The Jinchuriki are being targeted, the five nations are under threat not just by the Akatsuki, but by Orochimaru as well. War is coming. Unfortunately, life doesn't stop for anyone, and when the nations start to enter into alliances, fate will make itself known, intertwining the dedicated shinobi who are protecting themselves, their loved ones, and their villages.
AU. Non-mass. Features OCs. Currently undecided if there will be lemons. Slow burn.
So this is my first story in YEARS, and while I'm not sure anyone will read this, inspiration struck me, so I started writing, and here we are! I re-wrote this chapter 3-4 times before decided to post this, so let me know what you think!
3rd Person P.O.V.
Two weeks ago, the first part of a delegation from Kirigakure arrived in Konoha. Ambassadors sent by the new Mizukage, Mei Terumi, to repair ties with Konoha, make amends, and supposedly enter into some kind of Alliance.
To Tsunade's surprise, the talks were easy, and they went very well. Kiri seemed to want very little in return, some trade agreements, informational sharing between the two, and while Tsunade was surprised, she also understood. The Kages of the Five Nations could see what was coming. Her old teammate, Orochimaru, was growing restless in his village, slinking around and waiting for the perfect time to enact vengeance on Konoha and steal away his greatest prize, Sasuke Uchiha. The mysterious organization, Akatsuki, had made several plays for Naruto and had almost successfully killed Gaara.
Something was coming. The Mizukage knew it, Tsunade knew it, everyone knew it. This alliance was a preemptive strike, the first preparation for war, and was necessary for both village's survival. Even Konoha's elders were on board.
These initial talks led here, to the second (and much larger) Kiri delegation's arrival. Mei herself was coming, along with Kiri's own Jinchuriki, Akira Mizutani, and his sister, Akemi Mizutani. These two were key to this agreement. The Mizutani Clan, renowned for its Kekkei Genkai, the Kokoro no Me, their wealth, and their ability to withstand the Kiri massacre against such clans, held a key ability. Using their Kekkei Genkai, they created what they called "Soul Bonds", usually reserved for marriage, Akemi and her brother adapted these soul-bonds, as a way to protect Akira and his bijuu, the three-tails. This new bond was the star of the new alliance, and the best way Tsunade could see to protect Naruto. She'd already seen it in action once, with Gaara.
Tsunade and countless other leaf shinobi waited at the gates, knowing the group would be arriving at any moment. Naruto hadn't quite been informed yet of his role in this, as Tsunade figured it was best coming from Akemi. A quick but large group of chakra signatures all flared, signaling their arrival, and jumped out into the road from the trees. The Mizukage standing very obvious with her fiery red hair and signature blue outfit led the pack up the road, flanked on either side by who she assumed were Akira and Akemi. Akira stood out just as much, with his vibrant silver hair and piercing lilac eyes, a tall and imposing figure, he looked like he could snap someone in half. Akemi however, looked nothing like her brother, save for the eyes. While tall, not nearly as imposing, and no silver hair to be found, the stark contrast of auburn instead, and it was apparent to Tsunade that even from a distance, she was beautiful. Silently, Tsunade wondered what was in the water in Kiri, most of their group all being tall and particularly good looking.
Mei approached the Hokage first, alone, while the rest of her ninja stood back, a sign of great trust and respect. Everyone held their breath as the two women stared the other down, taking their measure.
"Tsunade-sama." Mei bowed first. "Thank you for your invitation. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."
Akemi P.O.V.
We'd been traveling for about a week, at a grueling pace, trying to reach Konoha as fast as possible. Our visit was not a secret, as it would have been impossible to keep quiet with the Mizukage traveling, as well as my brother, and we had very little time to accomplish our goal. Bonding the Leaf's Jinchuriki, Naruto, to me.
Akira had only been sealed to the three-tails for a short time when the Akatsuki first came for him, trying to strike before he got used to his new power. They were as mysterious at the time as they turned out to be deadly, none of us knowing who they were or why they'd come. The reason became apparent as I watched them drag Akira's unconscious body out of our clan compound, my mother and father leaving to rescue him with a small team of Jonin from our village.
