~Before we begin this one, a quick word. I love this idea. But using this one for KK is not possible, because I refuse to make things this convenient. No way. So, this one is out. And I honestly love this one. I'm very glad I forced myself to go the serious route instead of crack, because it works so well.

Alas, this one can never be.

Warning: spoilers if you haven't read chapter 20 yet. Don't let yourself miss out!

Time: hypothetical (several weeks after the Chūnin Exam in Kiri)

Naka Forest, Uchiha Compound, Konoha. Eight years after Kyūbi.

I shivered, but not because of the cold. Hundreds of leaves danced in this forest, all courting a final rest with the predecessors under my wary feet. The forest whispered around me as I paused to touch one of the rough, beautiful trees. They were solid. Not fickle like the water tugging at my hearing. Stable. Kind. I breathed in the promises of the trees and heard their branches tremble in the lazy breeze.

Since the trees were not the reason I was here, I moved on. The water pulled me upstream until the ripples were nearly drowned out by the greed of a waterfall. The rushing, tumbling water was gorgeous. I wasn't here because of the waterfall, either, but this was where I stayed. I sat at the very edge of the cliff and watched shards of liquid diamond pour into the river below. The view was mesmerizing.

What I saw was not.

This was the same river Shisui had died in as he gave his eye to Itachi.

This was the last view Shisui would have.

This was the place where my friend would say goodbye to the world. The Shisui who had trolled me, and taken me exploring, and kept stalking my henges in Konoha—he would die.

And so even though I was only here because I'd found a note in my school lunch, even though evening began to approach—I sat here and watched the marbled reflections in the water far below. For a friend I couldn't keep forever, I would wait. I would wait for Itachi when the time came, and this was part of it.

For my friends. . . .

"You waited," Shisui said from behind me.

I roused myself from my pointless thoughts and couldn't fight back the sudden smile. "I've always waited for you, Sparkles-san. You're my special secret teacher." I stood up, ready for some jibe at my cuteness or something more embarrassing.

Instead, my throat choked on a gasp.

Pain darted through his face. "I'm sorry, Kana," he said. "I'd hoped to spare you, but there's no time."

How . . . was it sunset already? His eye. The rest of him. The agony I saw. Had seen. Saw in front of me now.

"Itachi's out of the village," Shisui explained, feeding my horror. "When he comes back, I need you to tell him that it was too late. He can explain the Mangekyō to you, but my Sharingan has a genjutsu called Kotoamatsukami that makes people do whatever I want without being aware of it. I tried to use it, but Danzō took my right eye. He doesn't trust me."

I felt like the world had turned to stone. "Shisui—Shisui-san. Are you saying you tried to—that because the village—sake of—" A helpless wail began to build in my throat, blocking all attempts at speech. I didn't recognize the sensation.

He crouched down and put a hand on my shoulder. "It seems I've underestimated you after all, my young friend. Yes, I decided to stop the coup to avoid invasion. I love this village and my family, but my duty is to more than a clan. Itachi told me you see the village the same as we do. Is this true?"

An image flashed through my head of having to sacrifice Kato and I couldn't find the strength to nod. But I knew. Like my father, I knew that while love went far, love went beyond family or one person. If . . . if only Kakashi were in the village right now. But he wasn't. Itachi wasn't. I nodded shakily and returned Shisui's red-eyed gaze.

Shisui's eye flickered. "You're so young, Kana. I'm so sorry. But I need you to promise me."

The wail threatened to escape, and I was sorely tempted to let it.

"Promise me that you will stay far from the clan after this. Itachi will seek you out. But you will not associate with the clan in any way. Do you promise?"

I was a one-trick pony, but I nodded. Goodbye to Shisui. Goodbye to Kiyomi and Sasuke. Goodbye to Mikoto and the clan that held my chakra in their hands.

"Good," he said. "Now, will you accept my eye?"

Oh, Daddy was going to kill me when he got home. But what else could Shisui do?

I nodded.

When he took his hand from my shoulder, I froze in expectant horror. But instead of reaching for his eye, he put his hands together. Now the wail escaped my mouth. The sorrow I heard, the hopelessness. I reached for Shisui with my eyes because the rest of me was incapable.

Shisui looked back like a man burning a bridge with his enemies and his wife on the other side. "I'll numb you before I start. You won't feel anything."

What had felt like stone now turned into a black hole that threatened to tear me apart. Reality ripped and shredded. Shisui wasn't a dense man. He tried to blunt the fear.

"I trust you, Kana. We could have been close friends one day. I respect the dream you hold deep within you and I give you this gift to help fulfill it. My eye cannot fall into the wrong hands, and without Itachi here, you are the only one I trust with it. I know who you are, Kana. I know who you will become. You and I are alike.

"Without Itachi to protect the eye, I have no way to keep it from Danzō. You do. You are Hatake-san's daughter and unless I've lost my touch, the daughter of the Mizukage. Danzō cannot touch something that is a physical part of you. The Hokage or Hatake-san might have given him my eye, but he's powerless to take it from you while they protect you.

"My eye might make you a target, but you will be able to use it as well as any Uchiha. Your chakra will stabilize. You will have immense power because of it. It's a gift, Kana. Will you accept it?"

I wanted to touch my right eye one last time, but my body was still largely frozen. I nodded.

