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

Character age:

Akane, Itachi: 20

Naruto, Sasuke: 14-15

Shisui: 23

Kakashi: 28

I was fine.

No really, I was fine. Sensei got a baby, from Zabuza-san, called Fubuki in honor of my brother who, apparently, had a crush on her when they were kids. Mom cried and I wasn't far from it either. Sensei convinced the Daimyo to give us a credit to help rebuilt, and it showed. Although the buildings were in the same cylindrical shape as before, it was more modern. Most of the things got freshened up and the Daimyo was happy to finally have open borders. The Land of Water was now trading regularly with the Land of Fire and the Land of Wave. There were some discussions with the Land of Wind too, but it was still very new.

It would be better once Gaara became the Kazekage, I was sure of it.

Haku and I, with the money of the clan and my new fame that got me admirers among the young generation, literally bought an apartment. When you entered it, you take off your shoes and are in a hallway. On your right, you had the living-room, where the sliding door was always opened. It was wide enough to have ten people in it, with a couch in front of a TV, two windows and bookshelves behind the couch and next to the door, filled with books and scrolls. I kept the most important and confidential ones for me, but otherwise everything went there.

There were pictures on the walls too, and in my room. From Konoha, from before I left for Kiri, from Kiri, from me and my team when we were genin, of my team of genin, the one oji-chan gave me. Things turned sour, but it was a reminder of the happy moments of my childhood, and I should not forget it, even if Dad is on it.

The living-room was in beige and light brown tones, and a light gray carpet was under the couch and the coffee table. In front of that room were the toilets, separated from the bathroom where I had a bathtub now. Next to the toilets were the bathroom, with two sinks and a tub. Opposite to it, next to the living-room, was the fitted kitchen where we eat. It was bigger than my previous one, and the kitchen section was separated from the dining-room section, where there was a table with four chairs, by a beige counter, where there were also chairs. A door allowed us to go to the living-room, and there were two windows too, one in the dining-room, and another one in the kitchen, above the sink.

Then, the hallway went right and left, leading to the three bedrooms. Mine was on the far left and, because sensei asked me to see if I could make a seal to try to reduce the thick mist in the village, on sunny evening my room was bathed in orangey shades thanks to the setting sun. I had a double bed and a sliding door with a mirror hid my closet.

It had a cost, that apartment, but damn I didn't regret it. We all, even Sasuke, brought items to decorate it. It had a homey feeling to it I loved.

Also, I had to admit, I had been trying to make Chōjūrō give ideas, the same his Mizukage self gave, to improve Kiri. He did, and I had little to no shame in taking a little bit of credit concerning the renovation of the fishing harbor at the south of Kiri, or of Kiri in general.

I was in touch with Mom and Mikoto-san. There was nothing from Jiraya-san, but I wasn't worried.

Overall, everything was good. Sasuke had been here for a year and three months already, no Uchiha symbol on his back. He was improving each day and did not have any difficulty finding someone to replace me if I was on a mission. Although, I had not left the country ever since I went to Konoha. I had a lot of work though, so I was cool with it. I was supervising Sasuke's training, giving him directions when I couldn't be here, kept a close eye on Haku's training with Utakata-senpai, taught some fuinjutsu to Karin, all related to medical ninjutsu, who kept training under Dai. I kept seeing Suigetsu, who told me that 'no', he did not want me dead instead of Mangetsu and he was glad I had tried to save his brother, and Chōjūrō, as we were all Swordsmen and had missions together sometimes.

The country overall was more enjoyable.

On my side, I kept improving my Hiraishin and trying to create similar jutsu. For instance, by using the original formula, I was trying to create a new one to create 'corridors' between my markers to let jutsu run through it and pop out at the other marker. Oji-chan was helping me with that, that I wanted it or not he kept helping me.

