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

PS: I have rewritten and poste the first chapter of this fic and will slowly rewrite the first Arc.

Character age:

Akane, Itachi: 18

Naruto, Sasuke: 13

Shisui: 22

Kakashi: 27

It was sunny.

The funerals happened. Itachi had been able to go. Now the second one just ended, the mist was pierced by a beam of sunlight. The sky was clearing out slowly.

It was sunny in Kiri, almost as if to tell us we had bright days in front of us.

I was the last one to leave. Naoto and I stayed for a long time in front of Yagura's grave. When I apologized to Naoto for killing Yagura, he put his hand on my head, thanking me instead. His dad was dead, but died being himself and free.

I didn't shed a tear though. Strange knowing I was a cry baby by nature.

When I left the cemetery, I was surprised to see Mom talking with Utakata-senpai. Right, learning about Itachi's condition and how Kiri was over with the Bloody Mist, she convinced Tsunade-san to let her come with Shizune-san ans her team. We haven't really spoken to each other, we hugged for a long moment when I saw her and that was it.

I walked up to them when they were hugging. I cleared my throat.

"Sorry but I don't want senpai as my step-dad." They stopped hugging and my serious gaze went back and forth between them. "So? You know each other?"

"It was nice seeing you again and well Utakata-kun, I'll have a word with my daughter now." He nodded and actually patted my shoulder when he left. I followed him with my eyes, staring at him as if a second head had grown suddenly, and gazed at Mom with wide eyes, my thumb toward senpai. "What?"

"He always tells me I'm an eyesore and that I'm annoying. What did you do to him?"

"Nothing at all. He just told me you were doubting things about yourself." I frowned and crossed my arms over my chest.

"I got Yagura to talk to me you know." She widened her eyes at that. "He implied I didn't know a lot of things about our family and that you'd tell me, Naoto said the same when he refused to tell me. So, mother dearest, what did you hide?" She looked at the ground for a solid second and turned around.

"Follow me Akane." I did, for minutes. I raised a brow when I realized we were going toward the ghost district, spared from the fights. I slowed down when I saw a gate with the Yuki clan crest above it. "I won't wait for you."

When we stopped, we were in front of an old and dilapidated house. It was a traditional one, like the Uchiha's or Mangetsu's, but smaller.

"I was...we were twenty-two when your brother was born. Uzushio was destroyed during the Second War and my parents asked your father and his mother to take me with them in a desperate attempt to protect me. We left Kiri at the age of twenty-seven. Kushina left the village when she was seven and when I was sixteen, Uzushio was destroyed. I spent eleven years of my life here, in a village that partook in mine's destruction. It wasn't easy, but your grandparents and your dad welcomed me. The whole Yuki clan welcomed me as one of their own. How could I not fall in love with your father when he was so optimistic and caring?" I bit my bottom lip with furrowed brows. I could hear the tangible feelings in her voice, how it was wavering and how she was holding back her tears. "We eloped at nineteen, your father was already a jounin recognized by his comrades, Yagura was just the same and they formed a terrible duo. They always bickered, much like Sasuke and Naruto, but Yagura was more extrovert than Sasuke though. I lied when I said I was a Seal Master back in Uzushio, I never officially had the title. Your grandmother finished my training. Around...around a year after your brother was born, lively and healthy like any Uzumaki, with bright red hair, the first signs of Kiri sinking into what you've known appeared. It was war, but the Sandaime had started to exploit people with kekkai genkai, treating them like tools and not people. Your grandfather, Fuyuki-san, he stood up to the Sandaime in the end, after sharing his fears of what his beloved village was slowly turning into. He was executed in public for that, and your grandmother tried to save him but she was killed too. In front of us, in front of your father. He never truly was the same after that. He trained your brother from the moment he could walk, as an Uzumaki and Yuki. We discovered he was a genius quickly, like the Sandaime. He pushed him to be a genin as soon as he could, even with the graduation exam of the time. He took it. He succeeded. It was a week before your birth. He awakened his Ice Release because he was scared to die, and when I saw my baby coming back with that broken look in his eyes and asking me how he could wash all of this red away, I went into labor. After seeing so much death, you were a blessing for him, for us. The same day, Dai-kun was born. The Terumis and the Hōzukis visited me, like Yagura and Naoto."

