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

"How stupid," I gritted through clenched teeth, Haku sewing the gash on my stomach as gently as he could, "was I," I bit my tongue when the needle pierced my flesh, "to think he wouldn't turn my kunai against me."

"It's a good reminder for you, you're not invincible," Mangetsu droned tiredly in my couch, his legs stretched out on the coffee table and an arm over his eyes. "You used a lot of chakra too, an open wound that can be sewed easily is a miracle." I snorted in pride at that.

"I'm not that stupid."

"Yet," he added with a smirk. I tried to throw something at him but Haku pulled harshly on his needle, making me screech in pain.

"Don't move."

"I would be able to move perfectly if we had not blow up a ship. Two people can't kill the crew of a ship and destroy a ship."

"We did," Mangetsu said. I rolled my eyes at him.

"You know what I mean!"

"Yeah, but we did. We're wounded, but we did." I gave up on arguing with him, Haku's eyes telling me to shut up if I wanted to be done with the needle.

It was a new year. There were genjutsu seals all around the village. There should already be some genin in the Land of Waves, and they would escort the civilians from the hideout to the village in Waves. The team of stronger shinobi should be here any day now and they would respond to Jiraya-san.

We still needed to figure things out.

Where would the fight with Yagura take place, what part of the village could we sacrifice easily.

Who would we be fighting.

Would the Akatsuki be here knowing we knew about them, knowing Dad and Hoshigaki-san knew the village and its secrets like us.

Would Obito really care about Kiri anyway.

How long would it take for Isobu to regenerate once Yagura's…

I rubbed my eyes in my bed, Mangetsu's breathing on the floor reminding me I should go to bed. I was studying a way to resurrect a bijuu faster, to basically force its chakra to grow back if a part of it was sealed. I found that in Uzushio too, more like I found the theory and I was figuring out a way to make it real. I had to make it in time, but I needed sleep if I wanted to do good.

Yagura was a dead man walking.

I screw my eyes shut and dug my head in my knees, my conversation with him coming back. Yagura was a dead man walking. Yagura was supposed to be my godfather and…

"Go to sleep, it's late."

I closed my eyes and opened them, finding myself in front of Minato, who looked concerned. I shot him a tired glance.

"Will you tell me what really happened? What's the Eien Hansen?" He didn't look at me in the eyes. He kept staring at the ground, almost as if he was reliving bad memories.

"Do you believe your father insane?" he asked me instead.

"Yes," I replied with no hesitation. I frowned and crossed my arms over my chest, Yagura's voice playing over in my head. "I don't know, Yagura seemed...doubtful. But he did what he did!"

"Tell me Akane, Itachi, before, he killed his entire clan."

"So?"

"It was to protect the village, right?"

"So?" I stressed, nervously taping my right foot. "Dad's nothing like him."

"How would you know, you were four." I froze and looked at him with disbelief. He sighed. "Don't give me that look, I'm thinking. You left for protection and ended up in a war-zone. What if Ushio decided to make one sacrifice for the sake of..."

"He tried to kill me and killed Fubuki instead, don't you dare defend his actions!" He took a deep breath, a pained expression on his face as fury was written all over mine.

"What I'm trying to say is, Itachi chose peace and no civil war over his family. Maybe Ushio came up with the same conclusion. He took his place in the Akatsuki, no? For everything you change, there is a compensation. Maybe it's that."

"What would it have accomplished then!?" I burst out. I walked over to him and grabbed his jacket.

"I'll tell you once Kiri is safe, for now..." I saw red and pushed him away.

"Don't try defending him and then not finish for fuck's sake!"

"I'm not defen…"

"You know what? You're right, I should sleep and not listen to your bullshit any longer. Bye!"

"Ak..." I didn't hear the end of his sentence that I was back on my bed. I slipped under my sheets and closed my eyes, anger still bubbling inside of me.

"Uzu?" Mangetsu mumbled sleepily, turning his head a little to face me, even though his eyes were still close.

