Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.

Character age:

Akane, Itachi: 18

Naruto, Sasuke: 13

Shisui: 22

Kakashi: 27

There were screams.

There was blood.

There were tears.

"Foolish little brother."

Itachi was holding his swords behind his parents, tears running down his face in distress and anguish.

Itachi was holding a bloody sword over his parents' bodies, Sasuke shaking in front of him.

I stretched out my hands when they were in the street, Sasuke's sharingan burning in his eyes as Itachi shot him a glance over his shoulder, tears streaming down his face. I wanted to reach him, touch him, hug him and make all of his pain go away because he would never be remembered as the kind soul he was. I failed.

Just like I failed at grabbing Shisui's hand before he gouged his own eye out, just like I failed keeping him on the cliff and avoiding his fall because nobody would know of his sacrifice, of how he was betrayed by someone of his own village.

When I opened my eyes, I blinked a few time before realizing I was stretching out my left hand toward the ceiling. Where was I? I turned my head to my right side to see nothing but the grayness of the stone wall.

Oh. I was at the hideout. The smell of humidity in the air just confirmed it.

"Ah Akane-san, you're awake!" I sat up and looked at my left hand. The bandages were different, weren't they? "Dai-sensei changed them while you were resting, he made sure nobody else sees it."

"Okay." I took the glass of water she was handing me. "Thanks Karin."

"You're welcome! I took the liberty of adding nettle in it so..." I pulled a face at the taste. "Yes, sorry for the taste but it should help your organism get better faster."

"Thanks doc." I gave her a thumbs-up and put the glass in her opened hand. I answered her questions in a dull voice and once she left the room to report everything to Dai, I frowned. Deeply.

Did she really call that moron 'Dai-sensei'? I went one dimension too far, didn't I?

"You're finally awake." I raised a brow at Sasuke, who had had a change of clothing. His torn blue shirt and white shorts had turned into a thick long-sleeved white shirt and his black pants were stripped vertically and tucked in his high dark blue sandals.

"You look like a genin or chuunin from Kiri. It's very disturbing." I spotted the tray of food in his hands. "Gimme gimme!"

"I've already eaten anyway," he told me, coming closer to give me the tray. He had been fully treated of his injuries too. "Dai-san healed me."

"I figured that much, Kiri hasn't defected yet." Sasuke sat on the bed near my leg as I started to dig in. Once I had just one bite I was done for and was barely keeping myself from eating like an animal because Sasuke was there. "Two questions. How does it feel not to have the Uchiha lollipop on your back and how long was I out?"

"It's strange, but also liberating in a way," he admitted after a second of thinking, not picking up on my comment on their symbol. "You slept for a whole day. You were sleep deprived and your chakra reserves were very low, but Dai-san didn't seem fazed by it."

"He's too used to that by now." Sleep deprived though? The ritual didn't tire me that mu… "Oh right, I was on my way back from a mission."

"Are you rested enough to answer some questions? Mei-san said it would be better if it were you who explained me this whole...thing." Geez, thanks sensei.

"What did she tell you?"

"This is the Resistance of Kiri and her and Dai-san recently defected. Zabuza is not dead as you said. Konoha is aware of this movement for some reasons. Why? Why does Konoha know and is supporting you?"

"Well, basically, everybody in the village has had the suspicion the Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, is controlled and that's the reason why he's the tyrant he is today and turned Kiri in what it turned into. By the way, you're not really a missing-nin because Tsunade-san asked us to take you in in case you defected because Konoha is helping us out. You know, they already let Orochimaru run away easily and he's our enemy too, so if you were to give him your body willingly because you threw a tantrum it would be bad for everyone."

"I didn't..." he stopped himself and sighed with a faint embarrassed flush on his cheeks, which made me smirk in victory. "Why is Konoha helping? Why would the Hokage accept in the situation the village is currently in?"

"To be fair, the Third accepted like what, two years ago?" Sasuke stared at me. "Hi, I've tracked down Jiraya-san, explained the situation and ever since he's been the contact between us and Konoha. Why? Well...actually, it's linked to why there were tensions between the Uchiha and the village." That got his full attention. "Sasuke, you know about the Kyuubi incident thirteen years ago?"

