Hello! I hope you'll like this chapter!

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: 22

Naruto, Sasuke: 17

Shisui: 26

Kakashi: 31

"There's a town, Yuukoku. It's where shinobi would go to rest during the previous war because it's closer than Iwa, so most likely it's where she's expecting us. Even if we're wrong, we'll probably be able to gather data there anyway, the red light district will be useful."

We were still at the outpost, but away from the others. Sasuke and Dai were immediately on board with the plan, so now we were planning.

"I don't think we should be together. I'm used to infiltration, Kakashi-san is as well," Dai stated. I nodded.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too. Sasuke and I will stick together. A woman on her own in a new country during wartime is not good, we need to blend in." I clasped my hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Our silly engagement will be useful in the end." He sighed.

"We have the time of the meeting, let's go on our own and meet up the day before," Kakashi continued. "Hoping everyone will show up, of course." I swallowed with difficulty.

Shinobi never knew if they'd make it back. Truth be told, it was even worst when it came to infiltration. You could infiltrate an enemy lair on your own without knowing if you'd be extracted in time. Shisui infiltrating Kiri back then was a prime example of that, hence why he was...obviously concerned about us going.

But Dai and I, with Mangetsu back then, had infiltrated the Land of Earth and Iwa before, when I went back to the kunoichi life.

Dai was an oinin and knew seals too, was used to infiltration so I had faith to see him again.

Kakashi had a sharingan and so much experience. He told me he had been sent to Ame for the last Chuunin exams after all, it was not nothing.

I had fuinjutsu and Sasuke the sharingan, we should be good too. And now he was taller than me, I was pretty sure he was close to being 1.80 meter-tall now, we wouldn't have troubles looking like a couple.

I couldn't help but thinking Itachi would not be a big fan of this. Even if he were here anyway, I'd probably still pick Sasuke, simply because he was used to my thinking in real situations. I mainly trained with his brother, and training and missions were different.

After making sure we would each have something to find the others, seals or objects with our scent of them in seals for Kakashi and I, we left. Dai would probably act as a doctor and go through the Land of Grass. Kakashi too, and he knew the Land of Grass quite well, he might just follow the path there was after Kanabi Bridge.

Sasuke and I went to the border, the high mountains of the Land of Earth becoming clearer and clearer. We both removed our hitai-ate and put them away. Eventually, we managed to book a room in an inn. From the way the owner seemed on the verge of breaking, they must have suffered a lot from their position.

"Alright, what do we have here?" I wondered out loud, unsealing my infiltration kit.

"What's our cover exactly?"

"We're a young married couple, I'm a housewife and you're a farmer. Unfortunately, the family farm you've inherited from your deceased parents was destroyed in the fights so we're looking for a new place to settle down," I replied, grabbing the black hair dye.

Hum...blue contact lenses would do, then the removable veneers Dai had had made for me since I got my two teeth filed...I'd wait to see if I needed silicone prosthesis but I'd need to think about my walk and way of speaking...farmers usually have a countryside accent.

"Help me out with this," I told Sasuke, showing him the dye. He took it, reading the bottle.

"The mission is too long for just a wig I guess?" I nodded.

"Can't take the risk of losing my own hair. Don't tell your brother I dyed my hair though, he might have a heart attack."

"Humph." I raised a brow at him and he cleared his throat. "'Akane's hair is beautiful, when the sun hits it it shows all of its red undertones and it has been reminding me of a fall sunset since I was a child. I know why she cut it, but I really don't like it. She's still beautiful though, will always be, but I hate that she cut her hair Sasuke, I hate it.'". I just stared at him.

He even had Itachi's tone.

"Nii-san, when we were with them," he added to explain.

"He...wait, he actually said that?" He nodded.

Slowly, my face turned red and I grabbed my cheeks. I was overheating and…

Since we were children and...oh God, it was so embarrassing. It was adorable and I was extremely flattered as the red undertones of my hair was the only thing I had from the Uzumaki clan's famous bright red hair, but I was so embarrassed!

"He really was annoyed. At least he didn't sound so damn corny like he usually does this time."

"Cor...how much does he speak about me?" Sasuke raised his brows and crossed his arms.

"I'm basically the only person he can talk freely about you. He tries to hold it, but when he starts he doesn't stop. My brother really adores you...sometimes it's borderline creepy." I just hid my face.

Itachi was too observant for his own good...there were things that didn't seem wrong to him that would sound kind of weird to others but…

Oh god, I really couldn't take it, I wanted to see him.