I was also trying to figure out my brother's technique, how he mixed explosive seals with the Ice Release. If I could master that, I probably would be able to incorporate Dad's seal on my eye to an ice mirror and bam, the genjutsu is sent back to its caster. I mean, Sasuke confirmed it to me. When he looked in my left eye with his sharingan, he saw himself. I had to have it checked often though, as I did not want my optic nerves fried.

"Thanks for diner Takashi," I told my neighbor who had been insisting for months to take me on a date. I ended up accepting, as he would be paying diner.

I was a greedy bitch, I know.

"It was my pleasure Akane-chan!" he replied with a smile, his hazel eyes showing more interest than I was willing to give him, his dirty blond short hair pushed back by his hand. "So...would yo..."

"You said ten, it's ten and a half," Sasuke interrupted us coldly in my back. Takashi's smile turned nervous at Sasuke's sight, who was probably glaring at him above my shoulder. I rolled my eyes and turned to look at him.

"I know, but I'm twenty, I'm allowed to go over the curfew." Haku appeared behind Sasuke, in the traditional blue kimono I offered him for his seventeenth birthday. It was his favorite pajamas now.

"We were worried Uzu-nee. You can defend yourself but you were late, we worried," he reprimanded me with a disapproving frown. I melted at his cuteness.

"I'm sorry Haku, forgive me!" I apologized, running to him to hug him. He stopped me though.

"Shoes first." I pouted and looked at the lonely guy on my doorstep, still glared at by the Uchiha.

"Have a good night." Without waiting for his answer, Sasuke slammed the door in his face. Then, he turned toward me, arms crossed over his chest.

"You're not going on another date with that loser," he stated with confidence.

"None of your business," I told him with a yawn, taking my shoes off. "He paid diner, it won't work another time, the date with nothing after, I think." Sasuke scoffed.

"Good riddance."

"Did he stay here?" I asked Haku, who nodded with exhaustion.

"He tried to leave to spy on you, many times, but I managed to keep him here." Sasuke averted his eyes to the side.

"He's a loser, nee-san is supposed to be with nii-san, she doesn't have time to waste with losers." I stood up and flicked his nose. He rubbed it with a glare.

"For the last time, if your brother asked you to keep an eye on me before we left Konoha, it's because he saw me being a mess and was worried, not because he's in love with me and wanted you to keep every males away from me."

"I don't keep every males from you. Dai still hangs out with you." I did not answer and started to make my way to my room, stretching my arms above my head. I was satisfied when I heard a crack in my shoulders.

"You are both on patrol duty to the north tomorrow, correct?" Haku asked us. Sasuke nodded curtly.

"For three days."

"Are you both packed?" This time, I didn't give him the choice and hugged him from behind, nuzzling my nose in his hair now he was my height.

"You're so adorable and caring Haku!" Sasuke deadpanned at me and, with a 'yes' to my cousin, went to bed. Haku started to walk, with me still hugging him, to my room.

"Go to sleep too." I let go of him, smiled softly at him and flicked his nose too.

"Alright sir, good night then."

I was welcomed warmly by my bed.

Border patrols were boring three-quarter of the time, just as Sasuke's yawn just showed. Ever since the Akatsuki and Kumo in the country to witness me sealing Isobu, there had not been any real threats. Everything was calm.

"Border patrols are so annoying," Sasuke muttered under his breath. I had to agree with him, as I was working on the seal on the palm of my right hand. The Shinobi Technology old Naruto had people working on? I had no shame to replicate it with fuinjutsu. So far, I could stock a jutsu coming from Sasuke as the seal was adjusted to his chakra.

"It's when we complain something truly annoying happens," I told him idly from the top of the lighthouse at Ryoushi harbor. I liked being so close to boats, the sirens actually soothing me. I used to hate water, and even though I was still terrified to drown to death, I loved being near it. It was one of the things I would always be thankful to Yagura.

Sasuke got up on the balcony under mine.