"Go back to sleep." He yawned and did as I covered my head with my sheets.

I wanted to understand, I really, truly wanted to understand. Old Sasuke even told me I should try to know, but I told him I was perfectly fine in my ignorance.

I was.

I wasn't anymore though. However, I wasn't so sure I was ready to know yet. I raised a hand to cover my left eye. He didn't kill me, he gave me a seal that would protect me from Obito's Sharingan.

I didn't understand him.

Maybe...maybe Mom…

I slapped myself. No more of that, sleep.

Sleep was good.

Yet, my sleep was plagued with images of slaughter, of a young Sasuke screaming for his parents, of a young Itachi crying when he killed his parents, of a young girl trying to wash the young children's blood from her hands in vain.

"Are you avoiding me?"

"Why would you think that?" Naoto replied, still checking the food reserves. He moved from one shelf to another, never making eye contact.

"You were already awkward after I talked to your dad, since the fight it's worst. Did I do something?"

"You didn't."

"Then what!? You've known me since I was a baby, you..." It got his attention, because he put his hand on my mouth and trapped me against a shelf, eyes wide in panic.

"Who told you that?"

"Yagura! He said Dad and him we great friends, that he gave orders to people who knew me when I was a baby not to tell me."

"I see," he whispered to himself. "Nothing else?"

"Nothing else. Do you know something?"

"I do." I opened my mouth but he talked before me. "I won't say anything, it's not my place to tell." I deadpanned at him.

"Really? 'It's not my place to tell'? It's my life!"

"Yeah, so you should ask the one who gave life to you." Fuck, point to him.

"Doesn't explain why you've been avoiding me," I mumbled with a pout. He stared for a second and flicked my nose. I rubbed it, much like Haku when I did it to him. Now you had the one who've done it to me for years. "Spit it out."

"I feel bad about that stupid fight you got involved in, that's all. You're making a fuss over nothing."

"You literally left the room when I got in it this morning."

"Fine, I'm sorry, happy now?" I smirked and crossed my arms.

"Yep." He rolled his eyes and went back to his work. I left the room, happy with myself, and went to the training room. Shisui was there, on crutches, explaining to Sasuke how to do the Body Flicker Technique.

"You're doing it wrong!" Shisui told Sasuke. He made a step forward and stumbled. I body flickered behind him and grabbed him by the back of his shirt to pull him back on his feet. I almost strangled him from how he gasped for air. "Thanks Akane."

"You're welcome," I replied with a smile. My eyes found Sasuke's scowling face. "Frustrated? Regretting Mangetsu's sword training now?"

"Shut up..." he muttered under his breath. He tried the Body Flicker again, but too much chakra in his feet made him fall face first to the floor. Again, from the stains on his pants. I raised a brow when I felt Shisui's insistent stare on me.

"Wha..." I choked the end of my word when he put two fingers in my mouth, tracing the edge of my shark teeth. With his other hand, he ran his thumb under my left eye. I rolled my eyes at him and took a step back. "Nothing important, I'm still here." He pursed his lips in doubts.

"Whatever you say I guess..."

"Anyway, the first team of genin should be here by tomorrow." Even if Sasuke didn't show it, it was obvious he was dreading the meeting. It wasn't just his team that had been affected by him running away. Others had been hurt.

Nobody knew what happened to our shinobi. They had been half-eaten. Sensei didn't really talk about it, but I was sure it was still lingering in the back of her mind.

The next day, as I was getting ready to go back to Kiri, I found myself facing Zabuza-san, followed by Team 10 and Asuma-san.

"Oh, hey guys," I greeted them, making sure my back pouch was not budging. "Welcome, good luck." I eyed Shikamaru's green jacket for a second. "Congrats for your promotion?"

"Ha, thanks sensei." I waved him off.

"Don't call me that, I haven't been for years." I glared at Zabuza-san when he snickered. "Something funny?"

