and deal with this problem. My mother is probably too busy to deal with this mess…and I have a brother to rescue, so just—"
"—Go," he waved at her and picked up the apron. "I'll help you out until you fix the situation but you have to be back before 6 because—"
"—I'll be back on time for you to visit your Mom!"
And with those words, she bolted out of the bakery and Kurama stared at the scene before him. There shouldn't be so many customers. He could do this job until Natsuko came back and he would remind her that because of her sudden request, he should receive a free cake.
(10 minutes later and the bakery seemed to be overflowing with girls who were more interested in him then on the cakes).
Thank god, I got enough water.
Her braid smacked her cheeks as her hand ripped open the lid of the huge water bottles that she managed to snatch from one of the runners. It was wrong. Completely bad but her brother's body was on the line. When I see Keiko, I'm going to scream at her. Just one day. She only asked Keiko to watch Yusuke for a couple of hours and this happened.
She stopped behind the window behind her apartment. Overwhelming flames busted out of her apartment, crackling and lashing out like vines of fury. From where she stood, she could make out her brother's figure…and Keiko. Even if she came back, I'm still going to scold her. She took a rather large mouthful of water, placed her hands together and froze when a figure appeared in front of her.
Itachi stared at her with unimpressed eyes.
"Your baby brother's body is going to be fine, Naru," Itachi commented. The words barely ended when the flames behind him turned from orange flames to bright blue flames. She jerked her head and the ghost offered her an amused smile. "Koenma decided to help your brother although your brother may have paid a bigger price for his request."
She lowered her shoulders and spat out the water. "What was the price that Yusuke made, Itachi? Is he not going to come back to life because I swear that I will find a way back to Spirit World and I'll kick that toddler's ass alongside his ass of a Father."
The moment the words came out of her mouth was the moment that she realized her mistake. Shit. She should have pretended not to know him. She should have kept her mouth shut. But the adrenaline coursed through her and the image of Takibi's dead body crept up on her mind…
Wait, did that bastard know she remembered everything?
"My presumption that you recalled your past life is indeed true," Itachi observed, almost amused and rather pleased. It was still difficult for her to make out his feelings but his tone did seem amused and pleased. The black-haired man looked at the window. "You won't mind if I refer to you as Naru? Or shall I call you, Sister? You did marry Sasuke."
Naru. That was her first name and the name she always wanted people to call because…Natsuko never truly felt right. She might call herself Natsuko, might answer to it but her skin crawled with irritation. Naru felt even more right but…it didn't feel completely right. Something was missing about her name.
Or maybe it was just her.
"Naru," she answered, slumping her shoulders. He nodded and Natsuko watched as Keiko continued to lug her brother away from the flames and to the door. "When did you realize I could see you? Or that I recall everything?"
He inspected her. "You might have grown more calm but your face still shows your emotions and thoughts."
"Blame my teenage body," she grumbled. "I had the best poker face when I was Hokage."
I broke my promise about keeping the acts of the village hidden. She wanted to confess those words to him but looked away from the man. There was no need to confess. Konoha had changed. The village no longer had the same name and he would understand because neither Sasuke nor her wanted the children to live with the lie that destroyed her husband.
"Koenma intends to bring Yusuke back no matter what," Itachi commented. She blinked and jerked her head as the ghost surveyed the flames that crackled in the background. "Your brother surprised almost everyone in the Spirit World when he decided to save that little boy. His death caused a real headache but I blame Koenma for that."
She tilted her head. "Oh? Why?"
"He is a toddler and a spirit," he explained with a thoughtful tone. "Just like his father, he believes that humans can be predictable. That people like you and your brother are predictable but…you and Yusuke are anything but predictable."
A comfortable silence fell upon them and Natsuko looked up at the sky. Itachi was right. Humans were unpredictable but he was wrong as well because…humans didn't believe her brother could do it. They just see the exterior. But her brother was a kind boy underneath all of that hardness.
"So my brother wasn't meant to die that day," she smiled wearily. "Maybe Yusuke is actually my descendent and I didn't know it."
Itachi didn't smile. "If he was then your son would know since he made it his job to overwatch his descendants and his brothers' descendants, even if a couple of them lives overseas."
So we spread out from Japan. That was good to know. The family line hadn't died down despite the fact that it had been so many years, but then again her sons had been rather popular. Of course, it was all Sasuke's genes. He had been the one with fangirls and the one that could make any woman forget reason.
It was rather sweet that she was the only woman that he would harbor feelings for.