"I need to move," he told me before leaving. I watched him becoming smaller and smaller and set my eyes on the slightly misty sea in front of me. I took a deep breath, enjoying the salty scent of the sea, sadly mixed with the smell of oil coming from the boats.

Because of the mist, the sky was cloudy but it was still milky white. I yawned, listening to the seagulls above me.

It was truly peaceful, like the calm before the storm.

After a while, I decided to imitate Sasuke and went for a walk, my senses still on alert. Even if the docks were crowded with people, I still ended up spotting Sasuke from afar. His katana on his back helped a lot. However, there was someone clearly watching him.

I sneaked up behind them in the back alley they were hiding in, completely covered by a dark brown cloak. I focused on their chakra and felt a drop of sweat running down my back. It was...familiar yet not really. Have I met them before?

In any case, I had a very, very bad feeling.

"Can I help you spying on a fifteen year-old?" I asked them casually, my left hand on my hip and looking closely at my nails on my right hand. The hooded figure turned around and disappeared in a quick body-flicker, to reappear behind me in the blink of an eye. "Shit!" I said louder than I should have

As I ran after him, pushing away civilians in the crowd, I could only frown at their speed. The only person I had ever seen using the body-flicker so well was Shisui.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," I apologized to people I pushed on my way. Once I was out of the crowd, I narrowed my eyes at them and sped-up. My hand was about to grab his cloak after a body-flicker that they used another one, landing ten meters further. Alright… "Hyōton: Freezing Technique!" The mist started to freeze around their legs, making them fall forward on their hands.

I thought I had them, but at my surprise and horror, they did something that brought back painful memories. My ice melted, or more like they liquefied it and turned it against me. I avoided it as well as I could, finding myself in front of a warehouse.

That guy couldn't possibly be…

Distracted by my thoughts, I failed at seeing them controlling the ground made of concrete behind me, molding it in a ball they slammed in my back. I spat out blood and crashed harshly in the ground, breaking it in the fall, an arm dangling above the sea.

It hurt like hell, and I couldn't move anymore. That...something in my back had been touched.

They started to walk closer to me, the blade of a katana shining as it poked out of their sleeve.

"Raiton: Chidori Blade!" They jumped back to avoid a blade made of blue lightning that crashed in the ground. The lightning then increased and touched them, burning a piece of their cloak, before they left. Sasuke appeared in front of me, katana in hand and I was sure his sharingan was burning brightly in his eyes. "Already gone huh..."

"We made that much noise?" He turned to me and knelt on one knee. He put his katana back in its sheath. "It's...embarrassing, I can't really move anymore…?" Sasuke turned me on my back and I screeched in pain.

"At least, you can still feel pain." He placed me against the wall of the warehouse in a sitting position. "I'm taking a look at the scene and then we're going back to Kiri." I chuckled weakly.

"It's lame your jounin referent got beaten so easily?"

"Hn."

The jutsu that guy used...it couldn't be…

No, there was no way it could be possible, right?

"That guy knew what he was doing. It's a man, right?" Dai asked Sasuke as his glowing hands were examining my back, me lying on my stomach in my bra.

"Yeah, there was a cloak but his figure was masculine. The spinal cord is fine then?"

"It was grazed but I fixed the little damages there were. Overall, he just blocked her back. I'll skip the medical explanations, but go to my sister and tell her Uzu will be fine, maybe one week or two out of heavy duty." Sasuke nodded and left the room.

"Really? It's nothing?"

"Karin's blood fixed the connection between your brain and spinal cord, that's why you can move your legs now," he explained more precisely, straddling my back. "But it could have been a lot worse with how you depicted the fight Uzu. Now, please don't scream in pain, I don't want another complain from you. Who do you think you are to criticize my relationship with my patients?"

"They make us fill anonymous questionnaires, I wasn't going to shut up about how my doctor tried to suffocate me with my pillow last time I was admitted for chakra exhaustion." A vein popped on his forehead and I let out a particular loud scream of pain when he cracked my back.

