So, here is the promised Michiko's Perspective piece. After this, there is nothing more, nothing at all. But yeah, this made me very happy and proud and sad at the same time... so I don't really know what to say - except, I hope you enjoyed this overly long escapade, and I love you for sticking with me until the end!

The Final Chapter - Michiko's POV

"What the hells do you two think you're doing?" she demanded. Honestly. They were like children; leave them alone for a while and they started to bicker amongst themselves and beat the snot out of each other.

She sorely wished she could observe the brief expressions of panic she was sure flitted over their non-corporeal faces, but it couldn't be helped. It made her scowl deepen, which was only augmented when she barely heard one of them whisper to the other. It must have been Deidara, because she didn't pick up any accompanying thoughts. Sure enough, there was a spike when said other responded, which meant neither of them wanted her to hear what they had to say.

"Well?" she added, stopping not too far from where she'd heard the whisperings. "I'm still waiting for an answer." The silence she received made her set her mouth into a slight frown.

"Um, just… settling something, finally," Itachi muttered. Finally was right! At least she'd finally gotten an answer, though it was hardly understandable. She tried reaching into his mind to get some more information, but he was steadfastly blocking her normal entrance. And her backdoor. Ah well, it didn't really matter; she could guess what they were up to.

"This 'something' wouldn't have anything to do with me, now would it?" she inquired with acid politeness. She knew from the off feeling she was getting she'd be here for a while, so she relaxed and carried her weight on one leg, naturally causing her opposite hip to jut out slightly.

She wasn't quite as upset about this new silence as the last, but only because she could tell it was a hesitation, not an escape attempt. When Itachi actually responded it sounded more like he was asking her approval on the subject instead of telling her about it. That was probably because he guessed she already knew what he was going to say and not actually looking for new information.

"Um, actually, it kind of sort of maybe does…?"

The confirmation still made her sigh. Why was it so hard to get a simple answer from him?

'Because he doesn't know he's being difficult,' Jurag interrupted. He can't help it: he's just a guy.'

'So are you," she retorted incredulously.

'Yes, but he's human.' She admired his ability to give the word "human" the same inflection as "cockroach".

'You make a valid point,' she conceded, if a little ungraciously. 'But my point is I didn't ask for your input.'

'Temper, temper,' he muttered as he backed off. 'Watch out it doesn't affect your judgment.'

More than exasperated with the other demon voice in her head, Michiko turned her attention back to Itachi, who felt like he was waiting for her to respond. "And why am I just now finding out?" She leaned back slightly and crossed her arms, settling in to her position.

"Um… because we didn't want to bother you?"

"Really, it wouldn't have been a bother," she informed him brusquely. The excuses they came up with…! "What is it you wanted to settle?" She was getting tired of his delayed responses that started uniformly with "um", and started tapping her foot impatiently. If he said "um" one more time…

"Um… – "

Michiko was about to lash out at him when both of them were interrupted by Deidara's muted interjection:

"Which of us do you prefer? Who do you actually love?"

Finally, a solid response! Albeit, a stupid question, but at least there wasn't anything hidden in it. She gave him a quizzical glance and answered.

"Itachi."

Even she was a little surprised at the amount of "duh" in her tone, but it didn't come as much of a shock.

Surely he had known that, right? After Itachi had come back there had been no question of what would happen, had there? He had to have realized she would go back to Itachi, without a doubt. Wait… He must have known Itachi was back before she did, because Leader liked to discuss that sort of stuff with everyone. Except he had not thought to invite her to tag along because he probably knew even then that she would no longer need him if Itachi returned. So he had purposefully kept her from finding out.

"…But…" he mumbled, sounding racked with pain. "But you said you loved me…?"

"I recall no such thing," she snapped, now upset that he would have kept such vital information from her. And technically that was the truth, but –

Her thought was interrupted when she felt a sudden tingle around her neck and back, and probed to find Itachi behind her, hugging her neck subserviently.

'I knew you'd pick me,' he told her triumphantly. 'I know you love me.'

"But it was implied…" Deidara mumbled, interrupting her when she was about to respond to Itachi. His "but" complex was beginning to annoy her as much as Itachi's "um" addiction.

"Key word there being 'lied'," she retorted.