"Takibi mentioned he would visit my descendants," she admitted and Itachi didn't look surprise. Not that she expected for the man to gawk at her comment. He always seemed to know everything, had a plan for everything too if she thought about it. "Tell me…did you plan for me to remember my past? Or was this King Enma's plan?"
"King Enma will be rather furious when he finds out about your situation," Itachi replied, shifting his gaze around the sky. There was a subtle frown on his lips but the man kept his eyes completely void of emotion. No indication of whether or not that he did this to her. "You were ordered to have your memory erased before the process began."
Natsuko eyed him. "Itachi, did you manipulate the situation because you hoped that I would do something about King Enma?"
A warning look was shot at her and she realized that her voice became hysterical. The S-class shinobi thinned his lips and darted his eyes around the sky before regarding her with serious eyes. Understanding shone through his eyes but he still did not made any physical cues to answer her question.
"He told you about him."
She thinned her lips. "He told my brother and I overheard them…and then he told me when he visited me in my room. Now answer my question! Did you make sure to tamper with the process because of what happened to Sasuke?"
The long stretch of silence and the complete lack of regret in his eyes told her everything. Of course, he did this because he would do anything for Sasuke…and he knows I will do anything for Sasuke. She wanted to scream at him but the fact she had Yusuke now, meant she understood his reasons.
If Yusuke had never died then she would do something.
"Perhaps or perhaps not."
It wasn't a denial but it wasn't acceptance either. The vagueness of his answer made her eyebrows twitched and the desire to smash her fist against his cheeks was great but she held herself back. With a deep breath, Natsuko observed the ghost and paused as another suspicion came upon her.
A suspicion that grew with the way that Itachi kept darting his eyes around the scene.
"Are…we being watched?"
He thinned his lips. "Always assume."
Translation: there is a huge possibility that he has someone watching us. She clenched her jaw and kept her expression stone-faced as the man made his way closer to her. This was bad. If King Enma knew about this whole mess then they were in trouble. Itachi, more so because she knew, just knew, that he had done something.
"Can you tell me anything without being so…confusing?" she needed something that would keep her sanity during these upcoming weeks. Anything that wouldn't get her in trouble with Enma because she needed to bid her time. Needed to think of a way to get Sasuke to the place that he deserved to go.
The man nodded. "With what happened to your brother and Koenma's insistence of using him, it will be a matter of time before King Enma finds out about your unique situation."
She already figured that out. For weeks now, she had been tossing and turning at the realization that the deity would find out about her memories. That she had maintain her training regime while growing up in this boring city. There was no doubt that he would think the worse of her actions.
He would think she wanted to overthrow him and she wouldn't even consider it…until Takibi told her about Sasuke.
"I refuse to have my memories erased or my powers sealed," she ducked her head and balled her hands into a fist. "It's apart of me and I refuse to become a former shell of myself."
Itachi kept quiet and looked at her for a good second before bobbing his head. There were no words spoken between them as a tensed silence fell upon them. Her body trembled and hummed with adrenaline. She needed to run. The desire to scream at Enma for his cruelty was great as well.
"He will most likely keep an eye on you and use Yusuke to keep you in track," he informed her. "Just as how Sasuke was my weakness, your own brother became your weakness and we all know what happened between Sasuke and me."
He will make you commit horrendous deeds and use the life that your brother gained as a way to make you his puppet.
That confirmation was all she needed to sink down to the ground. Tears threatened to come out but Natsuko swallowed it down. I will find a way to not get your ending. The words were about to spill from her mouth but it seemed to choke up in her throat. The man gazed at her with pitying eyes and turned away from her.
"My brother and I aren't like you and Sasuke!"
Her scream rippled in the sky and the trees quivered but the man only looked at her with sad eyes. Irritation boiled inside of her and her nails almost elongated from the fury. They weren't like him and Sasuke. She never pushed Yusuke away from her, always helped him whenever she could…and was as honest as she could be.
"If you tell Yusuke about what his revival would mean for you…then would you tell him? Or would you keep it a secret because you would rather suffer then to know he will never come back?"
She let out a hollow laugh and allowed the tears to pour out as her brother-in-law left her alone in the backyard of her apartment. Keep it a secret was the best answer because she was still selfish. She would rather be Enma's bitch then to know that her brother was never coming back.
The moment Yusuke stops working for the Spirit World, I will kick that deity out of his throne.
Itachi did nothing to Danzo but she was going to give King Enma hell the moment that her brother no longer answered to them.
A/N: Itachi finally made his appearance in this chapter and we see from this chapter that Natsuko is beginning to realize that she is no different from Itachi when it comes to her choices.