"Yes, the Fourth Hokage died protecting the village."

"Well, I'll probably share a super hidden protected secret but I guess it's better for you to know the full story and not just part of it in your circumstance. God, your brother and father are going to kill me for that," I finished under my breath, a shiver running down my body at the idea of escaping the wrath of not one, but two powerful Uchihas. "The things is, the Kyuubi wasn't just around the village, he was in his jinchuriki. Oh, jinchuriki are the people in which a bijuu is sealed, and there are nine bijuu, including Kyuubi. Anyway, Namikaze Minato was a Seal Master, and a prodigy on the same level than Itachi. The seal wouldn't have just 'broken' with him around. Someone attacked, took the Kyuubi out of his host and controlled him. Now, do you know anything about Uchiha Madara?"

"No."

"What do you learn in school seriously!? The guy was Senju Hashirama rival and created the village of Konoha with him, which led to the entire shinobi village system! Anyway, the guy had an evolved version of the Sharingan called the Mangekyou Sharingan. Long story short, he controlled the Kyuubi once and because of that the Uchihas ended up under the suspicions of having orchestrated the whole attack." Sasuke's eyes widened in shock and rage. I grabbed his shoulders and turned him so he was facing me. "Sasuke, listen to me, you need to understand that an Uchiha most probably did it, but nothing indicates it was a shinobi from Konoha, at least not anymore. Please, please see the difference."

"'Anymore'?" he repeated and took a deep breath.

"Yeah, I mean, there were a lot of losses during the Third Shinobi War and all of the bodies weren't found. For all we know, it's a rogue Uchiha with a grudge against Konoha. Anyway, back to why Konoha is helping us. Well, Yagura is a jinchuriki, he's the host of the Sanbi. You see where I'm going with it?" He frowned and crossed his arms on his chest.

"If I follow your theory, then a rogue Uchiha planned the Kyuubi attack and is controlling the Mizukage in the shadows?" I nodded and he gulped silently. "That's why Konoha has been helping you out. Because it could answer a lot of questions."

"Yep. Rogue or not, the guy is most likely an Uchiha and the Uchiha clan is a part of Konoha, it's their job to deal with their missing-nin. Look on the bright side, everything ends well and the Uchihas are cleared of any suspicion!"

"Or they'll be accused of trying to conquer a foreign village and it's war, between Kiri and Konoha or within Konoha," he retorted somberly. I sighed.

"This...this is all on the head of the clan and where he will place his clan on the matter. It's...decisive."

"And how long have you been into the Resistance then?"

"Oh, well when it started to get tense between Kiri and Konoha, Mangetsu and Dai found me and explained everything to me." I blinked when he blinked at me, seemingly expecting me to keep talking. "Right, you don't know that there was almost war between Kiri and Konoha two...three years ago?"

"I know that, but nobody really knows why." I pointed at myself. "What? You're the reason?"

"Yeah, some political shit that made me a conflict of interest between the two and Konoha decided to 'return' me to Kiri to keep a semblance of peace between them. Dai made me look dead with his senbon, that shit hurts by the way." He snorted.

"I'm aware, thanks." That's right, Haku did turn him into a hedgehog on the bridge.

"That's it, I joined when I went back to the great thing that is the shinobi life. I've been a spy for the past couple of years and had to keep up the act in Konoha to keep the Mizukage's 'trust' if I can call it that for the Resistance."

"That explains a lot about how you acted," he admitted. "Nobody knows about your part."

"Except for the Hokage and Jiraya-san? Kakashi knows since the bridge and I've seen him recently, but that's it. Even if...man, Itachi may suspects something, Shisui too to a certain extent I suppose but they don't know the real deal."

"I see."

"Did sensei tell you what you'll do here?"

"Helping," he answered me, shrugging. That was vague. "This whole situation is a mess."

"Hey! It's now an organized mess!" He deadpanned at me pointing my chopsticks at him.

"If you're a spy directly under the Mizukage, I won't see you very often, will I?"