"Yagura said he was supposed to be my godfather."

"He was. We wanted him to be. Actually, the two jinchuriki of the time came to visit us too, like Utakata-kun. He was Fubuki's best friend. For a short period of time, the war outside was forgotten. Two babies were born, it was euphoria. It stopped when they started to send your brother and father on the battlefield. Ushio never left Fubuki alone, but he still got the nickname of 'Fubuki of the Explosive Snow' among the villagers and shinobi of Kiri, the bright future Kiri had ahead. At the same time, your father and Yagura were both considered as the possible Yondaime. However, the Rokubi jinchuriki was starting to weaken. As you know, jinchuriki are chosen among the Kage's relative. Fubuki...was already sick, infected by the same virus Itachi-kun has today. But...you weren't, you were healthy, and lively, and had a great potential."

I felt cold sweat running down my back and I started to breath faster. That...that…

"Ushio wanted the hat, he wanted to change that village back to what his father and mother loved. But you would become a jinchuriki in return. It was the one thing he couldn't accept. It was the last straw for him. When you were one, we left. Yagura figured something was strange and stopped us at the border. Your dad told us to go first, and when he joined us, unharmed, he told me Yagura let him go without trying to stop him if Ushio made sure Kiri would never find us. We settled down in the Land of Hot Water. It was...quiet, for a while. There was war, but Ushio often went on patrols to make sure we were safe. Fubuki kept following him. One day, from what he told me, he met a shinobi from Konoha with his team, the man had blond hair and blue eyes. One of his student, already a chuunin, tried to attack Ushio but he stopped him with his chains, and Fubuki had already immobilized the other two with ice. But the man..." She chuckled. "The man was smart and recognized the Uzumaki Adamantine Chains, as his girlfriend had the same. I swear, two weeks later, I had a crying Kushina in my arms. I was crying too, and you were hiding behind a corner of the wall. Obito-kun was the first one to spot you and called you adorable, taking you in his arms without even asking you. You freaked out and Minato came to help. I don't know what happened at that moment, but you were glued to your savior and Minato immediately had a soft spot for you. It was clear, as Kushina decided we wouldn't be separated again by war, that he would be your godfather. Ushio and him got along very well, and they worked together on seals, on space-time jutsu. Kakashi-kun would spar against your brother and Rin-chan always looked over him. It was nice to have such a lively household when they were visiting. One day, Obito-kun wasn't there. After that, Rin-chan was nowhere to be seen. You cried for them."

"I remember that," I mumbled weakly. "I remember crying for them."

"Yes. I...I should have noticed the changes in Ushio's behavior. At some point when you were four, Fubuki's health deteriorated too much. I decided to go look for Tsunade-san and Kushina negotiated with the Third Hokage to help me. He agreed, and I left you two with your father. Minato and Kakashi-kun came to visit you. Next thing I know, we were at the Eien Hansen and I was holding my baby boy's bloody corpse, you traumatized in Kakashi-kun's arms and Minato bleeding heavily, him and Kushina sealing my husband in a space-time jutsu in this tower, Tsunade-san unable to do anything for us. You know what happened next."

I wiped away a tear from my cheek with the sleeve of my long-sleeved blue shirt. I knew for a fact how hard it was to open up to your children like that.

I was never able to do it.

"Were you..." I started in a passive voice. I coughed to clear my throat. "Were you ever planning on telling me before today?"

"When Shisui-kun brought you back, when I saw you were changed, you were a Yurei, I thought about it. You were an adult inside, you could take it, understand. However, you had just 'arrived' in this time, I wanted you to get used to this world, to us again, to me. Then Naruto arrived, and I couldn't find the strength to tell you. I should have, I'm sorry for keeping you in the dark for so long."

"Don't Mom. You've had your fair share of hardships, you wanted to protect your daughter, that's...that's just an instinct."

"You would know about it, wouldn't you?" she asked me, turning to look at me. She was crying. I looked at my feet and nodded. "You missed them, don't you?"

"How do you know it's a 'them'?"

"I heard you say their name in your sleep once." Oh. "Their father?"