My father returned from the battle missing his arm, and my mother returned in a body bag. Soon after, my siblings and I decided that we needed to protect Akira. My father, my eldest brother Akihiro, and our clan elders delved deep into our secret histories and vast store of knowledge to find a way to do just that. And eventually, we did. We adapted our clan's most sacred tradition, the Soul-Bond, to bind Akira to me, forever. Then we did it again, with his tailed beast, Isobu.
I was the first person to soul-bond a tailed beast to me, and it had turned out to be the ultimate level of protection, with some added benefits and challenges along the way. I've since repeated the process with Gaara and Shukaku of Sunagakure, Yugito with Matatabi and Killer-B with Gyuki, both from Kumogakure. The Kyuubi would be my greatest challenge, and I knew the Mizukage and my family were weary, but we had to try, there was no other choice.
As we got closer to the Hidden Leaf Village, I could feel the chakra signatures that lined the main gate. My brother and I joined Mei-sama on either side as we broke through the tree line. My ANBU team and the rest of our ninja falling in behind us.
I looked at the small crowd that was waiting to welcome us. Tsunade at the front, with a scrutinizing gaze, taking us in. The massive chakra source that was Naruto, and his team, not far behind. I'd met them on the Gaara-retrieval mission along with some of the others gathered. There were some shinobi that I didn't recognize, and some that are so notorious that they were unmistakable. Itachi Uchiha, his deadly ANBU team, and Jiraiya the toad sage all present. I briefly touched Mei's hand as we approached.
"Quite the welcome, don't you think?" I heard her voice in my head and I could feel her anxiety.
"A welcome, or an attempt at an extermination squad if we were to turn on them." Both groups knew that would never happen. Too much was at stake here. Mei chuckled as I broke the connection. We hung back at her request and let her approach Tsunade alone. It was tense for a second, and then they greeted each other, more warmly than I was expecting. The slug princess was a sight to behold. Beautiful, far younger looking than she should be, and definitely an air of well-deserved confidence and leadership. Secretly, she was an idol of mine.
"I suppose you'll want to know exactly who is going to be in your village," Mei turned and motioned us forward, pulling me from my thoughts. The 9 of us stepped forward to her side, and she began introductions. "This is Akira Mizutani, and his team, Kenji Yoshitani, Haji Yokota, and Mai Tachibana. One of our chief medics, Ayako Uyeda, for the medical information trade we discussed. And lastly, Akemi Mizutani, and her team, Toshi Iwamoto, Sayuri Takahashi, and Hiro Watanabe." The Konoha ninjas took us in, and I knew we looked imposing. While not indicative of everyone in Kiri, we were some of the deadlier ninjas in our village, and they knew it. I smile at Naruto and Team 7 and when I look at them Naruto gave me an excited wave.
"Hi, Akemi-san!" I waved back.
"Hello, Naruto-san. Sakura-san, Sasuke-san. Nice to see you again as well." They waved their greetings. I moved closer to Tsunade, addressing her directly. "It's an honor to meet you Hokage-sama," bowing deeply, "And thank you." She bowed back.
"Please, call me Tsunade. After what you're about to do, I should be the one thanking you." I nodded with a small smile. Akira steps forward and introduces himself as well. "Naruto, come here," He steps forward with the rest of Team 7. "This is someone I think you'd like to meet, Kiri's Jinchuriki, Akira. He possesses the 3-tails." Naruto lit up and threw his hand out.
"I'm Naruto! I've never met another Jinchuriki besides Gaara, and he tried to kill us the first time we met him." My brother's imposing facade melted as he met Naruto, because he too, is a lovable excited idiot most of the time, and he understands what it's like to be different, first for having a kekkei genkai then for becoming a jinchuriki.
"That happened to me too with Yugito. It's basically how we say hello. Don't worry though, I won't do that!" They shook hands vigorously with contagious smiles.
"Mei-san, you'll be staying with me in the Hokage tower, as will Uyeda-san. I've been informed that the Mizutani siblings and their teams made arrangements through their clan to stay with the Uchiha clan. I trust Sasuke and Itachi can lead them there," Tsunade told Mei, and they went off, followed closely behind by Ayako-chan and a group of the older Konoha ninja, like Kakashi Hatake. No doubt to discuss the coming weeks and the preparations that have to be made. We gathered with the people left behind and started to exchange pleasantries. Sakura quickly found her way over to me and gave me a hug now that the formalities were over. She remained holding my hands after we released, intent on using our connection.