Never annoy your doctor Akane, he'll make you pay for it dearly.

I couldn't move from my bed for two days, Haku taking care of me whereas Sasuke was training or reading oji-chan's scroll on fuinjutsu he gave me when I was five. When I was allowed to get up, I had to talk Haku into letting me go to sensei's office. It was laborious task, but I won in the end.

Sensei looked at me with surprise when I was in front of her.

"I was planning on letting you have more time off Akane. You can go home." I shook my head 'no' and she sighed. "Fine, Sasuke has already given me his report on the incident, do you have something more to add?"

"Actually, I do. It's..." I bit the inside of my cheek and slouched on the couch of her office. Sensei raised a brow and walked over to me, crouching next to me. She patted my knee to encourage me.

"Is it about the before again?" I sighed and nodded. Sensei was slowly but surely taking measures with Tsunade-san, and I was sure Suna would follow soon. "Concerning this individual? Are they a threat?"

"Not regarding what you're thinking about sensei it's..." Under her heavy gaze, I sighed and sat up with a long face. "Their technique...it was the same than the guy I died against." She widened her eyes in shock and I ran a nervous hand in my hair. "I mean...before he had a mask and now it was a cloak. I can't say for sure it's the same person, but the technique? Yes, I don't think I'll ever be able to forget it anyway. I mean...he's most likely alive in this time period, right?"

She pursed her lips in thoughts. Last time, I was with old Sasuke, who was on a whole other level than any shinobi in this era, and because there was an unstable seal around, he couldn't fully fight and I used the Shinigami seal. Although, I may have used it in a desperate moment and maybe with a little bit more time things could have gone differently, in the end it was sealing him with me in the Shinigami's stomach that stopped him and...his possible Mangekyou.

Gosh, right, there was that possible explanation to his ability to control matter itself!

"I will take a closer look on my side. Once this is done, I'll send you and Sasuke to investigate more. Until then, rest and do the other missions I'll assign to you. I'm handling this."

"Sen..."

"I'm taking care of it," she interrupted me firmly. "If you are right, then it means you already died against him. It won't happen again, especially not under my watch, not on my orders."

I bit my lips. Old Naruto...was he okay? Were old Sasuke and old Naruto okay with this?

I was fine in a week, a week prior to Dai's prognostic. Right away, I was given a random infiltration mission with Sasuke as my back-up. When I said infiltration, I really meant seduction. Yagura never sent me on those, thank God, but sensei did, mainly because she knew I wouldn't need to go to the sex part.

As sensei was a beautiful woman, she was sent on these missions. She got Dai and I to make a seal that could hold poison on her lips. None of us were really confident on the outcome, but we succeeded after many failures. It was that same seal I would get Sasuke and Dai to do on me.

For now, Sasuke and Haku were with me in a store, and none of them were comfortable.

"What's the long faces for?" I asked them as I was examining the fabric of a black lace garter-belt. The town I was going to was more on the modern side, not that much on the traditional one.

"It is...not really comfortable to shop with you right now," Haku ended up admitting, shooting a glance at the makeup in my basket.

"Well, women have more preparations to do in these kind of missions, at least in general. We have to display our sexuality a lot more." Sasuke and Haku blushed slightly at that. "Come on, you're teenagers, you know where babies come from."

"Sure, but it's...you," Sasuke mumbled, hands deep in his pockets. "It's...not...I mean, you're not..." I raised a daring brow at him. "You should do missions that requires skills and are not based on your gender." Haku sent him a look that said 'nice one'.

"Although I am flattered and I don't want to go on such missions," I started, putting the garter-belt in the basket, along with black stockings, "it wouldn't be fair if I were not sent on missions like that unlike other kunoichi. And, it should not end up in me having sex with them." Their faces went scarlet and I smirked. Still so much innocence in them.