"You won't indeed, it's been more complicated since they attacked the ANBU HQ, we're sent everywhere and nowhere at the same time because we're understaffed. Stick to the people you know and look around, you most likely will be here for a while. Even if you want to go to Ko..."

"I don't," he cut me off sharply, "I don't want to go back there. Not yet."

"Okay, you won't anyway. You're stuck here."

"By the way, what happened to your teeth?" I placed a self-conscious hand against my mouth.

"I ran away during the traditional teeth-filing when I officially became the wielder of Nuibari. Did you think people in Kiri were randomly born with shark teeth?" He deadpanned, again.

"Figuring why people have shark teeth when I'm fighting them is the least of my preoccupation, you moron." I frowned.

"Little fucker." He frowned too.

"Crazy Uzumaki."

"Arrogant Uchiha."

We bickered, and nostalgia engulfed me. It was like old Sasuke, except it wasn't.

It was comforting though.

It was...strange to say the least. Ever since the ritual, I had not been feeling...not that I felt sick or anything but...it was as if I wasn't really there. I felt like the world around me was not real in a sense, like I had had a throwback. Hence why I was there, my fingers absently tracing the letters of my name on my tombstone, still here in Kiri cemetery. It wasn't looked after or anything since I wasn't dead, wild plants slowly covering the darkened stone, but seeing it kept bringing questions to the surface.

There was a grave for Uzumaki Akane here, and Sasaki Akane was a Seal Master from Konoha. I had been Sasaki in my past, but now?

It was two different persons. I became a different woman. Somehow, I sometimes didn't know who I truly was. Sasaki or Uzumaki? Seal Master or kunoichi? The whole reason behind that fake name was my parents running away and not wanting the shinobi system to get a hand on any of us, it was to protect us. That was why I couldn't see myself being a kunoichi anywhere else than in Kiri. I already knew for a fact I wouldn't be a kunoichi in Konoha, but...moving back there after…?

I wanted to help sensei and everyone though. I wanted to be proud of the symbol carved in my forehead protector too. I wanted it so much…

The day would come where I'd need to choose who I was. Uzumaki or Sasaki?

I was so lost. That weird ritual fucked me up even more than I already was. Going through death so many times pretty much made me lose focus of everything. I was questioning every single foundation I'd managed to get in the past five years.

"Uzu?" I turned around to see Mangetsu walking to me, hands in his pockets. From his closed and serious face, he was not here to joke around. "I've found Raiga, we're going to get Kiba."

"Got it."

The Land of Rivers. Raiga was in fucking Land of Rivers and created some kind of a family/cult there from what Mangetsu told me. The travel was, or at least felt longer than it should have and I bit my lips with my shark teeth behind my mask. Okay, no thinking about the ritual and what it brought up in my mind.

Mission and Resistance only. Sasuke too but I had frequent reports, as frequent as they could be but it seemed like he was being useful, and trying to learn swordsmanship too.

Anyway, enough talking.

We rested a little when we were in the Land of Rivers, and I kept looking at my left arm. It was still bandaged up, not because of the wound but because I didn't want any comment on my mark. It wasn't just a seal, it was a mark. I also had tendencies to not sleep the entire night anymore. Ever since I've dreamed of the Uchiha massacre through old Itachi's memories, and God why would I dream of that when old Sasuke showed it to me, I was scared of having other nightmares or old memories.

"The village shouldn't be far anymore," Mangetsu told me, putting the map of the area back in his pouch. "It's supposed to be behind the mountains, we climb them and find Raiga fast."

"Right, I have scrolls to look at back home." In all of the stuff my clone put in Uma's pouch, there were two summoning scrolls with the Uzumaki whirlpool on them. I was pretty sure I got my hands on the clan summons.

We walked through the steep mountain trails in silence. In my case, I was sensing everything within a radius of one kilometer, sadly my limit in sensing, and there was nothing yet. Well, at least until we entered mist. A mist that was everything but natural from the dose of chakra in it. Near the mine though?

There were other shinobi, I was sure of it. It shouldn't be a problem though, it was common knowledge that each village had priority over their missing-nin if they were causing troubles to other nations.