"They called Sasuke 'uncle'." I smiled sadly at her surprise.

"This...explains a lot about your early behavior. He died, didn't he?"

"He never knew I was pregnant to begin with. I discovered it when I heard he died."

I walked up to her when she opened her arms to me and was engulfed in a motherly and warm hug. She cried silently on my shoulder and I did the same on hers.

"You know, maybe talking about this other timeline would do you some good." I snorted.

"I don't know Mom, it will never happen here. What's the point of...never mind."

"It's not as if I had decided you know," I told Itachi while I was rummaging through what I got from my place, Haku doing the same in the room next to the one we were in. Itachi was sitting on a chair in front of me, his crutch next to him against the wall and he was clearly annoyed and didn't bother to hide it. "I mean, I thought I would crash at Dai's or senpai's, but sensei didn't give me a choice. I'm not that happy to go back to my old room at Yagura's place, but we're short on housing so..."

"You're babysitting me," he cut me off, his arms crossed over his chest and his legs stretched out in front of him. "You've been ordered to babysit me."

"Would you rather have someone you don't know?"

"I'd rather not be babysat at all." Itachi was pouting. He was pouting at the decisions that had been made.

"I don't enjoy it either, trust me, but at least you're out of the hospital. You're sick, you know it's for your own good. I mean...it's Shizune-san's order." He averted his eyes to the side and clicked his tongue. "It's two weeks, then we leave for Konoha. You're home in three weeks."

"Hn."

"Scared of your mother?"

"You don't know how she is when Sasuke or I get sick, this time it will be worst."

"Deal with it like a man and stop complaining like a baby." I snickered at the offense on his face.

"I don..." I went in front of him, my hands on my hips. I bent over so that my face was right in front of his.

"I didn't say it was a bad thing. You're seriously sick Itachi, you complaining about such trivial things is much better than you retreating into silence and pretending like it was nothing like I thought you would." He stared straight into my eyes for a second and smiled softly, lowering his head a little.

"If I were to act accordingly to my health, you wouldn't mind then?" I blinked and straightened up.

"Huh...no?" I wasn't sure...his smile vaguely reminded me of something not really enjoyable but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"If I were to ask you to do something for me because I'm sick, you would do it then?" He opened his eyes and I took a step back. Yeah, yeah that smile was my son's smile when he had something in mind.

"You...you're evil!" I screamed, pointing an accusing finger at him. He dared look innocent.

"I'm sick."

"It's not because I said your behavior was reassuring that you shouldn't care about your condition for fuck sake!" He raised a brow.

"I care about my condition, I don't want to die." I was about to say something but he grabbed his crutch and stood up, towering me by a few centimeters. "But Tsunade-sama will heal me, so it's fine. My mother will care about my condition enough for my entire family, so why would I show I'm concerned about it?"

"That's a fucked up way of thinking Uchiha." He shrugged. "Anyway, I'll take you to your room."

The house was big and mainly gray because of the stone walls. It was a typical house in Kiri, in a cylindrical shape. I dropped Itachi at the room he would sleep in for the next two weeks.

"My room is a door away, the one in-between is the bathroom. You've just seen the way to the living-room. The kitchen and dining-room are where Haku was. If you have any questions, don't hesitate."

"I have one," he told me as I was about to go to my old room. I looked at him expectantly. He was frowning now. "Do you remember anything from when I came to get you?" I pursed my lips in thoughts and took my chin between my fingers.

"Honestly no, Isobu's chakra in my body and my exhaustion, plus the fever I had because of how soaked I was...it's blurry. I remember being on the bird, I'm pretty sure I gave them the finger too..." He deadpanned at me. "And...there was a fire and I froze my arm to stop the chakra from spreading. Oh, and I remember thinking that you were strangely talkative." He kept his mouth shut for a couple of seconds. "Oh sh...Itachi, what did I say?" I was starting to worry over what I could have told him. "Tell me, what did I sa...wow!" I yelped in surprise when he grabbed my arm, firmly enough to drag me but not enough to hurt me. If I wanted, I could get away from him.

He sat down on the bed and I did the same next to him, my right foot tucked under my left thigh.

