So it's the penultimate chapter... Thanks to the people who have supported me so far. I'm really glad I've been able to make it this far! Enjoy and review. :)

Chapter 19- Those Who Endure

Who was who didn't matter anymore. Kana's background was completely irrelevant to the shinobi of the Leaf, who instead now focused on preparing for the upcoming battle. The Leaf was a hub of activity, with people bustling around day and night, wandering in wait for the onslaught. Shikamaru really was amazing; he had- along with his equally impressive father- considered all scenarios when constructing a battle plan, so much so, that Kana didn't feel the need to be there most of the time. Sai was fair company, and Hajime continued to watch over her like a hawk, albeit a kind one. Kakashi was so overrun with things to do that he rarely had time for her, but would always drop in unexpectedly for dangos and a chat. The high spirits were everywhere, but forced by all. It was almost as if they were trying to enjoy the little time they had left. People weren't stupid. They all knew that not everyone would emerge from this alive.
No-one talked about that though. Morale had to be high if they were going to win this, and Kana was determined they would. She'd do it for Itachi.

The sun rose far too quickly on the seventh day after Kana's return. She woke in a complete daze, sore and heavy. Yesterday had been particularly busy. The tent she slept in let in too much light, making her squint at the unpleasant sight upon first waking up. Yawning, she rubbed her eyes and threw off the covers. After checking that none of the males in the tent were awake, she pulled on her new uniform: the mail vest followed by a navy long-sleeved top and trousers, covered by the trademark khaki flak jacket. The laborious task of wrapping white bandages around her ankles was hastily avoided, so she slipped on her boots. Sandals were troublesome. She smirked at the remembrance of that phrase that Shikamaru used so often.

"Geez…" she muttered wryly, "I should stop brooding so much. I guess Itachi can take the blame for that trait."

Things were playing on her mind too much, like there was an insect ticking around her brain, reminding her of all her problems as soon as she started to forget about them and relax.

"Oh? You're up, Kana."

She blinked and leaned over to see who it was. "Kakashi, you're awake?"

"Of course. I do have plenty to do today, after all."

"I think we all do. Don't you sense the threat in the air?" She shuddered. "I can feel it now. There's less space to breath."

"I hope your hunch is wrong," he said darkly. "I'm going to take care of some business. Wake Hajime and go out for food or something. I don't want you alone. You don't like not having people around you, right?"

"Shut up!" she snapped, blushing. "I can't help the way I am."

Kakashi, whom she noticed was already dressed, got up and flapped open the tent, heading outside. What he actually did was a mystery to her. He'd probably gone out to read his perverted books, or play another game with that ridiculously outrageous friend of his, Might Guy. Or… - she remembered- he had gone to the graveyard to see that friend of his who died. She'd only recently found that out.

"Oh well. Guess I'd better wake lazy bones up."

She crawled over to Hajime, realising she had never actually seen him asleep up close, without his headband on. Curiously, she craned over and saw a blue symbol branded all over his forehead that made her shiver. This was his curse mark, then? No wonder he wanted it covered.

"Hey, Hajime… wake up. Come on now, get up," she said, tapping his shoulder a little shyly. "Come on. I won't wait here all morning."

He grumbled quietly before opening those lavender eyes and blinking himself into conscious existence. That was him awake, then. He wasn't so good in the mornings, not the best person at waking up. She wondered why he didn't sleep in the tents of the Hyuuga clan. Surely he'd feel more comfortable there and be able to get more sleep, and then wake up properly. Maybe it wasn't right to delve.

"Kana?"

"Good, you're awake. Hajime… I'm sensing some sort of tension in the air. Could you check the surrounding areas out with your byakugan? I've got a bad feeling."

"I've just woken up."

"Tough!" She sighed, "Please, for me."

He shook his head in defeat and concentrated his chakra. "Byakugan!" he muttered. With his eyes shut- but Kana knew he could see- he scanned the area she had asked him to. Occasionally his head jerked to the side, or his eyebrows laced in concern, but he remained relaxed.
So at least they weren't coming today.

"Crap," he said in a low voice. "This is really bad."

Kana's heart plummeted. "What?"

"They're coming. They're heading in this direction. At this rate, they will be here in less than an hour."

Kana had learnt that, over time, if ninjas went on many missions and dealt with countless tough situations, they were calm in a crisis. Apparently one of the Leaf's ninja rules was that shinobi never show their tears, or emotions for that matter.

Hajime's voice was detached and hollow, like he was holding back his dread.

"Less than an hour?" Kana breathed. "Quick! Get your ass out of bed. We have to tell everyone, and fast. Come on, or we'll never win this thing!"

