This chapter is probably one of the deepest and longest chapters I have ever written, so enjoy.

Apart from that, I don't have anything much to say. Naruto isn't mine.

Also, in the original version of this chapter, I mentioned that a Tsunade oneshot would be up soon, based on her relationship with Jiraiya and Orochimaru the way its portrayed here. Undoubtedly, its been delayed a bit. I will post an announcement about its release the moment it is published.

Chapter 13

Of New Faith and Painful Revelations

Tsunade brooded as she looked into the cup of steaming green tea that quietly promised an inviting break, if only for five minutes, from the current hell that her life had become.

When she was younger, she had never desired such a job. All the young girl had wanted was to quietly live the rest of her life with Dan, looking out for Naoki and occasionally meeting at Ichiraku's to trade old stories with Jiraiya and Orochimaru. She had thought they would become just like the other veterans they saw around town – good-natured, healthy and hearty, living out their lives in peace and quiet.

Instead they had been trapped in a lure of power and lies, manipulated from all sides just so that their strength could be exploited. They had separated. Broken was their promise to always stay together, no matter what. They had betrayed, hurt, and lost the trust of anyone apart from themselves.

Tsunade hadn't lived a happy life for quite a number of years now. Losing Dan and Naoki during the Wars, then finding out about Orochimaru – it had hurt her deeply. Hiding her pain, she had moved to live as a recluse in the other countries, at least as much as possible, taking with her only Dan's niece, and only because he would have liked it. For many years they toured the countryside together, finding remedies for various illnesses, gambling (always losing, but never giving up). They had eventually even adopted a pig –Tsunade had always been of the belief that adopting any animal together was the sign of a deep trust and belief in the relationship with another person.

But still, she had been wary of returning to the village where she had grown up. Her views on it, in fact, were the only cloudy ones. Tsunade remained in a limited form of contact with both her teammates, making it unclear which side she was on. After losing so much in life, she didn't want to definitely estrange another person too, especially one who was so close to her. She preferred to be on the fence, straddling it instead of jumping into either of the gardens that surrounded her, creating a wall between her and the only people she loved forevermore.

Her love for Jiraiya and Orochimaru was equal, always. Jiraiya for her would always symbolize warm, sunny mornings at the pond, met with shiny smiles, half-hearted threats, and pure, passionate kisses followed by innocent declarations of everlasting love. It was a bright, lovely childhood memory, full of beauty and innocence and purity.

In contrast Orochimaru was like a dew-filled night, just before the dawn, when the mist clung to her and embraced her, enriching and enlivening her, coaxing her. It was full of whispered promises and muttered vows, exhilaration and passion, of embraces and words that clung to her, and lips that lingered on hers long after they were gone.

So she had drifted, with only Shizune and the pet pig to live for, roaming from one place to another, searching for new remedies to look young, gambling, and pretending to enjoy life. The truth was that she was miserable, and no one knew that, not even Shizune. She would rather die than let anyone know that she was discontented.

Then happiness had come in two forms – one pure, and the other unashamedly guilty, brought by both of her teammates.

On one end lay the chance to govern her birthplace, the place where she had lived and loved her Dan and Naoki, but also the place where she had lost them, and where she had been twisted and squeezed by the elders to create something for their own vicious benefit. On the other hand this was the chance to see the ones she loved most again, but with a catch – she would forever be the slave of one of her former lovers, at his disposal, to do whatever he wished of her.

On either side lay the hands of men who she had loved with a desperation akin to almost need in the past, and in both lay shiny baubles, gifts and visions of a gilded future that shone with brightness and prosperity. How she wished she could take them both! Life would be so perfect, then, having everything she had ever wanted – her teammates, her little brother, the man she loved, and her beloved village. It would be the end of a long tapestry of unhappiness. Surely, surely after having suffered this much, she had earned a right to live happily?

But even in her delusions, she knew that it could never happen. She could only have half of her dream, only one when she wanted two. Life wasn't fair.

Still, it was offering her one end. She would have the opportunity for at least half of what she had in the days of her youth, when she had been jubilant and filled with joy.