We ran along the edge of the mountains, the mines barely visible through the mist in the precipice.

Then I felt it. It was familiar but I had not felt it in decades.

"I can feel him, he..." I frowned.

"But?"

"There's another chakra with him, but it's extremely weak and...fuck, they noticed us already."

"Weak chakra but possibly a powerful sensor?" Mangetsu asked and I approved. "Okay, I'll take care of them, join me once you've checked the perimeter. There are other shinobi and I don't want them to be an annoyance to the mission."

"Understood." I placed a marked kunai in his open hand and body flickered in front of him. Once he started to go toward Raiga I sped up down the mountains, to a plateau lower. I was feeling other chakra, but one in particular.

Naruto's.

There was a Hyuuga too. Alright, I was here as an anbu, but I would need to talk to them. So I took off my mask.

I stopped on the wall I was running on and executed some hand seals.

"Fuuton: Passing Typhoon!" Wind blew the mist away very easily. Neji was down there, apparently staring at me, Naruto wasn't far away, against a tree and confused. Tenten was picking up her weapons from the rock and Lee was above us, on the cliff and looking down at his teammates. I body flickered to be in front of Neji as the other genin were joining him.

"Uzumaki-san," the young Hyuuga greeted me and I nodded in return, my eyes easily catching a glimpse of a ball of bright colors coming our way. Naruto slowed down for a second and blinked at me before picking up his pace. Neji kept him from talking and once Lee and Tenten were there, both of them staring at me in confusion. "Are you here for Kurosaki Raiga?"

"Yeah, my teammate is currently taking care of it. If your mission has Raiga involved, then consider it done already."

"What!?" Naruto exploded, stepping in front of me with fury in his eyes. It...was different than in Konoha. Sasuke's defection really did hit him hard, they were childhood friends in this timeline after all. "What are you gonna do with him dattebayo!? Kill him like Zabuza!? Like an animal!?"

"Naruto, you saw what he did to that village," Neji reminded him, placing a hand on my cousin's shoulder. He shook it off, his eyes never leaving my cold one.

"He's still a human being!" As if on cue, lighting landed in the distance. It seemed like they were really going at it, but Mangetsu knew how to wield Kiba, so he knew how to fight it. However, his watery consistency made me worry over his resistance to Kiba. "You can't just kill hi..."

"Shut up Naruto, he's a missing-nin from Kiri and as such, we have priority over him and his companion who might be helping him willingly. We don't just let our missing-nin roaming free. Now get out of here."

"You..." Naruto started to hiss but Lee draped his arm over his shoulder, Neji glaring at him.

"She's right, Kiri has priority over Raiga. However, we won't leave until we have the certainty that man is dead," the young Hyuuga told me, his voice still making me know I was outranking him, but that he was a shinobi from another village and would fight if needed to. I smirked at that. I liked that kid in the end, and his fight with Naruto seemed to have changed him for the better.

"Then let us work and I'll make sure to let you know once we're done. Take care of the village for now."

I teleported to Mangetsu and he barely had the time to get me out of the way of another bolt of lightning.

"Okay, maybe you're right on how I should make sure the place is safe before I use Hiraishin," I admitted with a trembling smile. Mangetsu was scary when angry.

"Oh, Uzumaki." I turned my eyes to Raiga, who had raised a brow. "You're supposed to be dead."

"It was too boring, Death spat me out right away." He frowned, sword in front of him, so I summoned Nuibari and grinned. He noticed my teeth.

"I see, Mangetsu stole Samehada from Kisame and you became a Swordsman." He didn't look very happy. "I'll make sure Death keeps the two of you this time."

I jumped on the side to avoid another bolt of lightning and landed in one of the many holes decorating the ground of the cliff. I used the Wild Water Wave, but he dissipated it easily with his swords, stopping Nuibari that I had placed in my technique. He started to throw it away but before he could, I teleported to the handle, right in his face and used his surprise to kick him in the face. I tried to grab his swords, but he kicked me away with a snarl on his face. I managed to throw one of his weapon a few meters away though, and I congratulated myself in my mind when Mangetsu sealed it away.