"You had another episode." I gaped at that. "You said the whole world was fake." Oh fu… "That we were...keeping you from going home." I looked down at my hands, grasping tightly the fabric of my pants. "You tried to slit your throat too." I took a deep breath. "And...you asked me why you weren't enough because you were in love with him but he still left you behind." My elbows on my knees, I raised my arms and grabbed my face. What a...it was already a lot more than he should know.

"If...If I say I was just rambling because of my pathetic state at the moment, you believe me?"

"Not really," he replied quietly. I sighed and stood up.

"You won't forget it either?"

"It's hard to forget." I rolled my eyes. "You really can't go home?"

"It's too out of reach, for anyone. I don't hate it here, or Konoha, but...once you find home, it's hard to consider another place as such too." I looked above my shoulder. His elbows were resting on his knees and his arms were dangling between them, onyx eyes staring at me thoughtfully.

Fuck, that idiot was still hot, looking so relaxed and nonchalant like that.

"Even if it's hard, you should try to reach it." Quietly, he added. "If there's someone who can get out of a situation they don't want to be into it's you." I smirked a little at that.

"Well, should I be hurt you're trying to make me leave?" He was taken back and I raised a brow at the guilt in his eyes. "Hey, it's a joke. I won't leave until the Akatsuki is buried six-feet underground. I'll go to my room now, bye."

I stayed the back against my door once I was in my room. When I came back, Yagura didn't want to see me at his place, so everything was still the same as it was when I left for the mission where I went KIA. I walked over to the desk, still covered in amateurish seals prototypes. I pushed them on the side and my finger traced a bar carved in the wood. One for each days spent in Kiri at the time.

More than seven hundreds.

I fell on my bed and let the mask fall. I crossed an arm over my eyes and scowled.

Itachi was sick and letting him see how I really felt was the last thing I wanted, especially now he knew what he knew. I wondered how he thought the man I was in love with was.

Still, I didn't want him to know I felt terrible because everything was dawning on me. Mangetsu's death, Yagura's death, turning Haku into a jinchuriki.

Haku...who was better than I thought he would be. He talked with Zabuza-san before the attack and, from what he told me, even if the latter wasn't there anymore, his dream was and he would achieve it and protect it. It was good though.

Reassuring.

In the night, I woke up with a start, sweating profusely and panicked eyes looking all around me. A nightmare...it was just a nightmare.

The night after, I had another one, so I just stopped trying to go back to sleep once I was awake. I would spend the rest of the night in front of Yagura's grave.

"It's for a minute," I told Itachi as we were climbing the stairs to sensei's office. "Then I'm proving you takoyakis are way better than dangos!"

"Do you sleep well?" I stopped and gazed at him with surprise.

"Wh...what?" I spluttered. He frowned.

"I take that as a 'no'." I stared at him and scowled, almost running up the stairs. He followed me, but with his leg still recovering, he was slower than me and it was exactly what I was hoping for. Fucking Uchiha, fucking observant shinobi!

"What's the rush?" sensei asked me in a puzzled voice at me slamming the door behind me.

"Why did you want to see me?" I retorted, keeping my irritation to a minimum. She raised a brow but chose to change the subject. A paper was handed to me. "Alright...I have a bad feeling now, is it justified?"

"Depends, did you forget to tell me something about your stay in Konoha? Let's say, before the Third Stage of the Chuunin Exams?" I froze and started reading the paper in the blink of an eye.

The emblem of Konoha was in the top left corner and Tsunade-san's signature was at the bottom. It was a letter, a direct letter from the Hokage to the Mizukage that asked, not for a transfer, but for me to serve as a Konoha shinobi. Sensei had just repealed the law that...Not that I blamed her, with how I joined Kiri, I legally could leave.

"I didn't want my Will to be used like that," Minato said in the back of my head with annoyance.

"I know, but with what I know, Tsunade-san wasn't going to miss her chance, and with the reputation I have now, the Elders wouldn't either. I'm more beneficial than I was three years ago."

"I know that, but Tsunade-sama wrote down all of the conditions. Basically, you just have to sign and...Akane, I don't want you to do that. It was another time, too many things happened for you to..."