"You teaching something."

"I could say the same to you." He glared back and I smirked in victory. My smirk vanished though when Team 10 gaped at something behind me whereas Asuma-san frowned.

"Oh, look Sasuke!" Shisui's voice exclaimed behind me. I spun around and saw Sasuke almost running to me with clear annoyance in his eyes.

"Nee-san, tell him to stop following me around," he hissed at me, apparently not noticing his fellow shinobi.

"Sa...Sasuke-kun?" Ino stuttered and he finally saw them. His posture straightened up.

"Huh, that's why the Hokage was relax about your case Sasuke," Shikamaru drawled, casting a quick glance at Chouji whose hand full of chips was immobile in front of his mouth.

Sasuke's gaze lingered on them until Shisui grabbed his shoulders with a big grin on his face. Sasuke started fidgeting, but I could see Shisui's nails digging in his shoulders.

"Asuma-san," Shisui continued calmly, his eyes going to his colleague, "who are the other genin?"

"Gai's team, Kurenai's team and Kakashi's team." That got Sasuke's attention.

"We were all summoned at the same time. Team 8 should be next to arrive, then Team 7 and Team Gai." I nodded at Shikamaru's information. Naruto would be here…

I kept myself from sighing. Hopefully it wouldn't be too bad.

"You're leaving?" Shisui asked me.

"Yeah, I can't stay away from Kiri too much, I don't want to blow my cover up just yet."

I left.

I was surprised at Shisui's behavior toward me. I was glad it wasn't as awkward is it could have been, don't get me wrong, but he was...not vocal about the part I was playing, he was compliant, and it felt really good.

I blushed a little at the thought of showing him what I could do and that he didn't need to protect me so much, that I totally could protect him and show him Kiri would be a great place someday.

"Naruto-kun sure is stressed," Lee remarked, his team, Sakura and Sai, Sasuke's replacement, staring at the blond shinobi pacing in front of a confused Inari.

"You can't blame him, do you remember how Akane-sensei was in Konoha and during our mission? Naruto was mad at her and now he's told it was an act."

Sakura bit her tongue. Naruto was lost and needed someone but they couldn't afford that now. Plus, unlike what they thought, Naruto had something more on his mind.

Sasuke.

Before they left, Kakashi took them apart, told them Sasuke wasn't with Orochimaru but with the Resistance, told them Akane got him before he crossed the border. They still didn't know why he left though, something about it being classified information.

But the identity of Naruto's mother was also classified, yet he knew about it now.

It had been hard few months for Naruto and Sakura was aware of that. Yet, she just...didn't know what to do to make it better. It was like everybody he cared about was leaving him.

"I know!" All eyes found Lee, who got up as if he had been stung by a bee. "The Power of Youth always appears in training! NARUTO-KUN, LET'S TRAIN!"

"I don't want to n..." He dodged a kick and a vein popped on his temple. "YOU'RE SERIOUS BUSHY BROWS!?"

Maybe Lee was right. Maybe training and letting some steam off would do him some good.

Sakura hoped so, because she felt like a terrible friend. She did not have a clue on what to do.

What…

"Where..."

"You're awake," a cold voice told me. I rubbed my eyes, trying to protect me from the light piercing through my curtains, but it was useless.

"'tachi? 's that you?" My sleepy eyes searched in the room for a sight of my 'boyfriend'. Would we ever talk about the nature of our relationship? Who knew.

I saw him when he sat me up brutally, forcing two pills and water down my throat. I almost choked, but the cold fury in his eyes shut me up. I wiped away the water that dripped on my chin, my eyes never leaving him as he got up to go to the bathroom. Even from here, I saw the stains of blood on my floor, and on my bedroom's floor, and I knew there were some more in my living-room.

"You were going to die from blood loss," he stated blandly when he washed his hands. I touched the bandages around my abdomen. They were too tight for my taste. "Why?"