My friend charged at him, Samehada firmly in his hand and the sword purring in anticipation. I would watch from now on, because even if I was a part of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, I was a newbie and Raiga and Mangetsu were both better swordsmen than me. There wasn't even the shadow of a doubt about it, we weren't chosen only for our swordsmanship skills after all.

However…

"Uzu!" Mangetsu screamed as Samehada was sucking out Raiga's chakra. "His back, now!"

"Gotcha!" I body flickered behind him and torn the bag off his back. Raiga spun around, fury written all over his face. I threw the package to Mangetsu and started to avoid Raiga's blows, violent and fast yet pretty...I don't know, it was different. Especially when I attacked back and that he wasn't avoiding as well as before.

"A kid?" I heard my teammate wonder out loud and it got Raiga's attention.

"Ranmaru!" I blinked and averted my eyes to the package. It was a kid indeed, who was conscious but not moving.

It was my moment though. I grabbed his wrist, attached to the hand holding the remaining sword and put an explosive seal on it. Blood splattered on me but Raiga didn't make a sound. I was pretty sure he bit the inside of his cheek but he didn't scream.

He ran to the kid instead.

I teleported in front of them thanks to Mangetsu and the kunai he still had, and as my eyes locked with Raiga's, I felt a surge of power running down my left arm. I could recognize that energy. It was the Shinigami's.

My body moved on its own then. I raised my left arm and let the power erupt, purple chakra surrounding my limb and ripping my sleeve and glove to shreds. Even if we could still see my human arm, the chakra around it form the Shinigami's arm and the symbols on my skin were on their spectral one.

Next thing I knew, my arm was in Raiga's stomach and his face was frozen in pain. There, under my fingers, was something warm and soft. I grasped firmly and started to pull it out of Raiga. My ears started ringing at his scream of pure agony, yet I ended up tearing the warm thing out of his body quickly.

I blinked at the ball of condensed blue energy in my hand. Then, it was absorbed by the spectral arm and it disappeared, the symbols going back deep under my skin.

Raiga's limp body fell on the ground and the kid screamed his name. Mangetsu was staring at me, I knew it, and I was staring at my hand.

I just pulled Raiga's soul out of his body and gave it to the Shinigami. I still could hear them savoring it.

However, I dropped on my knees, emptied of my chakra. I was lightheaded. That...I couldn't use that jutsu when I wanted, it asked too much energy.

Mangetsu went behind me, grabbed my shoulders and made me sit on my bottom, casting me a weird look. He told me we would talk about that later and that he was taking care of the rest.

I didn't move when he summoned crows to eat Raiga's corpse when he sealed his head in a scroll.

I didn't move when he exchanged a few words with the kid, Ranmaru.

I didn't move when I heard him slash his throat with a kunai.

I didn't move when the crows ate Ranmaru's still warm body.

I didn't move when Mangetsu was in front of me and was talking, but I didn't answer.

I didn't move when he slapped me hard enough for me to fall on my hands on the side.

"God dammit Uzu snap out of it now!" he yelled at me. Ever so slowly, I raised my eyes to him, my hand on my burning cheek. "What was that!? You're acting strange since you came back from Uzushio! What's...the marks..."

"I took his soul," I whispered weakly, "I took his soul and don't feel anything about it. What...what have I done to myself?" Mangetsu stared at me blankly and harshly pulled me to my feet.

"Later, you and I will talk later, now we have to go talk to the brats." Brats...yeah, he was right.

I was aware of Naruto's eyes on me, always on me, but I ignored him, and I felt his anger grew because of that.

But he wasn't my priority.

"You're doing it."

"But...I don't know how..."

"Well you didn't know how to do that to Raiga either and you still did!" Mangetsu replied angrily. "It was hard enough to get your ass to the hideout so now we're gonna find Utakata and you'll use that new weird ability of yours to see his bijuu!"

He threw me on the floor of the 'reunion room', and being at Ao-san's feet was far from pleasant. I got up as fast as lightning and had to endure everyone's stare, including Sasuke's surprised one whereas he was helping Dai and Karin at something apparently.