The choice, in the end, was not made by Tsunade, but for her, by a loud, arrogant boy who loved ramen and dreamed of being the next Hokage. His ambition, coupled with his initiative and drive, not to mention his enthusiasm and general love for life had – she would never admit it – inspired her, and for that she adored him. With the heart of a mother that ached from love and affection towards a child that had never existed, she filled it with that little smiling devil, whom she loved as if he were the centre of her universe.

Although she complained about her job a lot, Tsunade had never actually resented or disliked it. Sure, it had estranged her from someone who she had loved and most likely still did, and could only be given to her because of the death of another person she had loved, albeit in a different way. But it had also brought many new smiling faces into her life, and had filled it with honest-to-goodness hard work, laughter, smiles, and a sense of contentment that she had almost forgotten before.

She loved this whole village with all her heart, loved it with the heart of a mother and a patriot, as well as all the people in it; the strong, tight-knit community, the brave smiles they put on, their honesty and trust in one another and her. She treasured them – which was why she had tried to do what was best for them.

Tsunade had no grudge against Hinata. The affection she felt for her was like an aunt would towards her niece, in fact. But she loved her village more, and that was why one person had to be sacrificed for the village's collective well-being.

She knew that Hinata did not love Itachi, and probably never would, but for the common good, so that the village remained safe, they had to be together. They had to produce the ultimate defenders, the unbeatable shield that the village needed to survive. Akatsuki was growing stronger every day, and Tsunade wasn't stupid – she knew that if they decided to attack Konoha today, then some serious damage would be caused at the very least. The village needed a new, exclusive line of defenders that would bring about a whole new phase to both its physical strength and morale.

It didn't even have to be Hinata and Itachi. It could be any two random individuals from the Uchiha and the Hyuuga houses respectively, with an acceptable level of power, of course. But the two clans, being their usual pigheaded, power-toting selves, had demanded that the future heads of their respective families be used in the deal, selling both of them off to eagerly anticipate the outcome of a much-needed event.

She had supported the original petition when it had gone through, for medical purposes. Now she was doing it for the good of her village.

So why couldn't other people understand that?

Ever since the commencement of the project, privately named 'Reinforcement through Force' by her, she had faced nothing but difficulties with no sign of progress. First, the Hyuuga had decided to change their intended sacrifice, and had promptly replaced a highly accomplished and trained shinobi with a currently useless if potentially resourceful one, simply because one was better at taijutsu and genjutsu than the other. Next, the meetings that Tsunade had prescribed (she was no fool – she knew that even arranged marriage couples needed to have a small amount of intimacy between them if they were to accomplish their set task, and Hinata, being the shy waif she was, definitely needed to understand and appreciate Itachi more) were violated by an old hag whom Tsunade knew by personal experience to be disappointed in a former love affair and thus taking her fury out on everybody that was young and happy. She remembered an incident where the same old lady had caught her skinny-dipping with a boy at the stream near the Uchiha estate. In fact, if she remembered correctly, Jiraiya had also been present …

But now was no time to be thinking of days long past. It was time to concentrate on the future, and her plans for Konoha's safety.

That wretched old woman had turned this plan moot. Instead of learning to enjoy each others' company, it had become a painful exercise for both Itachi and Hinata to meet together. There was absolutely no progress.

And on top of that, this.

Tsunade stared at the sheaf of papers on her desk. It was a report pertaining to the activities of two unattached kids, following them, observing them, all compiled by the best shinobi, a man whom even Itachi Uchiha could not trace: Ibiki Morino. And it was precisely because this emotionless man was submitting the report that Tsunade believed what he was saying to be the truth. If anyone else had said so she would have dismissed it as a romantic fantasy of theirs.

But Morino didn't have a romantic bone in his body. All he reported was hard facts. And the result of that lay in several uncoordinated pages of the report he had submitted to Tsunade concerning two individuals.