"I'm so happy to see you Akemi-san!"
"Me too! I'm glad that you remember our Kekkei Genkai so well, I know it can be jarring after being away from it."
"Of course. I have so much to tell you."
"Can't wait." I winked at her and she laughed as she let go of my hand. I got a quick handshake from Sasuke as well, he even greeted me through my Kekkei Genkai, which surprised me, and then transitioned to speaking out loud.
"Akemi-san, this is my older brother, Itachi." Of course, I knew who Itachi was. If not for the fact that he was one of Konoha's strongest ninjas, then for the fact of our parent's long-time friendship. However, we'd never actually met, due to the long time hostilities between our villages, and we'd never even crossed paths on a mission. When I looked at him for the first time, I saw that he was taller than me by quite a few inches, his sleek ebony hair pulled back in a low ponytail, and he was even more handsome than I'd heard. Quiet power and a commanding presence practically emanated from him and when our eyes met, I felt it immediately. The remnants of a previous soul bond. The instant connection I felt left me reeling, the feeling of being at home with a longtime companion and lover coming over me, along with a rather strong physical instinct that made me want to throw myself into his arms and never leave. I saw him take me in, rather intensely, and neither of us spoke for what felt like an eternity to me but was actually only a few seconds. I quickly shook myself out of it and bowed to him.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Uchiha-san." He bowed back.
"Likewise, Mizutani-san." When we straightened back up, our eyes met again, and I could see the intrigue in his black orbs as he looked at me.
"You can just call me Akemi, I'm not a fan of formality."
"Very well. Itachi then, if you'd like." I nodded with a smile, forcefully pulling my eyes from his to meet my brothers as he linked our arms and joined our conversation. Akira felt the whirlwind of emotions swirling inside me the instant he touched me.
"What? What happened?" I briefly replayed the moment in my head for him to watch. When I finished, he was at a loss for words. "Oh shit."
"Yeah."
"As you heard earlier, this is my brother Akira," I said coming back to the outer world, unlinking our arms. They greeted each other the same we did, but I caught Itachi's eyes coming back to me every so often. Most of the other shinobi had long since dispersed.
"Akemi, Akira, do you want to come to get ramen with us?!" Naruto asked in his exuberant fashion that I grew accustomed to the last time we met.
"I'm sure Akira and our teams would love to," Akira nodded forcefully, starving as always. "I however have something for Sasuke and Itachi's parents that has to be delivered. If one of you could point me towards the Uchiha Compound, I don't want to take you away."
"I'll escort you myself. My mother would insist." I felt the nervousness inside me grow as I looked at Itachi and nodded.
"Thank you," We parted ways with my brother and our teams, and I briefly touched his hand once more.
"Good luck."
I followed next to Itachi silently, hoping that my nerves weren't evident on my face, though I knew that I'd never been good at masking emotions. The silence was slightly deafening to me, partially because of the connection I felt to him, and its implications, and partially because I'm used to the constant presence of someone else in my mind, as all of the people in my life are either aware of my Kekkei Genkai or possess it themselves.
"Is everything alright?" I looked over apologetically when I realized that I'd been fidgeting my hands and that it was obvious to him that I was uncomfortable. 'I'm definitely not making the best impression.'
"Yeah, sorry, I have a lot on my mind, and I'm not used to being alone in it," I explained with a sigh.
"Your Kekkei Genkai?"
"Yes."
"My otousan briefly explained it to me," I figured as much, Fugaku-sama was well versed in it, as was Mikoto-sama.
"The people in Kiri are used to it now, so it's rare for us to be without it. We like the simplicity of it. And the privacy," I watched him consider something for a second and then hold his arm out for me to take. "You don't have to, I'll be fine without it," His arm remains extended towards me even after I speak, so I hesitantly took it, feeling the new connection that's strangely familiar.
3rd Person P.O.V.
"It can be a little jarring at first." The pair came to an immediate stop as her voice flittered into his head.
"Yes, I see that now."
"I'll go easy on you. No mind-reading. Yet." He looked over at Akemi immediately, not sure what to make of this whole new experience.
"You can read my mind?"