"Utakata-san," Mangetsu called him quickly, "come with us for a minute please." One look at my face and senpai was convinced, and I was soon in a locked empty room with these two. "Uzu, show him your arm."

"The mark?" Senpai guessed easily as I, while muttering curses, undid the bandages. The wound Sasuke gave me was now a red and still swollen line on my arm, and the black fuin symbols were staying still, like a very bad tattoo. "What about it?" He took a huge step back, his face losing colors. "You're not using me as your guinea pig!"

"She can't go up to the Mizukage yet, you've gotta help us out," Mangetsu stated, grabbing senpai to keep him from moving.

"Does she even know how to proceed!?"

"She'll figure it out!" Man, I was right in front of them. I cleared my throat and they turned their eyes to me. "What now!?"

"I don't know how but I kinda have to know...maybe Saiken knows?" Senpai started at me with narrowed eyes for a long time and ended up sighing.

"Apparently, if you target the jinchuriki's seal with your marked arm it will react."

"It's that easy? Where's your seal?"

"My stoma...did you have to lower my clothes that much!?" I blinked innocently at his bare chest in front of me.

"It's for a good cause!" I defended myself, noticing the rectangular seal on his stomach. I placed my hand on it and gathered some chakra in it when there was nothing.

I suddenly felt like I was diving deeply in water as the oxygen was knocked out of my lungs. When I could breath again, I was in a white space and I was freezing. One look behind me and a shiver ran up and down my body at the sight of the Shinigami, or at least their shadow, and the trapped soul in front of it.

"Is that what you looked like before Akane?" My eyes found senpai's curious ones. I raised a brow and looked down at my hands. The marks were there, but my right hand had a scar on the palm, a reminder of the early tries of my artificial Adamantine Sealing Chains.

"I guess I have my original appearance as it was the one I had when I died," I said quietly.

"You look adult."

"I'm an adult, I'm actually forty-one and not eighteen." He pursed his lips in thoughts at that, so I looked up. I opened my eyes like saucers at the huge slug behind senpai, and its adorable little arms on its side. "Saiken?"

"It's me!" the slug responded enthusiastically. "It's nice to meet you Akane-chan!"

"Ah...yeah, nice to meet you too," I told it with a puzzled expression. Even old Kurama ignored me most of the time and when he talked to me it was to remind me embarrassing stuff. "I'm sorry, I'm used to Kurama's attitude so..."

"Kurama is constantly throwing tantrums, just ignore him. And I'm a 'he' by the way!" Good to know actually. "Congratulations on surviving, I was a little bit worried."

"Yeah...it was something, no doubt about it." Utakata-senpai glaring down at Saiken as if to tell him it was something he should have mentioned before was hilarious.

"Akane-chan, now you know how to contact a bijuu, you need to reach Isobu," Saiken told me more seriously. "He must be scared to be controlled like that and if you talk to him, he could try to make the battle easier for you guys."

"I will then, I...I would talk to the real Yagura then, wouldn't I? And sensei will want me to too once I tell her I can talk to bijuu so..." I rubbed my eyes. "Saiken, I have to tell you something important."

"What?"

"The guy controlling the Mizukage, he wants all of the bijuu. He wants the Juubi." There was silence for very long seconds and as senpai and I were patiently staring at the white slug, said slug dropped his tiny arms on his slimy sides.

"I see, thank you for telling us this."

"That's normal, we...that thing can't come back, can it?"

When I went back in the real world, senpai seemed as confused as me from the sudden change of scenery. However, Mangetsu didn't really understand why because I had been touching senpai's seal for only one or two seconds.

I needed to talk to Yagura now.

When I got home and that oji-chan ordered me to come and talk to him, I did. Because last time I was confused, he helped me making things clearer, so I had no doubt he would be able to help me this time too. I hoped so. I scolded Sasuke and told him of his little identity crisis, but it was far from being credible knowing I had one too ever since Uzushio.

Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :) Thanks to kankananime123, and nevvy for the reviews :). Yes, basically old Itachi's soul is linked to Akane's, she breaks the seal and frees her soul the same happens to his, if she doesn't his won't be free. Sasuke has a lot to learn on himself and I have plans for him ;)

Bye!