"A...anyway, I need it to look as natural as possible so it'd be better if you do it!" I said, my voice going high at the end of my sentence. Sasuke snickered at me being embarrassed.

"I get it." He ran a hand in his hair. By now, the famous spikes behind his head were going more toward the ground as it got quite long, his bangs covering a lot of his eyes.

"Do you even see through your hair?"

"You get used to it."

"Want me to cut it?" He looked wary now. "Come on! I mean, not that long hair wouldn't suit you, but I think you should keep that for when you're older."

"...a hairstyle for a hairstyle I guess…"

"Let's get to it then."

Yuukoku was a thermal town nestled deep in the mountain. There were many hot springs, hence why Iwa shinobi were coming here. It was relaxing and the red light district, much like the Third said, was...pretty active during wartime.

None of the Kage were making themselves known by the way. We agreed that because of the situation, we'd talk only in case of emergency. The connection was still very much opened though, in case.

Sasuke's hair was shorter now. Well, it was still pretty thick, but his bangs no longer hindered his sight and his hair directly went to spiky behind. It was shorter than his regular hairstyle, a few spikes actually going upward a little near the top of his head.

Well...maybe I sneezed when I was cutting his hair and lied when he asked me if I messed up. It wasn't bad anyway.

Sasuke opted for brown contact lenses though, and was fake limping, only adding to his backstory.

I was a proud teacher, not gonna lie.

Point was, we went in the country easily. We encountered some Iwa nin, and to my surprise and relief, they looked ashamed when Sasuke told him his backstory before letting us in and telling us to go to Yuukoku first to rest. Hence why we were there, in a civilian inn. We both had seals to hide our chakras, but avoiding useless encounters with shinobi wouldn't be bad. As I was supposed to be a housewife, I'd go in town to get things for my husband, engaging locals in conversations while Sasuke would looking around more as a shinobi than me.

In the week we've been here, I had gotten nothing but the general feeling the civilian population had about the war and the presence of shinobi in town: they were not happy about it. They liked tourism and knew their geographic location would attract shinobi, but it was a lot a the country was struggling to send enough rations in time. The shinobi coming back were also wounded sometimes, so they'd rest at the doctor's office turned very small hospital, the wounded needing food, like shinobi who had nothing but the bare minimum to function properly on the front.

Yeah, I felt back for them. Kiri, Konoha and Suna were working together, and it meant providing rations and weapons and resources overall. I knew sensei, since we kicked Iwa out of the country, would supply Konoha with weapons and anything they could possibly do, even sending some shinobi now, and then Konoha would distributes them. Suna was still pretty isolated,, but before leaving there were talks of sending Naru's team, so Sakura, to Suna outposts in the Land of River. Shikamaru would probably tag along.

Ame and Iwa were not doing any of that. They were fighting together but that was it, hence why behind the lines, Iwa was struggling. If anything, if the war kept going Iwa would lose just because they'd run out of everything.

"Poverty rose then?" I asked the fruit seller, pursing my lips at the price for apples. It was high. He groaned.

"Yes, only the red light district is flourishing and we all know why." He sighed at me cursing. I didn't have enough coins. He still put my four apples in a bag and gave them to me. "Don't repeat it, but you should have gone toward the Land of Fire, I doubt our country has anything to offer you." I smiled faintly.

"Well, we can't really go back anyway."

As I went back to the inn, eating a tasteless apple, I thought about our next step. I was hoping avoiding it, but it seemed we'd need to get in the red light district in the end. I didn't really want to as I knew what kind of role I'd need to play but...I guess we didn't have a choice.

It was looking for my new look Sasuke found me when he came back.

"Red light district." I raised my eyes at him. "Shinobis go there, drink, sex, food, no one to control their abuse, it's the place to go." I sighed.

"I came to the same conclusion, even before we got here. Have you visited it yet?" He nodded.

"I don't think I'll have trouble to blend in the crowd. You however…" I pursed my lip, rubbing my neck.

"Yeah I know. How's the prostitution there?"

"You've got from the lower ones to oirans. There are also geisha." I waved that off.

"It would be too easy, but a man needs to be in intimacy to spill their secrets." He knelt in front of me.

