"How are you feeling Sasuke? Academy work, and my personal training. Are you hokage material yet?"

"Kokoa…" He gave her a look.

"Just trying to stay positive. No need to be rude," she pouted. "I'm actually here to tell you that I was assigned a mission. Nothing too big, but I leave in an hour. I know Itachi's supposed to return from his mission today, but looks like he might be a while. Could you tell him for me? I should be back tomorrow night, or the morning after."

"Will do, Kokoa. Be careful!" he smiled.

"Sayonara, Sasuke."

Kokoa tiredly made her way home from a long mission. Her head ached, and she was covered in dirt. There it was: her house. So close. She jogged over, unlocking the door and stepping in.

"Ah, so good to be home." She slipped out of her shoes, yawning loudly. "Oh, I wonder if Itachi made it back on time…"

"Why don't you ask him yourself?"

"Nani?" She whipped around, kunai in hand. "Tsk, Itachi-san, why are you in my house this late…how did you even get in here?" She put away the weapon.

"I'm a ninja after all."

"True…"

"To answer your question, I returned on time. I just wanted to see you."

"So you hide out in my house?"

"Surprise?" He shrugged.

"Hmm, you succeed. This was so unexpected," she teased. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he replied. She eyed him.

"Itachi…"

"Kokoa, I'm alright."

"If you say so. Oh, what do your parents think you're doing this late?"

"Don't worry. I took care of that."

"You didn't kill them, did you?" she chuckled. His eyes never left the wooden floor. Brushing off his silence, she headed for the kitchen.

"Since I'm up, do you want anything? Tea? Milk? Food? Anything?"

"Just you."

"Let me see – eh?" She paused.

"Just you, Kokoa," he repeated.

"What do you…mean…?" He walked over, pulling her close. "Are you sure you're alright? This is a bit weird, even for you, Itachi-kun," she smiled slightly.

"I'm fine," he whispered, tightening his hold, tangling one hand in her hair. "I'm fine."

On his hands and knees, Itachi bowed his head before the hooded and masked ANBU member. The candle flames flickered violently in the night.

"Itachi…are you prepared?" he spoke. Silence.

"If you are not prepared, we'll do it ourselves," he warned.

"No, please wait," the Uchiha begged, looking up with desperate eyes.

"Once things start moving…it will be too late. This is a very urgent matter."

"I know," he gulped. "I'll settle this with my own hands…"

"Why are you twitching?"

"I'm not twitching?"

"Shaking?"

"No, Sasuke."

"Shivering, quivering? Kokoa?"

"Itachi's been…well he's been distant lately."

"That's new?"

"I'm serious Sasuke. Something is bothering him, but I don't know what. His missions have been fine. He and I are fine. Did something happen at home? With the clan? He won't tell me, even though he knows that I know something is up," she sighed.

"I don't want to be nosey, but he's hurting, and I can't bear to see him like this. I just want to help."

"Maybe you can't help," he said.

"Hm?"

"Maybe it's something you can't help, like he's conflicted with himself or something. I don't know. Ni-san is weird. I never know what he's thinking. Even Father can't read him."

"I'm supposed to be the one who can read and understand him," she stated.

"But you're also supposed to be there for support. When he needs you, he'll come," Shisui said, approaching the two.

"Shisui? Long time no see," Sasuke smiled.

"I missed you, Sasuke. Good to see you. Um, could you give Kokoa and I a moment please? And don't hide or sneak around. I can sense you, you know," he warned.

"Hai, hai," the child sighed, walking off.

"Is everything alright? Is Itachi alright –"

"Relax," he chuckled. "Everything is fine."

"No it isn't. Itachi's a mess, and I can't figure out why. Am I being childish for wanting to help him?"

"Not at all. You do love him after all. You can't help it," he whispered.

"I want to tell him my feelings…so much, but I just can't." She let her shoulders fall.

"Why not?"
"What if he doesn't feel the same way? We're still young. What if he meets someone else, someone better, prettier, stronger –"

"Kokoa, you're very skilled, and you're a very attractive girl. Girls throw themselves at him, and he doesn't even look their way. He chose you, and only you." He poked her shoulder.

"So it's down to him not having the same feelings."

"Kokoa, Itachi is complicated, you know that better than anyone. He hasn't confronted me about it, but I believe he does love you, and like you, he's afraid to confess. He is human after all. We all have our fears. He would never want to hurt those he cares about. Maybe he doesn't want to tell you because he's always away for missions and meetings. He doesn't want to leave you hanging, get your hopes up only for him to walk away afterwards, you know? He could be waiting for when you're older, the time you can settle down a bit."

