"My father, Itachi-san, was murdered. His assassination carried out while he was on a mission. Literally stabbed in the back. And my mother was killed not long after to keep her quiet. All ordered, all of it taken away from me by…" She clenched her fists, a darkness in her eyes Itachi had never before seen. "Shimura Danzo." And that alone nearly knocked Itachi to his knees. Danzo had stripped the girl of her parents, of her family, of love, and she still had no clue what he had done to Itachi. He and Shisui were right then, all those years ago when they found Akihiko's document. He was killed out of fear, and Kokoa was monitored all her life because of how powerful and hated her father was. Itachi now clenched his own fists, jaw tight, seething.

"How do you know all this? Your parents died when you were an infant."

"I met my father, you see."

"Kokoa, you're out of your mind -"

"He came to me! In my head. It was a jutsu triggered when I was at the lowest point in my life. He gave me some chakra when I was a baby. That's how it happened. I'm not crazy! I wouldn't lie to you."

"And how low was this point in your life?" Itachi said with a sigh to keep up his act.

"Sasuke left…" She looked away. "I tracked down Orochimaru and offered to take Sasuke's place, but he wouldn't listen. They threw me in jail, and Sasuke left, and you were still gone…"

"You're not so naive anymore, Kokoa. But you're still a fool. Why do you go out of your way? What are you doing?"

"You told me a long time ago, Itachi-san, that in time I would learn what happened to my parents. And I did. You kept your promise. That's why I'm here. Because I'm keeping mine."

"Promise? What promise? The one where you said you'd keep Sasuke safe?" he said. "That didn't work out, did it?"

"It's not my fault he left!"

"Yeah? Whose then?"

"It's –" She bit her lip. Even then, she would not blame Itachi. "No one's fault. It was his choice. I had to let him go. He left to do what he needed. It's time I did the same."

"My foolish little brother doesn't know what he's gotten himself into. He's worse than you. Impulsive. Blinded by his emotions."

"My father was a dangerous man. Feared and hated for his ability, even by some of his own kin. But he didn't have any normal jutsu, you see." Kokoa changed the subject.

"Why are you telling me this, Kokoa? I don't care."

"The Kuroki was a clan once, with a kekkei genkai that manifested differently in everyone, all various ways to read people. My father had a gift...and a curse, able to read minds. The ultimate technique, wouldn't you say, Itachi-san? Predicting an enemy's actions before they even blink," she said. Itachi eyed her, a bad feeling settling in his gut in knowing where she was going.

"My father told me that as strong as he was, there was another form of the kekkei genkai, a stronger one that had not been seen in a long time. The one I have," she said.

"So you're special now?" Itachi remembered the document, remembered deciphering bits of it with Shisui, remembered the small section about a rare form of the Kuroki's ability, the one he now knew for sure Kokoa had. He never forgot the information, always kept it close in his mind after returning the paper to her, in case they ever met again. He couldn't let Kokoa read him. He absolutely wouldn't.

"Special? No. I just know who I am now. I had a mother who loved me dearly, and a father who would have killed to protect me. I have a name to carry. I have a kekkei genkai that will show me your truth since you refuse to tell me."

"Oh?"

"A skilled enough shinobi can control his thoughts. There are also jutsu you can cast on others, a sort of mental lock, to keep them quiet, but no matter how hard you try, even the toughest of ninja can't control what's in their heart. And that's what I can see."

"Hearts? Hard to believe –"

"I always knew when you were sad," she said, stepping closer. "I always saw it in you. I knew when you were hiding things from me. I knew when you were conflicted, when you felt guilty, when you lied. You always lied, Itachi-san. I knew when you did, even to spare my feelings...I knew." Itachi only stared back at her. "I played dumb for your sake, pretended I didn't notice to ease your guilt. You were always so kind." She glanced away sadly. "I have always been empathetic, painfully so. I've always seen the rawness of people's hearts, their truth, and it's time, after all that's happened, I see yours."

"There's nothing to see, Kokoa.

"There is! The night you told me we couldn't be together anymore, there was something in your eyes as you turned away from me! And when we met years later, you hesitated to kill me despite me standing there begging you to! And even now! You've said time and time again you'd kill me, but you won't! There's something in you, something holding you back. There's more to your story, I KNOW.

Danzo took my father from me. And he and Sarutobi blamed me for everything. I can't trust what they said about you, about the massacre. I can't. I can't! I won't." She took another step and grabbed him by the collar. "You can tell me, Itachi-san. You can tell me. I'm on your side," she said softly. "I said I'd never turn my back on you. I promised Shisui I'd always be there for you." Itachi shut his eyes. Shisui. He opened them, sharingan still there, still threatening. Itachi grabbed both her wrists.