I'll get to see Itachi one last time.

"You're right."

"Supreme commander of shinobi: Kakashi!"

"I'm here."

"Captain of the medical corps: Shizune. Vice-captain: Sakura Haruno!"

"We're right here!"

"Leaders of the intelligence corps: Shikaku and Shikamaru Nara!"

"Yeah."

"Captain of the sensory division: Hiashi Hyuuga! Vice-captain Hajime Hyuuga!"

"Yes."

"…Well, that does it with the new line-ups for now," Kana said awkwardly. She eyed the regimented lines of troops, all stood waiting. "Before this thing starts, I want to thank you all for trusting me. I really feel like I've come back home now. I don't think any of you know this, but I was born an Uchiha, and was raised away from the village far away from here with a different family. The old prejudices might still stand, but I want you all to know I'll fight for my home as hard as you will."

"That certainly came as a shock," someone said. "But we don't really mind. Let's go and kick some butt, okay?"

"Yeah," she said, smiling. "Let's go."

Whoever put her in charge of the whole damned operation was out of their mind, but somehow she was grateful. At least this way, she had a chance of proving herself even further.

They were stationed at set points around the perimeter of the village, with Kana being closest to the gates alongside her most trusted comrades. Izumo and Kotetsu were with her, too, and had a habit of saluting to her whenever she looked over to see how they were doing. Naruto Uzumaki- whom she still mockingly knew as the 'kyuubi brat'- stood by her as well. Being surrounded with people she trusted was good, but she was still waiting for that one person to come, so she could free him from the edo tensei.

As if on cue, his chakra entered the vicinity of her sensory range.

She muttered uncertainly, "Mangekyou sharingan." Suddenly, her eyes felt warm, with energy surging through it a million times more than normal. It was as if she could really see everything. How ironic, that this was the way Itachi had lost his eyesight.

Someone from the sensory unit called out in panic, "They're here! Everyone get ready! There's about a hundred of them. Not many compared to us, but considering who they are… Seriously, just be prepared!"

Kana reached behind herself and crept her fingers around the silver kunai in her pack. When adrenaline courses through your system, the world around you seems to move in slow motion, and you are able to perceive more threats than before, to take it all in, and the same was for Kana. She could see everyone getting ready, just like she was, and tell where all the separate chakras were, and think of her next actions.

Her four tomoe sharingan was not needed right now. It was in a separate category to the other parts of sharingan and a phenomenon that no-one understood. All she knew was that if it was released anymore, the seal would definitely break and not be repairable. The mangekyou was her only option. Was it right to simply bypass the average sharingan and go straight to mangekyou? Who knew? Maybe it was just another feature, or perk, rather, of the four tomoe sharingan.

"Kana, what is that?!" Kakashi exclaimed, staring at her eyes.

"It's something Itachi gave me, that's all," she replied.

"If you're using yours, then I will use mine as well." Sure enough, when Kakashi raised his forehead protector up, it revealed a complicated mangekyou pattern between that large scar. "It isn't fair that you get all the glory, kid."

"Shut up, Kakashi!"

"Concentrate, Kana. They're here."

They hit like a hurricane. The mangekyou seemed pointless, actually. What was the use of having such good eyes if she was too slow to hit her target?

The powerful shinobi cast the elemental jutsu at every turn. Soon, mud became rivers, trees were burned to the ground and the sky turned black with the rising heat. Kana swallowed and cast the phoenix flower jutsu, which rained down upon the screaming throng of undead shinobi. Encouraged, she did so again, coughing at the gathering smoke around her face.

"Maybe I should try something different."

She extracted a handful of razor sharp shuriken and quickly stuck numerous explosive tags around the blades. Praying for a miracle, she tossed them into the space ahead and heard a score of irritated yells. After making sure they were indeed enemies, this action was repeated.

"Kana," Hajime yelled. "We're losing shinobi on the far side of the village! You had better go and help."

"I will!"

"I'll join you!"

"Thanks!"

They ran full speed to the place where the shinobi were dying, and Kana immediately knew why.

"Oh my…" she whispered amongst the noise.

"What is it, Kana?"

"It's Itachi! Itachi, over here!"

She near enough dragged Hajime over to her sensei, whose eyes were bleeding, inverted with the familiar pattern of his own mangekyou sharingan. He blinked in recognition and was about to say something, when his face suddenly went blank.

"Itachi, what's wrong?"

"I'm… not in control of my… movements… Stay back, I tell you," he said in a strained voice.

"This is Itachi Uchiha?" Hajime breathed. "The one who murdered his clan?"