"I know…" she whispered, staring off to the side. "Aside from that, do you have any idea on what could be bothering him so much? It hurts. He came over the other night in some sort of daze. And when I asked him if he wanted any food, he said he just wanted me, and ended up holding me for a long time, like I would disappear if he let go. I don't get it."

"Sometimes he just needs his space. He will come to you when he needs you. He trusts you, and knows you're there, and that alone is more beneficial than anything else you'd try to do. Just relax Kokoa. Give it time."

"Time seems to be the answer to everything. I wish time would hurry up a bit," she half laughed. Shisui shrugged with a smile. Nothing could be done.

"You're here all the time. I've been seeing you a lot…too much if you ask me."

"Well no one asked you, Sasuke." Kokoa stuck her tongue out. "I'm here for Itachi. We're going somewhere. It's weird…he's been taking me everywhere lately, doing things we normally wouldn't do."

"He has some time off, so he's taking advantage of it."

"Still…"

"You should be happy. He spends half of his time with you," he pouted.

"It's not my fault. Besides I get him later in the day," she said

"Why?"

"Because it's more fair that way. I play with you earlier in day," Itachi said, causally walking out. She let out a sigh of relief, but not before he flashed her a smirk.

'Odd…he's back to normal. The other day he seemed suicidal, and now he's making jokes…' She studied him, hoping to find something, any explanation to all this.

"That makes sense, Ni-san, but it's still early."

"Today's an exception. Sorry Sasuke, some other time." Poke!

"Liar…"

"Come on, Kokoa."

"Try not to be all gross and kissy around people! No one needs to see that!" Sasuke called after the two.

"I won't make any promises."

"What's with you?"

"Hm?" Itachi glanced at her.

"You were so upset the other day, so confused, but now you're…well you seem better."

"I was tired, irritated from…work. A lot is going on behind the scenes…things that are beyond my control…" He trailed off.

"I'm just overwhelmed. Don't worry, Kokoa."

"If you say so. Seeing you like that was hard. I know I can't do much, but you know you can come to me. If anything's bothering you, if something serious is going on, you can come to me. You can tell," she smiled, tightening the hold on his hand. He nodded with a smile.

'If only I could, Kokoa…'

"Whoa there. Where are you going, Miss?" Shisui grinned, stopping Kokoa in her tracks.

"To deliver some dango. Do you have any idea where he is? I'd ask Sasuke, but I've seen him ten times this week already," she chuckled.

"Why the dango?"

"I know he said it was nothing, but something is bothering him. I just want to cheer him up a little. You know Itachi loves his dango."

"I do, I do. He's in the forest, training as usual."

"Arigato, Shisui," she smiled, running off with the bundle in her arms. He sorrowfully watched her.

"There you are."

"Kokoa?" He looked over in surprise.

"I brought you some dango." She held out the goods.

"Thank you, but I'm training at the moment."

"You can save them for later," she smiled, setting it down beside his things.

"You didn't have to." His eyes never left the ground as he spoke.

"I know. I wanted to, to cheer you up."

"Why do you keep doing this?"

"Hu? What do you mean?"

"This, that, trying to cheer me up, trying to fix it all."

"Because…" Her smile faded. "I care about you. You're upset, and I just wanted to make you feel better…to see you smile." She wanted more than anything to blurt out "I love you!" To just let go, finally get it off her chest, but she still couldn't.

"You can't fix everything, Kokoa. What did I tell you about being naïve –"

"I'm not being naïve. I'm just trying to help, trying to understand why you were on the verge of tears in my house the other night! You always do this. You disappear for days, and when I finally see you, you're upset, frustrated, not yourself, and you never tell me why. I'm left to figure it out for myself, and even if I do get it, you still don't tell me. You mean so much to me, but sometimes I feel like it's not the same for you…"

"What are you saying?" He faced her.

"Sometimes I feel that I like you more than you like me…that this has become one sided. Being your girlfriend, Itachi, I barely know anything about you, and when I try to better understand who you are…you push me away…I hope you like them," she said, glancing at the dango before leaving him there. His grip on the kunai tightened. Angry with himself,

"Tsk…" He jammed it into the tree. Dropping to his knees, his forehead met the grass, and he remained that way, hunched over on all fours, for some time.