"Some rogue shinobi was being annoying. The chief of the village asked if someone could do something about it against money. The magic word got to me and I was harshly reminded I was still rusty," I drawled. I hunched my shoulders under his frozen glare.

"And you had to go alone." I frowned.

"I need money to live, it doesn't grow on trees and now they're relaxed." I jumped on my feet at the flicker in his eyes. "What, not happy about it?"

"Your recklessness is extremely annoying." It was strange, how his composure was crumbling, barely, but still. How he was clenching his fists so tightly his knuckles were turning white.

"Yeah? Well last time I checked, you're not my father, my brother or my boyfriend. I haven't seen you in months Itachi, don't come here and lecture on my recklessness when you..."

"A few minutes later and you were dead," he snapped coldly at me.

"That's my problem, not yours! Nobody will cry for me if I die! Actually, I just want someone to finally put me out of my misery!" I kept glaring angrily at him when he had my neck in his warm hand, onyx eyes which were losing their light glaring back at me. "Please do, that's what you do after all!" I barked at him. I was taken back by how mean I was right now, and he seemed to be taken back as well because his hand fell limply at his side.

He closed his eyes and walked in my living-room. It was only when his Akatsuki coat was back on his shoulders that I broke out of my lethargy. I ran after him and leaned against the wall when pain made itself known again.

"Wait Itachi, I didn't mean to..." I panicked with wide eyes. He opened the front door, ignoring me. "Itachi!" I pushed the pain back and tried to reach him, only to bend over my table when I felt a stitch popped. The door closed behind him. "ITACHI COME BACK!"

Tears were running down my cheeks. Why, why couldn't I just say 'thank you' like a normal human being? Why did I have to be a bitch because I was so lonely and didn't know how to deal with people's concern anymore?

Why did I have to make him run away too?

He did not come for a while. I was starting to get used to the idea of not seeing him anymore when he decided to come back. I was a waitress at a small tea house and a client had asked me if I wanted to go on a date with him. A second later, two men entered, wearing black coats with red clouds on them. They sat quietly, my dumbfounded gaze stuck on them whereas the guy was blushing. I finally looked at him when I caught sight of Itachi's onyx eyes.

He stared at me rejecting that poor boy. Actually, he stared until he left with Kisame. I closed the tea shop an hour later and quickly went home.

I nearly jumped out of my skin at the silent figure in my couch.

"Fuck Itachi," I snarled at him, a hand on my poor heart. I walked to my table and dropped my stuff on it. "Staying like that in the dark is really not..." I opened my eyes wide when he was in front of me and pulled me harshly against him, my chin resting on his shoulder. He buried his face in the crook of my neck and I could feel him inhaling quickly and deeply. My hands moved by themselves and grabbed his coat in his back, my fingers firmly grasping it. "I'm sorry," I heard myself say in a small voice, "I'm sorry Itachi, I'm sorry, I'm sor..." He hugged me tighter and nibbled on my pulse point, making me moan shamelessly in his ear. His hands moved to my hips and he pinned me against the wall next to my bedroom door, his mouth moving hungrily against mine. Only when he started slipping a hand under my shirt did he let go of my mouth, leaving me panting and blushing furiously.

There was something in his eyes, like a sort of urgency. It seemed at ease when his hand stopped on my heart.

"Itachi?" I whispered faintly, my fingers already getting rid of his coat. I wanted him too much, I wanted to touch him.

"You're mine," he mumbled for himself. I blinked confusedly at him and took his forehead protector off once his coat was at his feet.

"I am," I agreed softly, my lips kissing his jawline as he was undressing me quickly. "I am all yours Itachi." His eyes were burning in lust and almost despair when they finally locked into mine. His warm and calloused hands were roaming up and down my now naked body, squeezing spots he knew would make me moan, and I squeezed my legs because of the heat pooling down between them.