...after an interlude of several days, Hyuuga seemed to be working seriously on her training once more, but this time joined by an unexpected visitor: the brother of the other party concerned, Uchiha Sasuke. The only previous interaction these two have had while under my watch was when Hyuuga nursed him back to health after the brawl between him and Uzumaki. No reports of previous interaction from the locals either. However, he has joined her every day in practice and seems to be training her…

…the Hyuuga girl and the Uchiha boy are together constantly, even if they do not seem to be aware of each other beforehand. They meet for training everyday despite the weather and part soon after, but frequently encounter one another at community get-togethers organized by their friends. Nothing but small chit-chat and greetings are exchanged. There seems to be no design in this…

…judging by his actions, the Uchiha obviously has an ulterior motive in meeting with the Hyuuga. His interactions with her have now become more personal, and when they come across each other at social gatherings, he makes an effort to spend more time with her, although this feeling does not seem to be reciprocated on her end. The girl has loosened up considerably near the boy, but this could be a result of merely being in each other's company while training for service to the Village…

…there is no doubt left in my mind that the Uchiha boy has romantic intentions towards his brother's betrothed. Today I have seen him behave in a manner that is most improper with any girl that is already promised to another. His intentions would explain his compulsion to help her improve her form, as well as his renewed efforts to get her to notice him. I have observed his eyes roaming in a rather unseemly fashion while the Hyuuga girl may be in a so-called 'provocative' position, and he seems to be difficult and awkward with his brother, which may be caused by a deeper rift or his guilt and/or resentment towards Itachi for being promised to the girl he is attracted to. The former is unlikely as the elder Uchiha behaves cordially and properly with his younger brother and seems to be confused by his rather detached behavior…

…I highly recommend that the interactions between the two in question be limited to a minimum, since the Hyuuga's recent behaviour (eg. Less stuttering, no fear for pulling off her jacket, more physical contact, etc.) indicate that she is beginning to return his affections, whatsoever they may be, and is potentially compromising the entire operation, even if unconsciously. Behaviour towards the elder Uchiha, however, has also changed. From being an impartial viewer, she seems to mentally take the subject's side when their chaperone berates him, which could be a sign of improvement in their formerly frosty relationship…

…it is now absolutely necessary that interactions between the Hyuuga and the younger Uchiha be forbidden. Today he tried to make a romantic gesture towards the female subject, and, for lack of a better word, they shared a 'moment'. Said 'moment' was interrupted by the Hyuuga running away, and the younger Uchiha promptly took out any sexual and/or relational frustration that he was feeling on a nearby tree, being rather vicious in his administrations…

…this relationship is now a highly probably disaster in the carefully cultivated environment between the two betrothed. The younger Uchiha continues to pursue her relentlessly, although I doubt that the naïve Hyuuga realizes this.She, too, is unconsciously slipping away from her 'forced' duty (i.e. to marry the elder Uchiha), to the more romantically inclined option of consorting with his brother. I now absolutely advocate the idea that their meetings be forbidden and that the frequency of the interactions between the two betrothed increase, perhaps without the chaperone, as it seems to have shown a better result…

If what Ibiki was saying was true – and Tsunade trusted him – then Sasuke was in love with or at the very least seriously attracted to Hinata.

And Hinata was too, except for the fact that she didn't know it.

Ibiki was right. This was a disaster. A beautiful, perfectly made up disaster that she would have loved to play with if she had any job but this one.

Tsunade prided herself on being somewhat of a matchmaker, and her job usually gave her premium access to the situations which she would prefer to be supervising. But this…this was a nightmare! The girl she was trying to marry off to a well-chosen boy for the greater good of her whole village was instead falling in love with his younger brother!

The most amusing side of the situation was that she would have loved this if it really had happened in a book. To see someone who had been trapped by bonds all their life throw them away and go after their dreams and their heart was a plotline she enjoyed. But her position here was unenviable – she was the evil old crone who was trying to rip the two lovers apart and force the girl to live a miserable life for others' benefit.

But there were no villains here. This wasn't a position for personal advancement. It was for collective gain. Not only for Konoha, but all the Villages eventually. The defeat of Akatsuki would restore the level of prosperity earlier enjoyed by the Valley without any fear of political and civic repression by a dreaded terror group.

The Hokage sighed as she looked down on the report. It was no good. She loved Hinata and Sasuke, but they would have to suffer a heartbreak this time. For the good of the whole Village, Hinata would have to end up with Itachi, making him suffer as well. The village needed a hybrid of the two strongest clans. It really was too bad that Sasuke wasn't a –

Wait a minute.

Duh, Tsunade.