The further I went with that forty year-old man was straddling him and him shoving his tongue down my throat. I released the seal when I felt his boner against my thigh and he went limp. Still conscious, but the poison was paralyzing him.

"See?" I asked Sasuke with disgust written all over my face. I went to the sink and tried to wash the taste of cold tobacco and whiskey out of my mouth. He grabbed the guy's hair and made him raise his head harshly to look at him in the eyes. His eyes became hollow and glassy as he started to speak in an empty voice, caused by Sasuke's sharingan.

"It was a nightmare to watch," he grumbled with a shake of his head. The target fell back on the floor, drooling on the expensive carpet. "And him? He's a drug dealer who has been trying to keep his network alive after the fall of the Bloody Mist, right?"

"Wel..."

"We are taking care of the rest," someone said behind us. I turned around to the two anbu behind us. "I believe you have collected the information needed?"

"Of course," I replied slyly. Who did they think I was? Well, we were? "There is the rest of the net..."

"It has been dealt with, your intervention was only needed for him." Without another word, one of the two body flickered to the guy and slit his throat. My eyes watched the whole thing with indifference, like Sasuke.

On the way back to the village, and me back in my usual and comfortable clothes, I was thinking deeply. I wasn't aware others were already on the case, they could have handled it on their own.

Was it sensei just trying to keep me from taking part in the research on that guy? Or had she already found something she did not want me to know?

At diner, even if Sasuke and I were both tired, we still enjoyed Haku's curry. Karin, Suigetsu and Chōjūrō were here too, so it was animated. Karin was keeping us, mainly me as Sasuke seemed a lot more interested by his meal, up to date concerning her medical training and how Dai and her may have had a breakthrough concerning the artificial version of her ability.

She seemed to be perfectly fine being in Kiri, even if her and Chōjūrō actually lived with Suigetsu at his place now. At first it seemed like a temporary thing, but with time, they stopped saying they were looking for another place. Even if Karin and Suigetsu fought like, all the time, they still lived under the same roof.

I couldn't get the guy with the cloak out of my head though.

"Where are you going so early in the morning?" Sasuke asked me behind me, still in his sweatpants and black shirt. His hair was a mess from the night, but he seemed to be wide awake. I got up once my thigh-boot sandals were zipped up.

"Sensei. I don't like how she sent us on that mission when the ANBU was already on it, she's hiding something." He mused over that and grabbed my shoulder when my hand was on the handle of the door. "What?"

"I'll get change," he told me. Five minutes later, we were both in the chilly mist of an early August morning. "Is it about that man in Ryoushi?" I nodded curtly, a frown on my face. "It's not just me then, being sent on an easy mission was weird in the context."

"I couldn't agree more." I climbed the stairs to the Kage building two by two. "What did you find on the scene by the way? Maybe it's the reason why she would send us away."

"It was just a weird looking kunai." I raised a brow at him. A weird looking kunai? What could they have possibly found about that?

I knocked when we were at her door. I was half surprised to see Ao-san there, as he was working closely with sensei, but it was early.

"Oh, it's you two," sensei sighed, opening the paper on her desk once again. "Don't say anything, you want explanations on why I've sent you on that mission?" I stared at her incredulously. She chuckled. "I'm your sensei Akane, I know how your brain works more than you think."

"So you're gonna tell us then?" Her eyes stopped on Sasuke for a second, and she gestured us to come closer.

"A map?" Sasuke wondered for the both of us. It was a map of the Five Elemental Nations, the smaller ones also indicated but in smaller letters.

"The one everybody knows," Ao-san noted, opening another map on the one we knew. Sasuke raised his brows and looked at it in interest and I shot a look at sensei to know if she was serious. She nodded gravely.

The map had Kiri and the Land of Water on the left side, the rest of the continent hidden. Then, it was mainly the sea, with different islands we knew about but did not really have any contact with. There was one bigger island in the middle, named Sen'i, and then more sea and a huge chunk of earth called 'Eastern Continent'.