A few hours later, we were both in bed, two sweaty messes tangled in white sheets. My head and right hand were resting on his bare chest, the sound of his beating heart soothing me. Itachi had his arm around my shoulder and his thumb was making circle on it. It was rare oh him to let me this close when we were still awake.

"Akane." I raised my head to look at him. He was staring at my ceiling with a frown on his face, his free hand under his head as a pillow. "That man from earlier, does he flirt with you often?" I blinked and chuckled against his torso. His fingers tightened around my shoulder.

"You're jealous maybe?"

"Hn." I propped myself on my left elbow, my right hand going up and down his torso. I smirked at him.

"Don't pout, and to answer your question, sometimes but it was the first time he asked me out. Don't worry though, I'm not interested." It was almost invisible, but he relaxed. I kissed him on the cheek, at the corner of his lips. "Is that why you looked troubled earlier?" He finally looked at me with a raised brow.

"I looked troubled to you?"

"Yeah...I mean, I didn't expect to ever see you again but you basically jumped on me when I got home." I let him get on me, one hand on my waist, the other next to my head.

"I wasn't planning on coming back to be honest," he whispered to me, his nose touching mine. It hurt to hear him say that, but I couldn't blame him. "But not because of what you said."

"Huh?"

"You...you need and deserve more than what I can give you Akane." What? "But I know you and nobody will come to check on you but me, and if I don't you might just bleed to death in your bathroom again." There was something in his eyes again, worry, but it wasn't just what he was saying. There was something else.

I wasn't happy about what he was saying though.

"That's it?" I managed to ask even with the lump in my throat. His eyes stared straight into mine and his lips kissed mine briefly.

"You're mine," he said once again in a whisper. I barely heard him, it was as if he wasn't allowed to say it, like his darkest secret he did not want anyone to find out about. "I know I can't give you anything, but I don't want you to be with another man. I..." I placed my finger on his lips, a smile dancing on my lips.

"I'm in love with you Itachi." He opened his eyes wide and shocked me by doing so. He had never been so stunned. "But it means you won't go to other girls either?" He found his composure back.

"Do you think I do that?" I shrugged.

"Don't know, you're handsome, lots of girls must be trying to get in your pants." I bit back a moan when he pressed what was usually inside his pants against me.

"I don't care about them," he sensually whispered in my ear. I shivered in anticipation and closed my eyes, ready to kiss him back, but nothing came. I opened an eye and was surprised by the concern lingering in his gaze.

"Itachi? What's wrong?" I asked him and sat up, him now on his knees between my legs.

"If you ever feel danger lurking around, if you're in immediate danger or if you hear about something dangerous...just run Akane. Don't try to fight, run." I gulped. If he was saying that...there was something going on. Maybe the Akatsuki knew about me.

"I will, pinky promised." I crossed my pinky with his. I bit my lips when Itachi still looked concerned. I hated it. "Itachi, I will be careful, so please now make love to me." His concern finally disappeared, understanding I wanted to change the subject. "I guess that now, if I ever get into something dangerous, you'll be in your good right to scold me." He laid me down on the mattress, humming in agreement. I smiled when he started kissing me in the neck.

"How do you want me to do it?" I shivered again at his smooth and deep voice in my ear, the hairs on my body standing.

"Sweet," I mumbled, my nails grazing his shoulder blades as he placed my legs around his waist.

I woke up abruptly, gasping for air and my face burning. I slapped my cheeks. I was about to see Itachi, this eighteen year-old, in a relationship with another girl Itachi, why would I have dreams...no, memories coming back to haunt me at night!?

I was totally going to blush and become a tomato when he would be in front of me!

I grabbed my pillow and pressed it against my face to groan in it. Maybe reading these books were not a good idea after all.

"Huh, you became a touristic guide then." Dai pouted at that. "Team 10 liked the destroyed scenery?"

"You know, as much as tourists do."

"Team 8 should leave soon," I mumbled for myself, "Shikamaru said Team 7 should..."

Dai jumped on his feet when we heard something crashing near the entrance. We exchanged a look and I followed him, grabbing Karin when we ran past her.