"Calm down, I wasn't planning on accepting, this cooled me down. I don't like being seen as a tool."

"Akane?" sensei called with concern. I flashed her a grin.

"I'm good sensei. The Sandaime had offered me a position and I didn't tell you because I didn't think it was relevant. Although...he just said I wouldn't be refused, this," I showed her the paper, "this is a whole another level. I'm honored she directly wants to make me a jounin, but...what she offers is the same than what I already have here."

"Does it mean I can order the removal of your grave? Finally?" I blinked at her angry eyes.

"It bothers you that much?"

"Enough people are buried as it is," her cold voice replied harshly. I stared at her, dumbfounded and shocked at her outburst and she realized it as she sent me an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"It's alright..." I mumbled.

"You know, with the letter sent so quickly, it made me think. Shisui-kun is not the only shinobi she could have sent, isn't he?"

"Well, he's recognized as one of the strongest Uchihas alive so...what are you getting at?"

"That you both care a lot about each other. I'm wondering if sending him here doesn't hide something else. You made up, sure, but it could have gone the opposite way."

"Are you seriously insinuating Shisui was chosen because he could have coaxed me into joining Konoha?" Man...that...that was believable actually. Sensei looked at her paperwork, her cheek in her hand.

"I'm not saying he was aware of it though."

"Sure but...it's messed up."

"She's the Hokage, if there's a chance she can have a good element joining her ranks, it's something that could have be done, and I wouldn't have been able to try to make you stay." We sighed in sync.

"Have I ever mentioned...I hated the system?"

"It came up once or twice...a day until your became chuunin, then it was a weakly occurrence." I wrinkled my nose. Yep, sounded like me. "Would you like me to send them your answer or do you want to give it yourself when you're in Konoha?"

"Let me tell them myself."

I waved at her and left, Itachi leaning on the wall in front the door. I grinned in front of his glare. In the end, he sighed and followed me.

People stared when we were in the street. I was uncomfortable, that much was clear. So clear Itachi got closer to me, his shoulder grazing mine. I shot him a look, silently apologizing for being so needy recently. He smiled gently at me, his watchful eyes filled with comprehension.

I didn't deserve that with all of things I've done. I had...I had too much baggage and him not enough. It...there was a silent agreement between old Itachi and I. No judgment, even if we had never said it out loud, never admitted it, we knew the other did awful things. It was public knowledge concerning old Itachi, he was smart enough to have figured out what I had done in the Bloody Mist.

This Itachi...had such a bright future in front of him.

I didn't want to take that away from him. He had a family, friends, a girlfriend, was recognized for his skills...he had everything for him today. I just needed to make sure he'd live to see his twenty-second birthday.

"Oh, Uzumaki-chan!" the restaurant owner greeted me.

"Hey old man! Two Kiri specials please!"

"Coming right up!"

We sat at a table in the corner of the restaurant, away from prying eyes. I knew all of the places to be as discreet as possible in this village anyway.

"What did you order?"

"Trust me Itachi!" Two bowls of seafood donburi were placed in front of us, with two trays of still fuming takoyaki and some daifuku. "It's not surprising culinary specialties are seafood related, is it?"

"It explains your love for takoyaki." With a quick thanks, we started to dig in. Naruto had Ichiraku, I had this place. We ate in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes until I felt a pair of eyes on me. I looked up and narrowed my eyes at the shinobi coming our way. He seemed vaguely familiar, but not in a good way. In the 'your Dad would have saved the village and you have to pay for him leaving, you're the Yondaime's apprentice' kind of way though? Sure.

"Uzumaki," he greeted me with fake cheerfulness. "Me and other shinobi are throwing a party tonight, it would be our pleasure if you came." A party? The people I called friends in the village were still busy and didn't mention anything. "We would love to have the Hero of Kiri among us."

"...Hero?"

"People call you like that, you killed the Yondaime and freed the village."

"It wouldn't have happened if the Fifth had not bust her ass on the Resistance for the past three years or more. She deserves that title more than me." And why calling me a 'hero' when I killed someone?

"Still, you should come!" I glared coldly at him.