"Thank you," he said gravely. He flashed through a series of handseals and laid his hands on my shoulders. I lost every scrap of feeling in my entire body (except for the frantic disbelief). "Close your eyes," he murmured gently.

I couldn't feel. But my hearing still maintained its tenacious hold on my life, and I heard his fingers brush softly against my skin in a sad caress. His other hand braced the back of my head.

And then . . . inside my own head. The. There. I heard a glass vial pop open and phlunk shut.

He . . . his own eye, next, and then he pushed it into. . . .

Painfully wet hands slid together in a healing jutsu and hovered over my face. Cloth came from somewhere and rubbed carefully. "You can open them now," he said.

I. Did. Not. Want. To.

But I opened them, and apart from slightly fuzzier vision in my right eye, I noticed nothing. Just Shisui's sad, comforting face. "Is it activated?" he asked.

I shook my head before I remembered that he was blind. I tried to take a breath.

"I don't need to see you to see that," he said wryly, lips twitching up. "But I taught you how the Uchiha use the Sharingan. Activate it."

The instant that clan genjutsu came to mind, my right eye sprang to life. I staggered. Shisui caught me before I got a firsthand view of the river. The world had turned to colors and it was complete now as my vision melded with my hearing. Shisui's heartbeat was a color, a sound, and a truth. A law of the universe. Behind him, the world was a kaleidoscope of certainty.

"Good," he said. He smiled at me painfully. "You'll remember this forever now. It's a burden and a blessing. But let me give a message to my cousin." He aged another decade in that pause. But he smiled into his Sharingan and spoke.

"Itachi, you are my closest friend. By this point, you'll know that my gift to you is the Mangekyō. Please don't refuse it, it's my dying wish. I can see your face, you know. Worry doesn't look good on you. You must always remain calm, my friend. That's what Uchiha Itachi is. I know you can do this. So don't worry. It'll be fine.

"From now on, your path will be filled with pain and suffering. I apologize, Itachi, that I can't walk through it with you. Still, even though your path will be long and dark, I have faith that you won't falter and will move forward as a Leaf ninja. I believe in you. That's why I can ask you to carry on my will . . . and the Mangekyō.

"Thank you . . . for everything. I guess this is the end of my path, but this will pave a new road for you, with new power." He faltered and turned away. "Well, Itachi . . . the time has come. Make a new way for yourself with your own hands. Y—"

I launched myself into his chest and buried my face in his collar, sobbing. He hugged me back fiercely. "Take care of Kana," he continued, voice forcing itself to stay steady. "She has my eye now and it's your responsibility to teach her to use it. Danzō must never find out that she has my eye. Keep . . . let her make her own path. She shares my will, too.

"I . . . believe in you. I know you can do it. My best friend."

Shisui removed me slowly. "Listen, Kana. The numbing jutsu will wear out soon. Once it does, you need to mimic Itachi's chakra and appearance and go home. Promise me that, too."

By some miracle, I could do more than nod. "But—"

"Promise me."

I slogged through the mud in my brain. "Remove it now. If—" no amount of mud could spare me from that— "if I can't handle it, I shouldn't be—"

Shisui frowned, but his hands found my shoulders and my head erupted in pain. "I—" I struggled to keep both of his faces in sight. "Okay," I said after a few minutes. "I'm good. It's still activated."

He couldn't hide the relief (if Itachi didn't see Shisui die, the Mangekyō might never activate). "I'll see you, friends," Shisui whispered. "I leave the rest . . . to you."

I watched him fall, and I watched him stab himself. I would never forget it. Any of it. Not now, not forever. I would forever remember the sound of my own eye being ripped out, and I would remember the desperation and devotion and regret.

But . . . I had the ability to hide the Sharingan for the rest of my life. I could hide it to whatever extent I wished.

I couldn't hide it from Itachi.

I couldn't. Itachi.

A million sparkling diamonds shattered on the face of the water below, and every single one of them would never touch the light of the sun.

~The end.

Oh, yes, I went there. Now please, please give me your thoughts. Right now. Reread anything that stood out to you and type your thoughts into that review box before they disappear!

This was toward the dark end, but I think Kana is a naturally anti-dark narrator. But boy, think of the eye exchange bit and what damage that would do to someone with enhanced hearing that's so much a part of them. I was even going to describe it . . . but google searching what that sounds like brought me to an absolutely nightmare fuel news article and I couldn't force my fingers to write it. Side note, that same(ish) dialogue happens with Shisui and Itachi, and you should go watch it. YouTube's title is "Shisui's speech to Itachi - Naruto Shippuden." Google searching will bring it up first.

Thoughts gone now? Good. Guess what my favorite typo was in this one? "My duty is to more than a clam." *snickers* *snickers at your pain* As a less painful reflection, I didn't noticed that I'd used "sparkling" in that last sentence until just now. Oh, the feels.

Review reply for the anonymous: Guest (I aim to please!)

So, so many reasons this plot could have conceivably happened. I talked a friend's ear off with a whole walkthrough of them the other day. But.

This one was fated to never happen . . . because no, I am not giving Kana a Sharingan. Hello, over-powered! Not in this fic, thank you. Now, if you're really upset, you are free to write a continuation yourself. Go for it. No takers? *snickers* Hehe, takers. Takers of the Shar . . . enough talking from me. Time for me to be Sharingan!

(Don't blame me. You read that bad pun with your own eyes. Eyes. . . .)