"Yes and no. The first level is the communication that we're doing right now, that goes both ways. The second level is sensing emotions, that is usually one-sided, unless both people possess the Kekkei Genkai, are soul bonded, or some other rare circumstances. The completely one-sided levels, unless you have the Kekkei Genkai, is the third level which is sensing non-communication thoughts while connected, mind-reading if you will, and the fourth level, which is only present when our Kekkei Genkai is fully activated, where we can go back into your mind, see your memories and see any previous thoughts you've had. We reserve that for interrogations." Akemi explained as they resumed their walk.
"So you can go up to the third level at any time?"
"I could, only if I wanted to. I don't have to."
"Can the other person sense when you change between levels?" The thought that she could prod around in his head at any time was unsettling to Itachi, to say the least.
"No, unless they're being interrogated of course. The fourth level is… unmistakable. Rather like your Mangekyou, I imagine."
"I see."
"I warned you it was alarming."
"Yes, you did."
"While I do appreciate it, you can stop whenever you'd like. But you're doing remarkably well for your first interaction."
"It is… disconcerting. At first. Not anywhere near what I was expecting, however." Akemi noticed that he does seem to have settled into it quite nicely, which is rare.
"I must admit to being slightly surprised myself, I was under the impression that you were a man of very few words."
"While new, this does feel, in a way, easier to me. And private. Though you are right, I am not particularly talkative." A passing moment of unease ran through her, worried that she was annoying him; the Uchiha Clan not being known to be open or conversational, and not outwardly affectionate, preferring to be more dignified and reserved. This was completely the opposite of the Mizutani clan, making the friendship between their parents even more unexpected for both sides. She decided to risk it and probe a little deeper into his mind, sensing no annoyance, instead only feeling curiosity and something akin to comfort, which seemed to surprise Itachi.
"It's easier for me. Children in our clan don't often talk once they become aware of the connection, not until they start the Academy."
Akemi paused to take in her surroundings as Itachi led her through Konoha, marveling at the completely different world that was Konoha. They walked through the larger commerce section and she couldn't help but notice the weird and unfamiliar looks that she was getting both as a ninja they'd never seen, and also the fact that she was currently walking arm in arm with the heir to the Uchiha clan, and one of Konoha's most eligible bachelors.
"Did you know that we were almost betrothed?" Akemi said into the connection after a time.
"Yes, I heard about my father trying to arrange that. Your family said no." He did remember, and he also remembered not being particularly interested in marriage at the time and was slightly regretting it now.
"We don't believe in arranged marriages. Marriage is sacred to us. Because of the soul-bond, our marriages are for life, sometimes more than one life. They are unbreakable. We can't marry just anyone, or for the sake of the clan. If the connection isn't strong and the feelings for each other aren't deep, we don't marry."
"I see. You're soul-bonding yourself to the jinchuriki, correct?"
"Yes. My family and I adapted the soulbond jutsu to fit our needs. Rather than creating a connection for lovers, it creates a connection more like siblings. Comforting, strong, but luckily none of the other things. We found a way to remove the more… sexual side of the bond, and leave the rest. Though we have no idea about the long term implications of these bonds, especially not with the tailed beasts."
"Ah. What remains from the traditional bond?" His level of curiosity, while normal, was slightly unexpected for Akemi. Though, the whole situation was unexpected. She had no reason to suspect that they'd have a previous soul-bond connection, or that he'd be talking to her like this right now.
"A lot of things. I can sense when they are extremely threatened, or in large amounts of pain. I can communicate at all three levels with both the Jinchuuriki and the tailed beasts through physical touch with the host. I can also pull from the tailed beast's chakra stores if they are close to me, which we had no idea would happen."
"What did you remove from the bond?" She tried to think of a delicate way to explain this but was more than aware that Itachi is a mature ANBU captain and has more than likely had sex with many women given his age and the fact he's incredibly handsome; he could handle a mature conversation about sex.
"Well… Traditionally, when two people are bound into a soulbond, they can sense each other's feelings, especially when they are close to each other. So when a soul bonded couple has sex… not only are they aware of their feelings, but their partner's as well. The pleasure essentially doubles, making for, what I hear, is a very intense and in a lot of ways, addicting experience," She paused letting that sink in while also forcing herself not to think about anything remotely sexual in relation to soul bonds, previous soul bonds, and especially not with Itachi, her possible soul-bond recurrence. "The soulbond also has a way of… intensifying physical attraction, and the need for physical interaction. So when we adapted it, we removed the ability to feel each other's emotions, making it only one-sided for me, and the intensifying of any underlying physical attraction. In some cases, like with Akira, that would have never been an issue, but I knew with the other jinchuriki it could become one."