She fumbled frantically through her shinobi files in order to reach the one meant for Team 7. Sasuke was Itachi's younger brother. That meant he was an Uchiha. As Hokage, it was her duty to maintain a file on every single one of the Village's shinobi, which included their personal details, their current status, and a summary of every single mission they had ever completed, along with their total capability level. Team 7's file was one of the thickest, considering the amount of accomplishments individually completed by each of its three highly trained members. Flicking past Naruto and Sakura's, she arrived at the one she really wanted to investigate.

Sasuke Uchiha. Age 17. Began official shinobi training at age 7, joined the ranks of Konoha's shinobi at age 11. Completed well above the average for required missions, fulfilling several A- and B-rank missions. Exhibited above-average power overall, not comparable to teammate Uzumaki, but well beyond any exhibited by shinobi his age. Involved in a fair amount of domestic fights, and a few question marks for some unnecessary people dead during high-profile missions, but that was nothing unusual. Every shinobi had a few black marks against their name. She herself had quite a lot.

Summarizing, he was a talented, above-average shinobi who also possessed dominant Uchiha genes, and the ability to pass them on. He was attracted to Hinata Hyuuga, one of the subjects in an experiment to unify the two clan's powers. Currently, he had not been officially chosen as the paramour necessary for the given experiment, but would work just as well, and perhaps better, what with the natural attraction between the two. It was, in short, a better option than forcing Hinata and Itachi to marry.

Perfect. She had just found the match that nobody would hate her for.

Perhaps some of the luck that had disappeared in her youth had decided to make a reappearance.

Itachi slowly stirred awake to see a blurry outline, smell the sterilized scent found in hospitals and feel his head throbbing as though it had repeatedly been slammed against the pavement.

None of that worried him right now. What did was the fact that he couldn't remember a single thing about what he had been doing yesterday after his chat with Hatake Kakashi.

He remembered walking through town to a certain destination after agreeing they would have a talk. The older man had assured him that it was strictly to further his knowledge on how to interact with Hinata, and although dubious, Itachi wasn't one to complain. He was the one who had asked for it, after all, and the Copycat Ninja definitely had more information than his own limited arsenal. Plus, he could see no harm in it. So he agreed to go along with his senior to a place where, in Kakashi's own words, they could 'converse privately without a million people listening in, complete with all the material comforts of life.'

This 'private place' had turned out to be a hostess club, and when Itachi had refused to enter the embarrassing place, Hatake insisted that it was absolutely necessary for him to be inside that particular building in order to 'fully exploit the entire potential of the organ I call my brain and devise the most outstanding conceptions that will further a man's emotional and physical link with the girl he desires'.

Inside, it had been worse than he could ever have imagined. There were girls everywhere. Admittedly some were in the most conservative kimono and yukata, but others wore the bare minimum required to cover one's body. Previously, he had been of the view that the most forward female he was acquainted with was his brother's friend, the Yamanaka girl, and he had always found her to be personally embarrassing. Itachi was uncertain how anyone could find flashing and exhibiting their body for carnal pleasure attractive, as he himself looked not only for beauty, but also grace and poise. To him, shamelessly displaying yourself was the height of unattractiveness and failure. It was something most of his fangirls were unaware of, and one of the reasons he avoided them like the plague.

The girls sitting in this room could give Yamanaka a run for her money. They were, quite frankly, undressed. The amount of clothing they had on was not enough to even appear before your closest family members, let alone in public. There were cubicles along the wall, some open for viewing, and the others covered by curtains. Laughing, squeals, and low, masculine voices could be heard from the covered ones, along with the smell of cigar smoke. From a few the sound of moans was being emitted. The whole place was fashioned in a traditional way, with mattresses and incense, and would have been quite tasteful if it wasn't for the minimally-dressed women lounging around every corner. They made crude noises as Itachi walked by, and gave out suggestive remarks. He felt very dirty; not because he was still sweaty and covered with the mission's filth, but because their casual, uncultured remarks cast a veil of shame and dishonor on him. He wanted to get away from there as fast as possible.

Kakashi was talking to an attractive woman in a light blue-green kimono with a pattern of storks. The woman's eyes fell on Itachi and widened with surprise and shock, before falling to the floor before her as she nodded demurely to whatever his colleague said. Raising them once more to send an inquisitive glance towards Itachi, she promptly beckoned towards two other girls, also dressed in yukata. "Perhaps a little bit more conservative, no?" she said in a hushed voice to Kakashi, glancing back at Itachi and his expression of distaste again.