"Look, I get that it's the easy option, but are you sure? I'd be there anyway but…"

"I'm not going for the common whore, hell even if it's...a mission, it's still cheating on your brother and it's just...no." Just thinking another man than Itachi putting his hands on me or seeing too much was making me shiver in disgust. "No, I was thinking an oiran. High-rank, so high-rank shinobi should go to them, and they put up a show as well, like geishas, it would be good to have a look at...who's around and who's not."

He sighed in relief.

"But you'd still be around in case it goes out of control. I'm still a woman, no matter how good I am or not, you never know how this kind of thing can turn out." He nodded firmly. "Hey, is your sharingan visible with your contacts?"

"It turns reddish a little but they're opaque."

"Good."

When it became clear to sensei her genin had a good potential in infiltrating, she trained us for that. While she trained us all equally, she did give me more lessons, from woman to...girl back then, but woman nonetheless. Basically, let's say it how it was, it was about using your 'feminine charms' to get what you wanted without having to go though the whole thing if you could avoid it.

Sex was the last, last, last of the last resorts.

But she trained me to infiltrate the kind of places where my charms would get me intel, like brothel for instance, and how to stay undercover. Yeah, it meant I could dance and entertain and all that. Did I do it in the past? Possibly, when some bad people wanted to screw over Yagura.

Did I enjoy it? No, I didn't, but you gotta do what you gotta do, and if I had to swallow my pride and let some disgusting pig ogle me like a piece of meat then...so be it. I mean, oiran usually were high-ranked, with good establishments, but let's be honest, it was war.

The smell of sweat and alcohol in the air and the hungry eyes of the men, and women too, in the room made my skin crawled.

"Do you understand newbie?" the tayū, our boss, asked me.

It didn't take much to be hired. I told her I used to be a oiran in Kiribukai, which technically was true for a week when I was seventeen, and I was hired. We still had quite a reputation in the underworld and...well, there were a lot of people.

No matter how crude and disgusting it was, she needed more staff because, due to oirans having high standards, they could...not take all of them.

Gross.

I mean, it was the reality of these kind of circles but gross.

"Yes." I changed my blue contacts for black ones, now having long black extensions in my hair as well. Of course I had a tone of makeup on my face.

"Then it's showtime."

I'd be on the right of the main oiran, dancing with a fan in each hand.

I caught the eyes of a few on the second night I was there, gauging them from their chakra to see if I'd accept them or not. The boss wanted us to accept as many as possible, but still.

After a week, a man, most probably in his thirties, picked me. From his chakra level, he was at least a jounin, and the others showing him obvious respect made me decide to make eye contact while I was dancing. He maintained it, raising his glass of alcohol to his lips.

He didn't come for the next two days and then asked for me. I accepted.

The first time we met I talked about superficial things, stroking his ego as much as I could without it being obvious. He'd remain vague.

On the next meeting, I had made a seal on my bottom lip, underneath the layer of red lipstick, to make him speak in case. I didn't have as much poison or knowledge about them like Dai or Sakura could have, but Dai would always make sure I'd have what I needed for this kind of mission. He drank more, was obviously more stressed, and talked more, well complained was the right word.

He'd look at me more insistently as well, so I'd graze his arm or thigh occasionally with a smile.

I knew on the third meeting it was now or never. When he got in my private room, he threw his jacket against the wall and slumped in the seat.

"Sake." I blinked, doing as I was told. He drank it in one go. "Stupid Kurotsuchi, the bitch got there because strings were pulled." Now that was interesting.

"Had a bad day I guess?" I asked him in the most smooth, sultriest voice I could do. He waved me off.

"Just some bratty princess who thinks she knows what was is about." She was everything but a bratty princess.

"She must have reasons." He scowled.

"There's no reason for any of us to stay in that shit hole any longer but she doesn't want to fucking move!" He threw his cup against the wall and undid his belt. "On your knees."

"Shouldn't we…" He glared at me, his pants already unbuttoned.

"I didn't come here to have a talk, I came here to fuck you." He grabbed me roughly, pulled me on his lap and put his lips on mine, his tongue forcing its way in my mouth. I shivered in disgust at the hand on my butt.

Yeah, Itachi was the only one allowed to do that to me.

Still, I knew Kurotsuchi was in town, I could get rid of him. I unsealed the poison in my lip and he pushed me to the ground. I barely avoided my head hitting the coffee table.

He was now standing, glaring even more.

"You think you can poison me you fucking slut?" I straightened up a little, my back to him.

He grabbed me by my hair and dragged me to the other side of the room, throwing me against the ground once more. He straddled me and tried to remove my kimono, lowering my right sleeve.