"Alright people, there's nothing to see!" Suigetsu declared loudly. We slid between the few shinobi watching the show and my mouth and throat became dry when I saw Naruto tackling Sasuke to the ground. He had one hand on his collar, the other closed in a fist and raised in the air, but immobile. Sasuke wasn't moving and from the blood at the corner of his mouth, he might develop a bruise soon.

Sakura was watching, fidgeting on her feet as if she wanted to do something but was scared of doing so. Kakashi was observing and I felt Jiraya-san coming this way with Shisui.

"You...you..." Naruto stuttered. His shaky hand now matched his conflicted gaze set on his best friend, said best friend who did not budge and barely looked at him. "LOOK AT ME TEME!"

"Hey now!" Jiraya-san intervened, catching his fist easily. He pulled Naruto away from Sasuke by grabbing him around the waist and Shisui offered a hand to his cousin.

Sasuke ignored him, bumping into Dai and I on his way when he left. I followed him with my eyes for a couple of seconds and shot a questioning look at Suigetsu. He shrugged.

"We're supposed to go on a patrol, your cousin just punched him when they saw each other." He left and grabbed Karin.

"Hey let me go you moron!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs, Konoha's team now looking at us.

"You're coming with us Uzumaki!"

"Uzumaki?" I heard Sakura repeating as I watched these two leaving and bickering.

"Uzu loves picking up strays during her missions," Dai explained and I punched him in the shoulder. He rubbed the sore spot while pretending he was in pain. "I mean first Haku, then Karin, and Sasuke."

"Sasuke was planned." I turned my head to meet Naruto's blue eyes. There was a raging fire in them and I wanted to run away from it.

"Anyway," Jiraya-san said loudly, all eyes now on him, "Kakashi, I'll show your team around, Shisui will take you to Terumi."

They left, Naruto's eyes lingering on me a little longer and I returned it, until he was out of sight.

"Uzu, let's train!" With an arm securely wrapped over my shoulders, he dragged me to the training room. Once we were inside, he pushed me to the other side of the room and I almost tripped over my own two feet. "Come on, you're training for a new technique and we haven't had a good spar ever since I defected!"

"I'm here once to three or four times every two weeks, it makes it hard." I jumped on the side to dodge three electrified senbon. "Dai!"

"What, Chief Dwarf won't tell you when he'll try to kill you!" I puffed my cheeks like a child and moved a foot back, flexing my legs to get quicker movements.

Dai may be a medic, a great one at that, but we always made sure he could fight efficiently on his own too. That plus how his sadistic side and knowledge of medicine appeared in missions and he proved a lot of people he wasn't the weak member of the team.

I ran up to him and, when in front of him, bent and transferred my weight on my hands when they were on the floor. Then, I kicked him. My foot clashed with his forearm protector in a muffled sound. From my right hand, I made a storage seal and summoned a random kunai.

Dai barely avoided getting his tendon slashed by my blade. I fell forward and ended up kneeling on the floor, a smirk at the corner of my lips.

"It's so annoying that you spend so much money on weapon to get them out of nowhere!"

"Always expect the unexpected dear friend." The words barely left my mouth that his water whips was constricting my movements. My fingers brushed the whip but the seal was never applied as he electrocuted me, enough for me to drop on my knees, all of my muscles numb.

I closed my hands in fists and grabbed the whips as much as I could. My brain registered my chakra flowing through my hands and out of them in its numbness. I bit my tongue because of the pain when my explosion was more brutal than intended because I couldn't really feel anything.

"Crap," I muttered, checking the palms of my hands. Burned, the pinky red flesh skinned under what was left of my gloves was burned. I made a water storage seal out of my foot and activated it, turning the water into a thin layer of snow on my hand to cool them down.

"Uzu, how many times have I told to keep your suicidal tendencies for last?" Dai asked me way too patiently, as if he was scolding a child. I glared heavily at him.