The girls led them to a small chamber in the far side of the establishment where no one could hear them. Inside, it wasn't so bad. There were elegant, previous-century style mattresses on the floor, along with warm, coconut-colored furniture and a pleasant if slightly strong scent. Their guides left them momentarily, and Kakashi beckoned for Itachi to sit with him.

Their hostesses returned with a pot of steaming green tea – excellent quality, Itachi had to admit – and, after pouring it out for the two men, seated themselves at the side of the table. Close up, Itachi could see that their yukata was rather thin, more suggestively styled than he had previously noticed. It was not quite appropriate for outside company, even though from a distance it appeared to be. It was also fairly tight – when the woman beside him moved he could see the outline and shadow of her body through it. With a shock, he realized that she wasn't wearing any undergarments.

Disgusted, he averted his eyes, unwilling to violate a woman's modesty even tangentially, although she had clearly had that design in mind. The elder of the two, wearing a silky pink yukata, said, "Honored sirs, my name is Mizui, and my companion is Hisa. We will be your attendants today, and will be open to anything you would like us to do." Her eyes flickered suggestively towards Itachi, who was still attempting to look away. "Would you like us to get some more tea?"

"What a lovely idea!" Kakashi loudly interrupted. "Mizui-san, Hisa-chan, we are very pleased to have you with us today. It's always good when you can be in the company of two pretty ladies like yourself! However, my companion -" here he snuck a look at Itachi " – and I have some very sensitive business to attend to, and we have to, very regretfully, request you depart. We'll be able to pour our own drinks, thank you."

The two woman silently stood to leave. Kakashi gaily kissed their hands as they blushed and giggled, while Itachi averted his eyes. No woman would ever be able to say that an Uchiha had violated her dignity.

Kakashi finished bidding the escorts goodbye, and turned to Itachi, looking relieved. "Well, now that that's over and done with," he said, smiling as he pulled out a bottle of saké and two cups from beneath the table. Itachi immediately declined, and the other man looked affronted. "Itachi-san, you know that I am not a drunkard. But for situations like these, we have to, how do you say, ensure and anticipate. I am going to tell you how you will approach your fiancée, and trust me, you want to be drunk when you hear that. Now, take a glass and tell me everything."

So Itachi did. He confessed all his worries and woes. He told about how he had been informed of his engagement, how it had taken place, about his thoughts and convictions that he had to prevent the same end towards his own bride that had happened for his mother. Itachi revealed how he wanted to protect her, and for her to be comfortable and reassured with him, and how he had thought that the meetings would turn everything better but how the situation was just worsening.

Kakashi dutifully listened as Itachi explained the problems with their chaperone, and how her cold demeanor was affecting their meetings. The Uchiha confessed that he had felt differently towards his maiden fiancée, that there was a sort of softness, a tenderness that he felt towards her. He talked about how he was enchanted when she tilted her head just so, how he found the colour of the spring sky suited her,warm and open and free, how it highlighted the curve of her cheekbones and the darkness of her lashes. He talked about how he felt this strange, jumpy feeling whenever he saw her, whether she was entering a room or from just a glance in the village.

Itachi was astonished to learn things about himself as a result of simply putting his problem into words. He was, after all, just a boy inside; a lost, emotionally confused boy, who had been suppressed for years, and taught to believe that emotions were a weakness. His father and the elders had trained him to be a machine, a tool in their plans for greatness, with no concern for his own happiness. He knew nothing of the basic emotion love, having never received or felt it with the sole exception of his mother. He did not know what the protective urges towards his fiancée meant or his attraction to her, stemming from the words she said, the way she spoke, the clothes she wore. He was lost and confused in a sea of sudden, powerful emotion, and he knew not how to handle it, what to do, how to behave, how to react. His instincts tried to show him, but his training reacted and he was left stranded, unable to communicate, to express, to feel. He wanted nothing more than to understand his feelings, to act upon this strange urge, but being outcast from all things good and pure and natural for so long, he did not know how.