"Amaterasu."

"RUN!" Kana cried, and pushed Hajime out of the way. The black flames caught her jacket, which she flung off in a panic, her heart pounding.
This was the real deal. Itachi was serious. He was under almost full control of the edo tensei. How the hell was she supposed to get him out of that? She knew no genjutsu at all. Remembering that time when he had badgered her about practicing her genjutsu, she bitterly wished she had listened.

The familiar voice of Izumo got nearer and nearer. "Kana! Status report: Most of the edo tensei shinobi have been dealt with and sealed. There remained only Itachi Uchiha here, and… the masked man."

"Thanks," she said breathlessly, and turned back to Itachi, who watched her with scrutinising eyes. Think… thank back to those sparring sessions you had. Didn't you always have the upper hand in taijutsu? The total powerhouse, that's me.

She launched herself at him and flew her hand out in a chopping action. Itachi narrowly dodged and formed a fire sign at the speed of light. This could quickly be nullified with…

"Water style, flowing rapids jutsu!"

Immediately, Itachi's fire jutsu was washed out with pools of water from Kana's fingers. She continued the physical assault, kicking out into a random place and managing to hit him clean in the ribs. He doubled over, clutching himself.

"Impressive, Kana… You've really grown. I'm more powerful that you, think, though…" This wasn't a boast. She could sense the worry in his voice.

"It's true," she panted, "Most of the time I spent with you, you were ill. Get away, Hajime!"

He obeyed, jumping back.

Bracing herself, she commanded, "Amater-"

"Stop."

This voice sent shivers down her spine. Itachi's movements were stopped, and they were almost nose to nose when she turned around to see a horribly familiar twist in the air. It pulsated and turned, and the shape of 'Tobi' worked into the air.

Hajime stepped back instinctively. Kana growled.

Tobi had a new mask. It was white and black, with two eye holes- this was not good- and it covered the top of his head too. Less playful than the trademark orange, the pure colours were far more menacing.

"It feels like such a long time since we've met, Kana Uchiha," Tobi greeted.

Kana spat on the floor. "I wish it had been longer."

"As promised, here is your friend. You did cooperate, after all."

Tobi put out his hand, and summoned someone back from the spiral that made Kana's heart leap with joy. Sai stumbled up from the ground, dazed and confused, and his black eyes eventually found Kana's.

"Sai!" she cried.

"What in the world happened to me?" he muttered.

"Never mind. Just get over here before he kills you!"

Sai silently obeyed. He went to stand by Kana and Hajime, who had now brought himself in line with her. Itachi's movements were still restricted and he remained stuck in a position opposing theirs.

"I'm back in the Leaf… With Itachi Uchiha, who is now alive… what the…"

"Sai, hush now. Killing this guy is more important. I'm sorry about all this, I really am."

"Yes."

She sighed. Still the same obedient guy, still sincere. It made sense that she was able to spend so much time around someone like him.

"So Tobi…" she said, "What would it take for you to stop this madness and release Itachi?"

"Nothing."

That dead tone of his voice was pretty firm.

"Damn you," Itachi sighed. "You have Kabuto working in the shadows to control my movements as and when you need it. A dirty trick, forcing me to raise my hand against my villagers once again. I'm sure that was part of your intentions all along, wasn't it?" There was no reply. "Very well. Kana, your four tomoe sharingan?"

"My what?"

"Use it to release my mind from the grips of this jutsu. You'll know how, when you concentrate."

"How the hell do you know about the abilities of something even I don't know? Besides, if I release my seal, I'll go berserk!"

"I will make sure that doesn't happen."

"I guess I'll have to trust in you then. That's never been a problem before, so it won't now."

It was easier, much easier that she had anticipated. She switched off the mangekyou and went back to black eyes, and dug around inside her chakra system for that place where she found a block. This block prevented her four tomoe from coming out, the place that disrupted her flow. It was like reaching inside with her hands and crushing to bits the barrier that sealed off her power.

Her eyes heated up again, and she felt herself losing.

"Kana, focus!" Itachi ordered. Tobi watched on in curiosity.

"I am!" she said through gritted teeth. "But I'll never get it if people keep talking to me."

She internally punched down the barrier, and all the power came flowing out at once. This time, however, it was very different. This wasn't dread or fury… It was joy. A fierce joy that made her starkly aware of everything around her.

This was it.

Tobi's mere observation had to switch to fighting now. He leapt back prepared to face her, with the sharingan that nobody knew the full capabilities of.

While Kana stared thunderously at her enemy, Itachi's lips made something tiny that resembled a proud smile.