"I understand. I must admit to being surprised that you're sharing this much intimate knowledge about your clan and Kekkei Genkai with me, a stranger and up until recently, your enemy."
"Enemy is a harsh word, stranger however, I'd agree with. Most of this your parents know anyways, so the secret is already out. Might as well answer your questions since you've graciously allowed me into your head."
"I suppose." They arrived at the main entrance to the Uchiha Compound, which was on the outskirts of the village. Akemi could see young children playing in the streets and some of the clan members milling about, sending her some scrutinizing and apprehensive looks, the outsider who was with their Clan Heir. "The Clan is very curious about you all. We don't frequently have outsiders here."
"I expected as much." Itachi led her up to a large house in the middle of the compound, clearly the head family house. He entered without knocking and they broke their connection for the first time. The feeling of loss was slight but immediate for her. After removing their shoes, he took her into the house, leading her somewhere towards the smell of food. When they came into the kitchen Akemi saw Mikoto, who she'd only met once as a child when she and her mother briefly visited, cooking up a storm, presumably for their first dinner together.
"Okaasan." Itachi greeted her and she smiled happily coming over to Akemi without a word, embracing her in a hug.
"Hello dear. You look just like your mother." She says into their new connection, clearly not a newcomer to the Kokoro no Me.
"I do get that a lot. It's lovely to meet you Uchiha-sama."
"Mikoto, please. You're like family. Has Itachi been a good host?"
"Yes. You raised him well."
"Good! I'm working on dinner right now, but come find me or ask Itachi if you need anything."
"I will. Thank you, Mikoto-san." Mikoto squeezed her hands and then let go, stopping to say hello to Itachi and before returning to her cooking. Itachi comes back over to Akemi's side, ready for the next stop on the introduction train.
"I'll take you to Otousan," He said holding his arm out to her once more. She grasped it in hers and they headed towards what she assumed was Fugaku's home office. Itachi knocks lightly waiting for Fugaku to tell us to come in. The recognition on his face is instantaneous when he sees Akemi, and he's far more serious looking than she expected based on her father's stories. "Akemi, this is my Otousan."
"Uchiha-sama, it's an honor to meet one of my father's oldest friends. Thank you for allowing me to stay in your home." She bowed as respectfully as she knew how to, well aware of the importance of respect and manners to Fugaku. Her father warned her ahead of time that it takes a while for him to warm up to people. When she straightened back up she could see that he was taking her in, assessing her before speaking.
"You are welcome here Akemi-san," He bowed slightly back before offering her his hand, slight surprise showing on her face as she took it.
"You look like your mother."
"Mikoto thought so as well."
"Yes, I imagine she would. I trust your journey was without issue."
"Thankfully yes, quieter than I expected."
"And Arashi? He's well?"
"Yeah, he's fully recovered finally. Oh!" She dropped his hand to reach into her bag and pull out a scroll. "This is for you, from my Otousan."
"Thank you. I'm sure you'd like to get settled. Itachi will show you to the room Mikoto has prepared for you. Both you and your brother are staying here in our home with us."
"Oh thank you. We appreciate your hospitality Uchiha-sama," Itachi and Akemi go to leave and Fugaku speaks again.
"Akemi-san? You can call me Fugaku," She nodded and smiled softly and then they exited into the hallway. She gave Itachi a wide-eyed look and released a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"Is he always like that?" Itachi shakes his head, seemingly as surprised as she was.
"No."
"Well okay then," She retook Itachi's arm, this time before he could offer it, eager for the little bit of contact between them, and he led her upstairs.
"I don't know if I've ever been that scared to meet someone."
"My otousan is intimidating, to say the least. Even for us."
"I can only imagine."
"Your room is across from mine, and next to Sasuke's," He motioned to the respective rooms before opening the door for her. She went in, setting her stuff down, and more than a little aware of his eyes on her.
"Thank you for showing me to the compound, and for introducing me to your parents."
"Of course. Do you need anything?"