While Itachi unburdened himself, the solemn Hatake listened to him with a patient ear and a concerned look. He had not expected that the boy's feelings would run this deep. To hear the voice of one who had long been suppressed opening his heart to an almost stranger and exposing the pain he felt inside touched him deeply. He cursed Fugaku for turning Itachi into what he was – a fearsome shinobi, to be sure, but also an emotionally dead wreck. For the first time, Kakashi truly saw Itachi Uchiha – saw him as the scared, needy boy he was as well as what he should be if his own father wasn't so bloody oppressive.

Having felt this concern, there was nothing he could do but suggest a very intelligent and undoubtedly beneficial strategy to bring Itachi back to the world of the living.

After that the memories were a little disjointed.

Methodically drinking the liquor that Kakashi poured out, Itachi quickly began to lose control. His tolerance level wasn't very high, not having been exposed to heavy alcohol at the same time that all his colleagues had, and thus loss of his senses took over fast. The last thing he could remember was Kakashi's sympathetic face as he raised his umpteenth glass of saké.

And now this. He was lying in a bed, definitely at the hospital, with bandages wrapped around his throbbing head.

Feeling his skull, Itachi felt slightly dubious. He had heard that hangovers were bad, and hurting this fiercely proved it, but really, was there a need for bandages? He had never heard of someone actually getting so drunk that they ended up with thick, sterilized wraps required to keep their brains in.

A machine next to him beeped as he attempted to sit up, pulling at the IV in his arm.

"Itachi-san, please don't!"

He glanced over as a person who had been seated across the room stood and moved to stand beside him. Itachi recognized Haruno Sakura, her green eyes filled with worry. Putting a hand to his forehead (he winced – it felt like burning knives were stabbing him), she asked concernedly, "How are you feeling, Itachi-san?"

He opened his mouth to reply, to find it felt like sandpaper was shoved in his throat. Taking the glass of water that she was offering, he downed the whole thing in one gulp. Swallowing, Itachi said, "My head hurts, but apart from that I am quite well, Sakura-san."

She nodded once more, the concern in her eyes not diminishing as she scribbled on her clipboard. "Well, I can give you some painkillers, but they will not help much, not with -"

The door behind her banged open before she could say any more. In strode Mitarashi Anko with two other shinobi walking behind her. Sakura swirled behind the bed, her face turning tight the moment she saw the fearsome woman. Lips pursed, she said tightly, "I am afraid that visitors are not yet allowed inside, Anko-san. Only family -"

"Cut the crap, Haruno," Anko imperiously snapped. "I'm here on behalf of the Law and Order division of Konoha's Special Forces. I need to speak with Itachi alone. My companions -" here there was a careless wave to the two men standing behind her, " – will escort you outside."

Sakura glared at the older shinobi, but she was powerless to stop her and they all knew it. She allowed the two men to take her arm as they walked her out, glowering the entire time at the purple-haired snake-charmer. The moment she was outside and the doors had been closed, Anko dropped into a chair with a groan.

"Anko," Itachi said, slightly surprised. He had not expected her to be back from the Suna reconstruction just yet. "I didn't know you were back."

"Shut the fuck up," the foul-mouthed shinobi retorted. Her head came up as she finally bothered to look at him. "What the hell do you think you're doing over here?"

Very few people had earned the right to call Itachi by his first name without a suffix. Even his fangirls refrained from doing so. The small amount of people who fearlessly spoke to him so familiarly were his brother, father, and Shisui, along with the people he truly respected in their community.

Mitarashi Anko definitely qualified for that position. She was a few years older than him, but they had virtually started their careers together. For as long as he could remember, Anko was a fearless warrior who had a low tolerance for nonsense and good skills to enforce those views, along with a rather debilitating addiction to dango. She had been one of only two friends Itachi could turn to through the years, and had supported and encouraged him whenever he felt incapable. He knew her to be a loyal friend, a capable and talented shinobi, an appreciative customer, and a patriotic citizen of Konoha. She was always friendly and humorous with him, which was why he was surprised to see a frustrated and angry expression on her face.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Itachi said, surprised. "What are you referring to?" As far as he knew, he had done nothing wrong in his last few missions. They had all been completed spectacularly.