"What, who are you working as a spy huh? Konoha? Kiri? Suna? Another one? It doesn't matter anyway, I'm getting release from you one way or another!"

Fear swallowed me in a second when I realized what he was hinting at before remembering that I was not powerless. I put my hand flat on the ground, summoned senbon and dived them in his neck. He widened his eyes and fell next to me. I immediately put some distance between us as a shadow landed in the room.

"Deal with his memories," I told Sasuke in a quick voice. I turned my back to him and readjusted my clothes.

Breathe in, breathe out. Dai told me enough times for me to remember his rhythm. I never really got it right like when he was in front of me, but it would do.

"Akane?" I jumped at the hand on my shoulder, which was removed quickly.

"I'm...fine." I looked at him above my shoulder. His concerned gaze...it was the same as his brother and…

It made me tightened my kimono even more if possible.

"Let's get out of here." I stood up, cursing my shaking legs.

I went through so much shit that...I was surprised this affected me.

I followed Sasuke into the night, leaving this disgusting pig behind.

The meeting was in two weeks. On his side, Sasuke had spotted Kurotsuchi, briefly. He followed her and noticed something unusual on her trajectory.

"He really knows his shit," I commented under my breath, looking at the old fuin symbols on the wall.

"Who?"

"There's a blond guy with her I think, he's the one who modified my seals and realized I was using the Hiraishin," I replied. It was dark, there was no one around.

"So, what does it mean?"

"If we're here yet." I quickly replied, directly using my chakra to make it invisible and we left.

"Let me guess, one of us has to keep an eye on that spot."

"Yup."

"You're done with the...huh…" I swallowed with difficulty.

"Definitely yes." I looked at him. "By the way, let's keep this strictly between us." He parted his lips to say something but sighed slightly.

"As you wish."

It wasn't long before we were face to face with the shinobi. He had seen my message and met us. Now, he was wearing your typical Iwa attire, but with two long ample sleeves, his brown flack jacket apparently having more pockets than a regular one. He also had two big pouches. His dirty blond hair was swapped to one side, his light green eyes analyzing us.

"It better not be a trap," Sasuke said in a threatening, cold voice. We were still undercover, of course, but he knew who we were.

"This town is full of civilians, if we chose it it's to show we do not want to fight. Too many innocent lost their lives already."

"Well, at least we agree on that," I said firmly. He looked harshly at the ground. "So?"

"She wants to meet with you. I wasn't sure you'd figure out we'd be here, but she knew you would."

"The time remains the same?" He nodded.

"You'll understand why soon. I will communicate you the place later." He disappeared.

"We cant' let our guard down," I told Sasuke.

"I know."

Three day before the day, the shinobi started to leave town. There was something in the making then. Well, at least it would make it easier to meet with those two.

Also, a doctor appeared in the town center, helping civilians. Doctors and medicines were now prioritized for the war front, so it was lacking for civilians.

Of course Dai would do something like that.

Then, Sasuke brought back what I first thought was a stray dog, which was weird because...well Sasuke. But it was actually Guruko, one of Kakashi's ninken without his jacket and hitai-ate. That being said, he told us, once we were alone, that Kakashi wouldn't come as he was...spying on something.

I wasn't...I was worried, of course, but Kakashi could contact us easily if whatever he was doing turned wrong, so it should be okay.

The day finally came. It was in a little restaurant in a back alley, which you would not see immediately if you were not from there. Dai was not with us but was nearby. Only Sasuke was with me, in case they were trying to screw us over so that he could use his sharingan.

They both had cloaks on. Kurotsuchi raised her head to me, showing me how tired and stressed she was. Dark bags were under her eyes and her cheeks seemed more hollow than before, her skin paler.

I knew the war front changed me but...in her, the change was too drastic to be normal.

"You came," she whispered faintly in the deemed-lighted room.

"We were not a hundred percent sure...I'm glad our hunch was right." More like thanks Kakashi and his observation skills. I sat down in front of her and put one of my arm on the table between us, crossing my legs on my right. "So, you'd be in big troubles if people knew you were meeting with the Frozen Flash of the Mist in secret." She smirked faintly.

"You have many flashy nicknames." I rolled my eyes.

"Don't I know that already." The corner of her lips fell.