"No, I'm fine. Thank you. I'm going to settle and then find my brother," Itachi nodded and left silently, shutting the door behind him. Akemi sat on the bed and groaned inwardly. This trip was high stakes enough before, and now this. Soul-bonds from previous lives are so rare, she never imagined that she would find one. The pull she felt was also worse than she thought it would be based on what she'd read about the other soul-bond reoccurrences. 'Great. Just what I needed.'
She left the Uchiha house a little while later, not feeling Itachi's chakra signature close by as she journeyed out on her own. She sensed Akira close by, finding him with Naruto and others at a ramen stand. There were mountains of bowls in front of them, and they were clearly in some sort of competition, as the old man behind the counter stared at them wordlessly.
"Ramen eating competition," Sayuri says as Akemi joined her team.
"Of course. Who's paying for this?" She asked, eyeing the already empty bowls.
"The loser."
"Hello, sir. I'm Akemi Mizutani, and that garbage can with Naruto is my brother, Akira. We're staying with the Uchihas. Whatever damage is done financially after this, I'll handle," He nodded respectfully, introducing himself as Teuchi, and assuring her that he's used to Naruto's antics. She returned to the group, seeing that the two ramen vacuums had finally finished. "Who won?"
"Me! Believe it!" Naruto said with markedly less excitement than she thought he'd have, clearly stuffed to the brim.
"Akira, Mikoto-san is making dinner for us. Otousan will be incredibly disappointed if you're rude on the first night of our stay by not eating it," Akemi said looking over at her brother who'd leaned fully back on his chair, clutching his stomach.
"Don't worry imouto, I'll be hungry again."
"Or you'll just explode and the problem will be solved," Paying the tab before they left, they said their goodbyes to everyone. "Come on Akira." Their teams followed them to the Uchiha compound, and Sasuke showed them where they'll be staying before walking with the two siblings to the main house.
"How'd it go with Itachi?"
"As well as I'd expect given the situation. I can't tell if he's aware of the previous soulbond or not, and I didn't ask."
"You're going to have to ask eventually, Akemi."
"Let's worry about the bonding first, if I survive, we'll worry about Itachi." He shot her a look, not liking the reminder that trying to soul-bond with the Kyuubi could end with her death.
"Don't say that. You'll be fine. You're ready." Akemi felt reassured at his complete trust in her and her abilities. She knew that she wasn't weak as far as shinobis go, far from it. But she worried about the power of the Kyuubi, the strongest beast that she'd bonded with so far being the eight-tails, Gyuki, and because of his understanding with Killer-B, it had been easy. Shukaku, while weaker, very much did not welcome it at first, and proved to be quite the battle. She buried the thoughts of what's to come down inside her, knowing that worrying right now wouldn't make anything better.
"I know." They entered the house, and she took Akira upstairs to drop his stuff off and change before dinner with their hosts. By the time he finished, dinner was ready, and they headed into the dining room. Sasuke and Mikoto were already there, and Mikoto loved Akira instantly, remarking on the last time they met. Fugaku joined them shortly after, begrudgingly accepting the son of his long time friend. Itachi came last, joining them at the table across from Akira.
"So, Akemi-san, how is your other brother doing? Akihiro?" Mikoto asked pleasantly after a while of silence.
"He's good. Preparing every day to take over as Clan head. His wife is expecting their first child in a few months."
"A child? Oh, that's wonderful! I'm sure Arashi-kun can't wait."
"Yes, he's been waiting quite a while to become a grandfather."
"I know the feeling," Mikoto sent a pointed look at her sons, mostly at Itachi, both of whom don't dare look in her direction.
"Well, Akihiro did just turn 25, he's more ready to settle down. Taking fewer missions, focusing on the clan."
"I'm sure that's true. What about you two, Akemi-san, Akira-san? Any marriage plans soon?" The siblings both coughed, choking slightly on their food at the question.
"Nope. No. Not anytime soon." Akira recovered first, then resumed eating.
"No, definitely not," 'Marriage is the LAST thing I need to worry about right now.' Akemi thought to herself as she answered but not wanting to be rude.
"Oh good, I won't feel bad then about my sons being single. You know Itachi has turned down every proposed match we've given him, except you of course Akemi-san, your father denied us first."