"I won't be among so many hypocrites. Not long ago you still treated me like dirt under your shoes." Yeah, that guy was on that chuunin's side, I remembered now. He frowned and that disgusting cheerfulness disappeared.

"Tch, you stuck-up..." Itachi put his glass of water back on the table in a loud 'bang'. I looked at him, like the guy, finally realizing he was still there and witnessed the whole thing. His eyes were now set of the man and all signs of warmth were gone. It was just coldness.

"She said 'no', leave," he ordered in all of his Uchiha glory. The guy tensed and took a step back, just to bump in Kimou and Dai, who were both grinning way too happily. They heard the conversation.

"My, what's happening here? Someone's bothering you on your date?" Dai asked us. Kimou looked offended and pushed me on the side to sit next to me.

"Stop spouting nonsense about my wife Terumi!" Kimou screeched at him. "And you!" She pointed the guy with a manicured finger. "Leave her alone and get out of here before I make your worst fears reality!" He made a quick getaway, slamming the sliding door behind him. "Damn, now they're ass-lickers?"

"Weren't you among my haters before?" I asked her as I bit on the piece of tuna between the chopsticks she had at my mouth.

"I apologized!" I hummed at that and looked at Itachi, whose eyes were going back and forth between Kimou and I. I showed her with my thumb.

"Right, Itachi, let me introduce you to Kimou. She hated my guts, I saved her life before she joined the Resistance and ever since she's been my number one fan girl and biggest spoke person against Utakata-senpai and his refusal of my love for him." He stared at me for a solid second, then at Kimou when she nuzzled her cheek against mine. "And apparently we're married now."

"It's a question of time honey, only a question of time." Her purple eyes sharpened suddenly, glued into Itachi's onyx ones. "And I won't let another Uchiha get his hands on you. No Uchiha will get his hands on you."

"Come on Kimou, it's public knowledge you don't like Uchihas because of the Sharingan and you being the best at genjutsu in the village," Dai stated idly, sitting next to Itachi. "The same than them old man!"

"Wanna say it even louder?" she growled at him. I deadpanned at them, and at the minuscule smirk on the corner of Itachi's lips. I kicked him in the leg and instead of making him stop, his smirk grew larger. I rolled my eyes at him. He was having his little fun.

"Why are you here you two? I doubt you just came for that." The thunder between their eyes stopped and they turned to me. Dai searched through his back pouch and pulled out a Bingo Book.

"Right, we've received Kumo's new Bingo Book!"

"Kumo, really?" I asked in a sigh, stretching out my hand. "Same page than before?"

"Yeah!" I flipped through the pages and stopped on my picture. Instead of my twelve year-old self's face, it was me now. The book slipped from my hands and my eyes were wide in shock. "That's kind of flashy, isn't it?"

"It...It..." I stuttered.

"It's gonna be okay Uzu," Kimou said next to me. Itachi made a move to take the book, but stopped and looked at Dai. He waved him off, telling him it was okay.

"Konoha never had Uzu in their Bingo Book, the Yondaime didn't want to rub her into your faces that way." Itachi nodded and frowned at my page as my forehead met the wood of the table.

"'Uzumaki Akane, the Bijuu Tamer. Bounty: 40,000,000 ryo'," he read flatly.

"You had a raise when we were seventeen, right? It had gone from 5,000,000 ryo when you became a chuunin to 25,000,000 ryo right?"

"The Raikage is too generous toward me, giving my first bounty and keeping raising it."

"Doesn't that mean shinobi from Kumo witnessed you sealing the Sanbi though?" Itachi asked. I gaped at him with wide eyes whereas Kimou grabbed the book and left in a body flicker. "There is a 'flee on sight' order too."

"I have the exact same bounty Kakashi has...had up until the fight last month."

"Yeah well, remember the difficulty we had leaving the Land of Lightning after the Chuunin Exams? The Raikage saw your potential and with his love for kekkai genkai unlike here..." We sighed in sync with Dai, Itachi attacking his dessert.

Needless to say, sensei freaked out and sent more people at the borders.

Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to NguyetMieu and kankananime123 for the reviews! And well, Itachi and Izumi dated for three years, Akane doesn't know they broke up and well, it would be logical to her they had sex. I'm still not decided over this yet.

Bye!