"But you loved me…" he insisted morosely. "It was you, and me, and I love you, and you loved me…"

She was about to say something to clear that up when Itachi interrupted her.

'I think he gets it, Mich.'

'What makes you say that?'

'He's using the past tense.'

She hadn't noticed that, but she wasn't about to tell him. 'So? Obviously he doesn't get it, or he would have shut up by now!' She didn't leave him alone, but she didn't go quite as hard on him as she could have.

"Not really. It wasn't really… real love. It was more like… physical love."

'Physical love?' Itachi demanded, frowning at her mentally.

'What? Did you expect me to outright lie? Because it was physical, if you want a detailed description –'

'No, no, that's okay,' he grumbled quickly. 'I just didn't expect you to have moved on so immediately after my death…'

'Not now,' she snapped back at him. 'This conversation right now is about making sure Deidara knows there is no longer a triangle for him to be a part of.'

"No it wasn't," the aforementioned grumbled at her. "It was real. But the second he came back, it wasn't there anymore. I just woke up and you were gone…"

"Deidara, exactly what is it that you're not getting about this?" she asked with the aim of making sure he knew he was being stupid. "You only ever even got a chance to think that because Itachi was dead."

He seemed to accept this, because he didn't say anything. Michiko was just turning to smirk victoriously at Itachi when he dashed that hope with a strangled mutter.

"It did… It felt so real…"

'…Is he… talking to himself?' Michiko asked cautiously, as if he could have hear her.

'I don't think so…' Itachi mused.

"It wasn't," she informed him crisply. "I was just venting my romantic frustrations on you. Because Itachi was dead. I needed somebody…"

And she had needed somebody. How else was she supposed to explain that without confusing the issue? Because she had loved him, however briefly, and had continued to do so. The real problem wasn't that she didn't love him, just that she loved Itachi more. But could she have communicated that without giving him some sort of strangled hope? No. He was like some sort of puppy that continued to love her no matter how hard and often she kicked it, wagging its tail brokenly and staring up at her with its sad little heartfelt puppy eyes. It would have been cruel to give him hope and then have to kick him down again.

"But the reason Itachi died…" he burbled. "Before he was dead, you kissed me. Me. And you loved me."

Ah, she was caught there. But why had that happened in the first place? Michiko quested around her mind, searching for the answer. How could she stretch the truth to fit the lie she'd created for him…?

"Again, Deidara; venting. I was just pissed about…" she faked a thoughtful pause and tilted her head back, shivering when the tingle enveloped her face. "What was it again?"

"I don't remember," Itachi replied offhandedly.

"Well, anyway, I was just pissed. It wasn't really something real… It was more of a fuck-off kiss." Which was half true. She had been pissed, about… something… And it had been a fuck-off kiss. But it had been real, too. Just not real enough.

"…You were telling me to fuck off?" He sounded so hopelessly confused she could have laughed.

"No, I was telling Itachi to fuck off."

"So… you wanted him to walk in on us…?"

She winced on the inside. "Us" implied a package, some sort of couple-ness. "Let's not use the term 'us', but yes. You see, it was more to incite an argument. We seem to come together best after an argument… But then somebody just had to go off and kill himself!"

It was true; arguments were good for them. For one thing, after all their arguments they always had to do a lot of making up. A lot of good making up.

"I don't see why I should have to apologize," Itachi muttered mutinously. "I mean, how was I supposed to know you were just taunting me? I have to admit it looked pretty real from my perspective, too."

Michiko wilted. "But how could you even think that could have been real?" she asked defensively.

"…Um, you're a good actress?"

"Thanks, but flattery will get you nowhere," she scolded, laughing at him.

"…So I was just a point of conflict?" Deidara asked, insinuating himself back into the conversation.

Michiko sighed; this was getting too deep. She was afraid she would get her facts mixed up somewhere and the whole thing would be up, cat out of the bag, no holds barred. "Yeah, pretty much. Although I'd be lying if I said I hadn't enjoyed it tremendously. I mean, kudos to you, but still, most of that came from the thrill."

"The thrill?" She held back a small laugh when both of them demanded this of her, except Itachi bypassed her ears and went straight into her mind.

"Well, yes," she lied in answer to them both. "Most of my participation came from my knowing that I was successfully luring you into a position of complacent feeding."