Anko stirred like a rattlesnake who was finding their traditional warning to be ignored. "This!" she exclaimed, opening her arms wide to gesture at the whole room. "Everything! What on earth have you been doing, Itachi? Do you even remember what you did yesterday?"

"What did I do?" Itachi asked with a growing sense of dread. The ominous words, along with his inability to remember any of his prior antics and winding up in a hospital was making him fear whatever she was about to say. He unconsciously began to pray to God that she was overreacting.

Anko's mouth fell open. "You honestly don't remember?" He shook his head, and then, sighing incredulously, she proceeded. "You were supposed to meet with Hyuuga Hinata, who by the way you have told me nothing about, and trust me, you will be punished for that, but before then there's the immediate issue of how badly you have screwed the pooch here, Itachi!"

When he only continued to stare at her blankly, the cobra lady swelled up like that selfsame animal. "Do you remember the fact that you were drunk? You went and got drunk with Hatake Kakashi, of all people! Now, I don't know whether you were trying to have a competition or what, but you do know that Kakashi has the highest tolerance level in the whole village, right? He managed to drink me and Tsunade under the table. And you had to get plastered with him. How could you be so goddamn dumb?"

The mere fact that she was speaking to him that way prevented Itachi from responding.

Anko tapped her fingers restlessly against her knee as he sat stupefied. "You say you don't remember a word of what happened yesterday? That's good, because if you did, you would have committed suicide by now, it was that bad. Get ready for this." She leaned forward and fixed him with a look that dripped with contempt. "You sexually assaulted a girl. You freaking sexually assaulted a girl, you horny idiot!"

His ears were ringing, and he couldn't believe what she was saying. There had to be some mistake; Anko must be mistaken, because there was no way that Uchiha Itachi could ever dishonor anybody like that. He lived his life by a moral code, one of the only things that he himself had created, and he believed in that code. Assaulting a woman was definitely not acceptable. There was no way he could have done that.

His tormentor continued with the impossible revelations. "You know what's worse, Itachi? She wasn't some stupid groupie – she was your fiancée, Hyuuga Hinata. You went to your rooms and pounced on her like you were some kind of animal. You ripped her obi off and were working on her kimono before you could be restrained. You violated her, and you would have done a lot more than just open her top if your chaperone hadn't controlled you in time!"

Itachi sat in stunned silence. This couldn't be true. He couldn't have done that. He couldn't. His heart was pounding and his mind was unable to concentrate. He couldn't have done that. He would never do that to anybody. "I couldn't have," he muttered in a vain attempt to make himself believe it. "I couldn't have; no way, I couldn't have…"

"But you did," Anko replied, her rage and grief showing clearly through her voice. "You did. Do you think those bandages on your head came for nothing? The reason you have those is because someone had to beat you bloody to get you off her. They hit you repeatedly and your hair caught fire too, but that's okay, it was just a couple of inches." Anko seemed to realize she was drifting off track and pulled herself back to gaze at him with stricken eyes. "But, Itachi, how could you?"

The very same question haunted him long after she had left.

Itachi lay on the bed, one finger twirling amongst his shortened tresses as he contemplated it. He had made an oath; he had vowed to protect her, to cherish her and nurture her, to avoid any kind of adetriment to their relationship. That oath had not even survived their courtship phase. He had violated her very dignity, and shamed her.

His heart throbbed with that revelation. He had hurt her. More deeply than he could imagine, he had hurt her. He thought of her face, its gentle demeanor coming into his mind; the shy, half-hidden eyes, the trembling lips. And then this was replaced with the vision of fear and pain, anger and rage and betrayal that must have overtaken the girl, her face twisted with helpless agony. This image more than anything else would intrude upon his mind, and he would wince and suffer through it, knowing that he had caused that expression on such a lovely girl.

For the first time in years, Itachi Uchiha cried. He cried for the pain he had caused a person who he loved and wanted to protect, he cried for the shame he had brought upon her. He cried for the disgrace he had piled on his family, he cried for the disappointment in the voice of one of his closest friends. And he cried for himself, because he wasn't strong enough, because he was the cause of so much misery.

But most of all, Itachi Uchiha cried because he knew that his relationship with the girl he had only recently realized he loved would never be the same again, and that the ties that bound them were forever shattered, perhaps never to be mended.