"None of this means anything," he said, tightening his grip. "If you can't walk away from someone who doesn't want you, that's your own fault."

"Don't lie to me. Not now. Not again."

"Go ahead then, if you know so much, Kokoa. Take a look." He leaned closer, so close, his nose brushing hers. "Read my heart." And Kokoa tried, trembling in his hold. She had been trying ever since he dragged her into the genjutsu, but there was nothing, not even the darkness he spoke of. Itachi had gone to great lengths to counter her ability. Lied to himself, convinced himself there would be no happy ending, killed what hope lingered in his heart. He did not want Sasuke. He did not want Kokoa. He was Akatsuki, numb to everything else. He was the criminal everyone made him out to be; the dangerous, the shameless, remorseless. 'Even lies become truth if you stick to them indefinitely.' That sharingan of his also helped.

"Well, Kokoa?" He tightened his grip on her once again. She winced in pain, but never looked away. "What can you see with those fancy eyes of yours?"

She gasped, tears welling. He released a wrist and grabbed her by the neck instead, fingers pressing hard against her pulse.

"I was kind enough to spare you all that time ago. I was kind enough to give you a chance to walk away. I pitied you, a miserable, orphaned girl." She shut her eyes, shuddering at his breath against her cheek with each word he spoke. "You were useful to me then, but now you're just in the way. The same miserable girl, of course. The same fool I deceived. The delusional Kuroki child who now thinks she's her father. Hn, I still pity you. Perhaps that's why I haven't killed you yet."

He stepped forward, pushing her down with a hand still around her throat. "You think you know everything, Kokoa. You think you know me, but you don't. You know the me I wanted you to know. Everything that's happened thus far happened according to my plan. You were merely a tool, a piece in my game."

"I – I don't believe you," Kokoa managed between coughing, clawing at his arm.

"Oh?"

"I know you, Itachi-san."

"No. You really don't."

"P – please…" He lowered her to her knees.

"Give up, Kokoa. Let it go."

"I – I can't."

"Why?" And he immediately regretted asking.

"Because I –" But he pressed harder, choking her. Tears fell from her sad blue eyes, and though she knew it was genjutsu, she feared she really was suffocating. Kokoa squirmed beneath him, still clawing – tugging, pulling, yanking at his sleeve, trying to get a grip, to lift herself up, but he kept pushing her back down. Kokoa struggled and struggled to breathe, to confess one last thing before succumbing fully to the illusion.

"Because I lov –" The ground beneath her disappeared, and she fell into darkness, the air leaving her lungs. Blind, deaf, falling, still falling, she tried to scream, but like before, no sound came out. Endless, it felt endless, until everything came to a sudden halt, and she slipped into shackles, metal cuffed tight around her wrists and ankles. It was too dark to see, but she heard the clinking of chains each time she shook an arm. Something cold and thick slithered down her face. Then she felt it at her neck and along her arms; everywhere.

Suddenly, she could breathe, and she screamed. Loud. So loud it hurt. So loud even Itachi flinched, wherever he was hiding. With a snap of his fingers, light returned, a dim light, but light nonetheless.

Kokoa brought a hand to her face. Pulling away, she gazed at the smeared red between her fingers. Blood. She tugged at the chains again, grunting, on the verge of crying.

"Itach –"

"So fearless before. What happened?" he said, appearing before her. "You think you know me, but you don't. You pretend you understand, but you're afraid, just like everyone else." She shut her eyes, biting her lip. "Telling yourself it's only genjutsu won't help."

"Stop."

"Because everything I've said is real."

"Stop. Please."

"Everything you feel is real."

"Itachi-san –"

"Everything you're about to see…is real." The world shifted again, spiraled, and Kokoa found herself at the Uchiha compound. Though the chains were gone, she was paralyzed again, forced to witness what was to unfold. She gazed up at the moon, the moon she never really forgot.

"No," she said. "No, no, no. Itachi-san, please." Her heart beat fast, loud, slamming against her. And a sickness overwhelmed her.

"You refuse to believe what happened," Itachi said, voice an echo. She glanced around but was unable to find him. "So, Kokoa, I'm going to show you."

"Don't! Please! Please -" He silenced her again, voice gone. Kokoa saw the blood spattered walls, the lifeless bodies, the carnage. Itachi gracefully wielding his blade. Sasuke crying at his parents' bodies. Kokoa watched in silence with heavy eyes, hot tears falling. This was the nightmare which haunted Sasuke all those years, the reason the child was afraid to shut his eyes at night, why he gave up everything to end the man who caused it.

Kokoa had made it this far without ever really knowing what happened the night of the massacre, the gruesome details. But for turning her back on Konoha and giving Sasuke a hard time by going after his brother, she figured she deserved to witness the tragedy. It was only fair that it haunted her too, a reminder why no one would ever understand her love for the Uchiha Itachi.