"Shut your mouth Terumi." I prepared myself when he charged, and finally used that technique. The water on the floor rose in front of me in a large and tall circle, the water in its center solidifying to make a mirror. "Suiton: Mizukagami no Jutsu!" Another Dai left the mirror, but he dispersed himself before they clashed together. Dai stopped and looked at the puddle of water at his feet. I snorted in disdain. "He lasted longer this time, before he was gone two steps out of the mirror."

Before I left, Naruto managed to catch me. He followed me until I reached the entrance, and Utakata-senpai, who was guarding it, told me he wouldn't let me leave if it was to have a pissed off Uzumaki after. I deadpanned at him, silently reminding him I could just teleport but he did not care. That was how I found myself in front of Naruto in the room I often slept in and that turned into a room for Sasuke, Dai, Karin and Kimou.

"You lied," he accused me with harsh eyes, the blue of his eyes a shade darker than usual. "You said Zabuza was killed."

"I couldn't blow my cover up. You understand, don't y..."

"Of course I understand, I'm not some dumb kid!" he exploded, taking me by surprise.

"Of course you're not Na..." He didn't let me finish though. He grabbed me by my collar and lowered me to his level. I bit my bottom lip when I finally, finally saw how lonely and confused he truly was.

"I don't get it nee-chan! Tsunade-baa-chan said Sasuke left but he's here, and you know about why he left and I don't but I want to know! I want to help him but he keeps avoiding us! And you keep being on his side! You've always been on his side and you love him more than me!" My eyes went wide at that and I was pretty sure bI clawed him with my nails when I hugged him tightly against me, my nails digging in his skin.

"No, no Naruto I love you both, Sasuke just has a tendency to be easily-influenced and has a lot of pressure on him from a lot of people, that's why I gave him more attention. You...You know how it is to have a hard life and being alone, so you...you know what you could lose by making hasty decisions." I heard him snort and he raised his head toward me, big blue eyes watering. "Sasuke is completely lost right now, he needs to re-evaluate a lot of his choices."

"But...but can't you let his family do it?" I sighed softly.

"I...they're not there right now, and I was there to keep him from crossing the border. Once they're here...I don't know, you're right it's not my place to do anything but..." Sasuke was still hurt by the lies he was fed with for years, from both sides. Would he be okay once he would be back in Konoha? "We'll see once they're here and how he reacts to them." Naruto's eyes narrowed and sharpened.

"Is it because of them?"

"Can't tell you couz'." He smiled a little to himself and I kissed him on the forehead. "I won't be here a lot, I won't be able to spend time with you considering the situation, I may not be the sister you know but please, forgive me?"

"Buy me ramen when it's over," he mumbled as he hugged me back, his voice muffled by my jacket when he buried his face in it once again.

"Deal." We hugged each other in silence for a couple of minutes. He grew up. Mentally and physically, his blond hair was tickling my chin. "I missed you Naruto. A lot." My respiration was almost stopped by his arms circling my waist.

I didn't remove his arms. Instead I ran my covered hand, the left one, in his hair, my face buried in it. This Naruto still had a long way to go and I was part of his life now, I couldn't keep forgetting it.

Sasuke wasn't the only important person for the future. Naruto was just as important if not more.

A few days later, I received words from Chōjūrō that the team from Konoha had arrived. On the very night, I went to the hideout. As usual, even if it was nighttime, there were still people awake.

I needed to see how Sasuke was doing though so I was headed to the training room, because I was doubting he was sleeping with his father so close. I was fully ready to make him spar for a while, up until I spotted Itachi standing in front of the room. He must have heard or sensed me because he looked at me from above his shoulder.

"Hey I..." He walked straight to me, his hands in his pockets, and just walked past me without a word or a glance. I blinked multiple times and spun around to watch his retreating back with astonishment.

What was wrong with him?

Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :) Thanks to kankananime123 for the review!

Bye!