She could have laughed at herself. Psh, feeding? That had been part of it, but what had the actual thrill come from? Well, it hadn't been the blood. …Why the hells did he have to be such a damn good kisser? Something about the way he handled her that made her want to try and outdo his performance…

He still hadn't responded. She sneered at him. "Shall I use small words, so even you can understand? I just wanted you to think you were getting something out of it, because I just wanted someone I could feed off of without complaining. And now I have to go back to the rabbits, thanks to you two."

She was, indeed, a good liar. The trick was always weaving a lesser fact into it, which made it more believable. Like she was mad about the rabbits, but as long as she had added something that even seemed like a lesser fact it would have been okay.

"It could have been anyone," he muttered after a pause. He was trying to sound indifferent, but instead he came across as broken. It made her want to hug him, except that wouldn't have been a good idea at that point.

"Not necessarily," she consoled. Then she realized she sounded too nice and went on. "You made the most inviting target because I didn't know of anyone else who was so hopelessly infatuated with me I already had him wrapped around my finger. I didn't think anyone else would trip over himself just to be devoured."

"…But –"

Argh, she had softened up on him too much in the last argument! She had given him hope! Again! Dammit, how mean could she get, lifting him up a little only to get him to a state in which he required more tearing down?

"Deidara, what part of this do you not understand?!" she demanded, forcing anger into her tone when she really wanted to cry with frustration. "I don't love you! I never loved you!" she lied, jumping from one thought to the next like someone leapfrogging across small stones set in lava that sank if they were stood on too long. "You were my toy, something to amuse me! You were my emotional punching bag, except you enjoyed the punches!"

'Michiko, I think he gets it now…' Jurag noted carefully, failing to interrupt her.

"Itachi died and I needed a substitute, and you were closest thing I could get! Of course my feelings were taken into account, because once he was back all the dynamics changed! I didn't need you anymore, and what was that whole mature thing you had about backing off?!"

'Michiko, Michiko stop, you're hurting him…'

"Was that some sort of diversion and you were plotting something all along?! I actually liked you for a while there, when you were being… normal, and I liked talking to you! I thought you were my friend, like my best friend!"

'Michiko…!'

"And then you ruin it! I don't even wanna be your friend anymore, you screw everything up!" She was actually having to consciously keep herself from crying at this point, she hated herself so much. "Why don't you just disappear?!"

The silence that followed was hollow, because she was beating herself inside her head.

Why did you let it escalate? Why did you let it get to this point, when you had to thoroughly destroy him? Little whore, leading him on all this time until you couldn't take it anymore, and then killing all semblance of hope he had left. So easily swayed, nothing would have happened if you had just stayed with him.

But I didn't think about it. Both of them loved me I didn't want to have to pick… And then when I had to it was too late to have anything left, no vestige of friendship, even…

'Michiko, Michiko quick say something, say you didn't mean it say something!' Jurag exclaimed, sounding more than a little panicked.

'Why…?' she whined, reluctantly pulling herself a short ways away from her self-induced hate/misery.

'Michiko he's going, he's going…!"

'Good,' she grunted over mental tears. 'I don't wanna have to hurt him again.'

'Michiko! Michiko he's… gone,' he added bitterly.

She noticed something off about his reaction. Everything would be less complicated and thus easier for Jurag, so why did he sound like he hated her, too?

'…What do you mean?'

'He's faded, Michiko. Gone. Rubbed out like an old sketch with a new eraser. He did what you suggested: he disappeared.' He wouldn't say anything else.

She paused. She had already been paused before, but now she put her life on hold.

What? …What…?

Itachi brought her back.

"That was harsh," he murmured in her ear. It seemed like he was going to add something, but by this point Michiko had lost the control to keep up the barrier around her mind that kept him from having access to her surface thoughts, and they were all spilling out.

"It's not your fault," he assured her, hugging her closer.

"Yes it is," she returned, the first tear making its staggered way down the curves of her face. "I could have fixed this before it even started," she sobbed, turning in his immaterial embrace and crying into him as he became slightly more solid, just for her. So she could cry into the hollow where his neck met his shoulder, like she had before he died.

"Michiko, he was already more than a little unstable," he insisted quietly, holding her more tightly than before, as hard as he could without pulling her straight into him.

"It's all my fault," she whispered, more to herself than him. "Such a horrible person…"