"My grandfather lost it." I raised a brow. "I mean, allying ourselves to Ame was weird, knowing the Akatsuki, an organization Deidara-nii was a part of," 'Deidara-nii'? "is in Ame is even worst and now they're just using dead people to fight, it's…" She looked at me in the eyes. "It's not what our village is about, it's not who we are." I crossed my arms and laid back in my chair. "I don't understand why he keeps doing this when it tarnishes everything we ever stood for. He's turning a blind eye on the people who are sick of this and…" She sighed. "We're not going to win this war at this rhythm."

"You sure won't." She pursed her lips. "We got to see with our own eyes how the situation is. "Civilians will soon run out of basic necessities. I mean, in a shinobi village they're still here to run things on a basic scale, but on the scale of a country, your village will run dry on basic stuff in no time if they start to revolt." I frowned. "Can't your Daimyo do something?"

"He tried, but the Tsuchikage just ignores him," the man said.

"Kazuyuki!"

"It's true! If you want them to help us then might as well admit they're our last chance!"

"Your last chance?" Sasuke repeated coldly.

"Is the Land of Earth really going to reach the point of no return if it keeps doing what it's been doing for the past five...no, six months now?" It was February. War started last September.

It seemed so long ago.

"Yes," Kurotsuchi admitted in defeat. "It is that bad." I shared a look with Sasuke.

"You better have something in mind, we risked a lot by coming here." She blinked in surprise.

"Yes, we do have a plan." I looked at her expectantly. "Stop my grandfather by force." I bit the inside of my cheek.

If, almost ten years ago now, someone had told me that telling Shisui Danzou was going to steal his eye would lead to Kurotsuchi organizing a coup against the Third Tsuchikage, I would have laugh at the face of whoever was telling me this because these two things had nothing to do with each other.

Yet here we were.

"And where do we fit in there?"

"We're tired."

"So are we."

"Yes, but even if it pains me to admit, we don't have shinobi your caliber in Iwa. Or at least not as many. And I'm hoping if my grandfather sees we allied with you, then he'll realize how crazy all of this is."

"I see. But what do we get from this?" She frowned. I shrugged. "I get your you want the best for your village and country, but you waged war on us. You killed our shin…"

"You slaughtered our men in Taki!" Kazuyuki retorted with a scowl. I raised my finger at him.

"Yes. Because my brother who died at the age of eight was one of the reanimated shinobi, as well as my dead best friend who gave his life to get rid of my village from a tyrant. That's when I decided to stop holding back." He shut his mouth and Kurotsuchi clenched her jaw. "I didn't use the Hiraishin before and there was a reason to that that what happened in Taki completely blew to pieces." I folded my arms on my chest. "So, what do we get?"

"If it's a financial compensation you're looking for…" I smirked.

"Now, that can be done on a long period of time. No, I mean if we win, what do we get?" She exchanged a look with her man. "You don't seem used to negotiation. But the situation is too dire to get the best deal, so I'll ask for one thing."

"I'm listening." My smirk fell and I looked deep in her eyes.

"I want Oonoki to apologize himself, in person, to the Hokage, the Kazekage, and the Mizukage, for the death and useless bloodshed he caused because of his old belief and pride. I want him to say to their faces he was wrong." She smiled nervously.

"That is quite something you're asking for."

"I don't care, it's the least he can do. Ame wouldn't have waged war on its own if it wasn't for Iwa backing them up. All of that mess is on him and he better own up to it."

She took a deep breath, lips pursed. It was easy to see she was torn, after all it was basically admitting Iwa had a bad leadership and it was a huge blow to their pride.

That being said, we lost too many people so I couldn't care less.

"Alright," she accepted.

"Great!" I pulled a seal out of my pocket and handed it to Kazuyuki. "Here's this to seal the deal." He widened his eyes after a few seconds.

"That's...where did you…"

"I made it, it's not really complicated." He widened his eyes even more. "The seal's easy, you enter the condition of all parties involved and if it detects you didn't do you part, it will send a chakra wave to your heart that will...well, it'll stop beating."

"How would it even know…"

"How would a seal prevent someone to say things about a particular subject?" I retorted. "It's fair, I'll have one myself. Your guy knows Fuinjutsu, mine too, so what are we waiting for?"

As Sasuke applied the seal to my right wrist, Kazuyuki checking it after like Sasuke did to Kurotsuchi, I took a deep breath. It was such a shit show now that I was worried about how it would be with Obito later on.

We exchanged more information and we left.

Hopefully, it was time for the final act of this war.

Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought of this chapter! Thanks to mikan26 for the review!

Bye!