"Okaasan," Itachi said in a clipped tone, obviously not wanting to talk about marriage at dinner.
"What Itachi? It's true," Mikoto drops that subject thankfully and Sasuke changed it completely, addressing Akemi.
"Has anyone spoken to Naruto yet?"
"I'll be talking to Naruto tomorrow actually. You should probably be there for that Sasuke-san." He nodded his agreement and didn't say anything else. Dinner was finished with some small talk, and Akemi insisted on helping Mikoto with the dishes after, before heading upstairs.
As she turned the corner into the hallway, she ran into what felt like a solid brick wall but was actually Itachi leaving what she assumed was the bathroom, with damp hair that hung loose down his back and framing his face. His shinobi reflexes kicked in as he grabbed her by the waist to steady her. 'Well if I didn't think he was handsome before…' Akemi's heart skipped a beat as she met his eyes, both hating and loving the feeling of his hands on her.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention," She took a step away from him, hoping the distance would lessen the effect his presence had on her. "I'm thinking about so many things at once that I've forgotten how to walk it would seem."
"It's alright." Little did she know that Itachi was in the same boat, Akemi's sudden appearance rendering him unable to think about anything other than his desire to keep his hands exactly where they were, and keeping her as close to him as possible. Itachi was normally a reasonable and realistic man, and definitely not one to believe in soul mates or love at first sight, so this instinctual and inexplicable desire to be around this woman he'd just met left him dumbfounded.
She sheepishly excused herself and said goodnight before retreating to her room. 'This is stupid. I'm not some virginal academy girl with a crush for Kami's sake. I'm a grown woman.' She took a few steadying breaths and decided some fresh air was just what she needed, throwing a sweater on and hopping from her window and up onto the roof. Soundlessly she laid down, staring up at the stars above her.
First, there was the matter of Naruto and the Kyuubi. There was a chance she could reason with Kurama beforehand, he could agree to the soul-bonding. But there was a much larger chance that he'd reject the proposition completely, with his hatred and mistrust of humans outweighing his need for protection from the Akatsuki, and try to kill her. She'd trained for years, becoming a feared and respected Shinobi in her own right, especially in Kiri. She could be Mizukage next if she had any desire for power and position, but that life wasn't for her. What would happen to Akira, and the other jinchuriki for that matter if she died trying to do this bonding?
She knew her family would never recover, and Kiri would be left without one of it's strongest shinobi and ANBU captains, putting a huge hole in the village's ability to protect itself.
What about after that? There was a war coming, on multiple fronts, and it would be either a hard-fought victory or a very costly defeat, ending in the deaths of people that she knew and cared about in both cases.
And now added to that was this situation with Itachi and the bond-recurrence. When was the last time she'd felt like this about a guy? She couldn't tell you even if she wanted to. Of course, she'd had crushes, boyfriends, lovers, all of it. The closest to this that she could remember feeling was with her on again off again lover back home in Kiri, Kano, and even that seemed to pale in comparison. 'If it wasn't for this bond recurrence, would I even be attracted to him?'
The honest answer was that she had no idea. He was one of the strongest shinobi to ever come from the Hidden Leaf Village, his reputation far preceding him in all the villages. He was from a good clan, family friends even, which her clan elders and father would appreciate. From what she'd heard, and seen over the past few hours, he seemed attentive, well-mannered, and on par from what'd expect from an Uchiha, reserved, formal, polite. She recognized that some of that was her usual type for sure.
Akemi generally liked men that were confident, "alpha male" types. Someone who could handle her attitude, temper, and respect her skill as a kunoichi. She also wasn't the dominant type relationship-wise, and she definitely wasn't the type to chase a man. Intelligence was always huge for her, and Itachi had that in spades. Physically, he was probably every woman's type. He was a little too reserved and formal for her usual taste, but that could be that she's only known him for half of a day.
Akemi could worry about the future all she wanted, with Itachi, with the bonding, with the upcoming war, but she recognized that it changed nothing. One thing she was certain of, however, was that she would do anything she had to protect her family and her village. Even if it meant dying to do so.
A few hours later the chill of the night air finally got to her, and she went back inside to bed, the weight of the world on her shoulders, hoping to escape to a dreamless sleep, just for a little while.
That's it for now! I'm working on editing chapters 2-4, which are already mostly written!