"You don't know about it Sasuke and you better keep it to yourself, but we have regular contacts with the Eastern Continent. Although they do no want shinobi going there, we trade goods on Sen'i, including weapons that were the base for many of the weapons you had to work on when you were younger Akane. The weapon you brought back Sasuke," Ao-san quietly put it on the map and I quirked a brow at the emblem in it, a winged-horse in bronz,. "has the same emblem than there is on some weapons we have. I wanted to make sure before I say anything to you, so I sent you on that mission."

"A horse with wings?" Sasuke inquired quietly and I grabbed the weapon. It was not a kunai, but a dagger very sharp. The handle was in bronze, like the emblem that was just underneath the blade.

"It is called Chollima if I'm correct, in our country it is said to be too swift and elegant to be mounted by a regular man," I explained distractedly at him. "That's really all of what is said about it, why would someone have it..."

"It's a legend more important on the Eastern Continent, where that man you confronted is probably from," Ao-san told us. "We never have encountered any troubles with them, but like the Land of Water, they usually stop at Sen'i and do not go all the way to Ryoushi. The fact he was spying on Sasuke is also worrying. There are two months and a half left until he leaves for Konoha..." Sasuke tensed next to me. He was still not ready to go back "We can't afford to let him become a target to people we know almost nothing of."

"You're going on an S-rank mission, both of you," sensei stated, gaining our attention back. "I don't know why someone from the Eastern Continent would be here, but as they started it, I won't keep myself from sending you out there too. Investigate about it."

"What...sensei, you're seriously sending us there?" She took a file from her desk and gave it to me.

"Read it, it's all the Intel we have about how it is over there. There are two tickets for Sen'i in it too, but once you're there, you are on your own. Make sure to be back in three months. Don't tell anyone what your mission is."

"If we don't find anything?" Sasuke asked her with concerned eyes. Sensei turned her emerald eyes to him.

"Make sure to be back in three months, I have a month extension for your return in case a mission turns out longer that expected."

"And once we're there?"

"You have carte blanche. If they were spying on Sasuke, it was most likely because they knew he was an Uchiha, otherwise they wouldn't have wasted time like that."

"So at least one person over there is from our continent," Sasuke continued. Sensei nodded.

"I don't like it at all."

We were ordered to be at the gate at six the next morning. I spent the rest of the morning running around the village to get my healing seals filled and other stuff Dai always gave me on missions. Then, I saw Sasuke at the weapon shop and after checking our stocks and weapon supplies, we went home for lunch, where I told Haku we would be gone for a while.

"Can't you at least tell me where you're going?" he insisted staring straight into my eyes. I sent him an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, I really can't." He sighed and knelt next to me.

"Three month is a long time." I draped my arm on his shoulders and pulled him against my side. I leaned the side of my head against his.

"It is, so be sure to talk to someone other than Isobu at least five days a week. And Isobu, remind him of that too, I'm counting on you."

"You can't ask Isobu that." I hummed.

"Yes I can. I'm the one who decrease the strength of his lock, and if you're unhappy he'll be unhappy. Right?" Haku frowned at me.

"I hate it when he agrees with you." I giggled and kissed his cheek. "Next time we're training together, I'll make you regret it if you come home hurt. Isobu too."

"Yes sir."

Next morning, we were at the gates at five fifty, after having Haku checking if we were fully packed and had not forgotten anything. I was perfectly aware Sasuke deadpanned at me when I checked my room to check if I had taken all of my healing seals, the brat.

"It goes without saying that I want you both to be careful and to come back in piece, understood?"

"Yes," we answered in sync and I hugged her back when she embraced me.

"Especially you Akane, if what you think is true then...then be extremely careful."

"I will."

I had not been on an important mission outside of the country for a while.

However, we were heading straight into the unknown, and from Sasuke's silence on the way, I knew he was as preoccupied than me.

Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to NguyetMieu for the review! And who knows ?

Bye!