"You pushed your way into the Uchiha, thought you understood the conflict of old clans and their tradition, believed or so badly wanted to believe you had family. My mother, my father, Shisui, Sasuke. I took them away from you…just like Danzo took your father."

Itachi knew he had gone too far, but showing Kokoa, scaring her would keep her away; finally convince her he was not the same boy she loved. Itachi knew little about Akihiko, but he now knew Kokoa's love and admiration for her father, and by digging enough around in her head, he managed to piece him together, managed to recreate an image of Akihiko, a bit distorted, but still recognizable. And it disturbed Kokoa, how Itachi was able to find all of that, to have Akihiko stand there face to face with her.

She noticed the paralysis was gone when she extended an arm, reaching out to grab her father's hand. Her fingers moved through him. Not flesh and bone, Kokoa could not hold Akihiko. Itachi, still hiding somewhere in that genjutsu, watched her with sad eyes; the girl so desperate to love and be loved. She truly was alone, and it broke the Uchiha's heart to see her so wretched, aching to love her father. For a moment it seemed his tactic worked, that Kokoa was about to crack, but as she gazed into Akihiko's eyes, she remembered their conversation. She remembered her father. Kokoa lowered her gaze.

"Everyone feared and hated my father," she said. "But when I met him, I saw – I saw love in him. I did not fear him." Akihiko crumbled, his figure blown away by a sudden wind. Itachi took his place, eyes narrowed. Why couldn't he break her? "Everyone fears and hates you, but when we meet, I see the kind boy I once knew." She leaned forward, and in a whisper said, "I'm not afraid, Itachi-san."

That charcoal world darkened, and Itachi began to fade, but before he vanished completely, in his eyes, Kokoa saw what she saw the night he ended things with her. She saw a flicker of life, of emotion. She saw guilt. Everything turned to black.

Only a second had passed in the real world. Kakashi and the others watched the legs of an unconscious Kokoa buckle, but before she hit the ground, Itachi grabbed her by the hair, winding a large section around his wrist for a good grip. He pulled hard enough to sit her up on her knees.

"Kokoa!" Naruto advanced forward. "Kokoa-chan, wake up! What did you do to her?"

"This was interesting, Naruto-kun, Kakashi-san." Itachi said. "A nice show with Kokoa here as my puppet." He gave her a small shake.

"Itachi, what are you…" Kakashi eyed him.

"We go way back, Kokoa and I. But she's a bit naïve, you see. Doesn't know when to keep her nose out of things. I put her in place is all."

"Genjutsu? Tsukuyomi."

"Perceptive as always, Kakashi-san," Itachi said. Kokoa opened her eyes, just enough to see the bit of grass beneath her. Tsukuyomi. She should be out completely just like Kakashi was years ago. Her body ached, and it felt as though someone took a hammer to her skull. Though her vision was blurry and she knew she couldn't stand, she seemed to hear just fine.

"So she's been under your jutsu all along?" Naruto asked.

"From the moment she attacked. You noticed her paralyzed on the sidelines for a good while, no?" Itachi pulled her hair again, drawing her head back against his legs. "Everything she's said, everything she's done, all part of my show. I hope my performance was believable."

"So she didn't protect you?" Sakura asked. "Naruto could have killed her. She almost took my hit for you!"

"Not of her own free will. It was my doing," he said. It took everything in Kokoa to keep quiet, to pretend she was still unconscious. Why was Itachi lying? They both knew she decided to jump in front of him. What was he doing? "I was tempted to use her against you. To have you all fight her, but...things would have gotten messy fast. There are secrets to the Kuroki that none but the Kuroki and a few others know. She's quite…" He ran the back of his hand gently along her face, dipping down to grab her chin, his other hand still in her hair, "the useful tool." His lying, calling her a tool, his touch; Kokoa couldn't bear the ache in her heart.

"But it seems she's reached her limit. Useless to me now." Itachi suddenly let go, letting her fall to the ground. He stepped to her right, legs spread, hands together in a seal. "Let's finish this, shall we? I don't have time to waste." Kokoa shut her eyes, hot tears soaking her face. And blood bubbled at her bottom lip where she had bitten too hard.

"Naruto, get the girl," Chiyo said. Kokoa found it hard to breathe again, and her body shook. The aftereffects of the genjutsu. She didn't last much longer. Things began to fade again. Someone scooped her up. Thinking it was Naruto, she was surprised to find Kakashi instead. She hung loosely in his arms, head bobbing. With what strength she had left, the Kuroki looked back towards Itachi, gazing into deep sharingan one last time before slipping into darkness.