Itachi

He really hoped it wouldn't take Ari too long to realize that it wasn't actually Itachi standing in front of her. At the same time, however, he was really glad that it wasn't his own body that was about to fight the raging half-Bijuu.

Itachi and Kisame sat high up in the mountains, about a mile or so away from the house so they could transmit their chakra better to the human puppets Sasori had created for them. Hana sat on Itachi's lap and bundled herself up inside of his cloak. She closed her eyes and puffed her cheeks out, trying to look serious as she mimicked her father's stance. Itachi opened one eye, dividing his vision between the battlefield with Ari's group and the little girl on his lap. At this point, Hana had grown tired and fallen asleep, still tucked inside his robe. Next to him, Kisame chuckled.

"She's a cute kid, I have to admit," Kisame said, "but man, Itachi, she's making you soft…say, how is Ari reacting to seeing you right now?"

"Just worry about your own fight, alright?" Itachi groaned, closing his eye and blocking out his surroundings. As his senses faded and transferred over to the battlefield, he heard Kisame break out into laughter.

"She's that pissed, is she?"

Itachi stared at Ari, who bared her teeth and crouched low to the ground. He gulped hard. "That pissed" didn't even begin to describe the expression she was giving him. He glanced over and observed the other four who stood before him. Kakashi and Naruto…well they certainly looked happier to see him than Ari did. And then there stood a pink-haired girl, that was the one who Ari sometimes helped out with training, right? What was her name…Sakura? And then the old woman finished the group, he had recognized her as one of the elders of the Sand Village, and Sasori's grandmother, Lady Chiyo.

"That's the one…" Lady Chiyo noted, "That's the child who wiped out his entire clan…"

Itachi fought hard to maintain a stoic expression, but he stated in a monotonous voice, "Kakashi, Naruto…Ari…it's been a while."

"Oh, shut up!" Ari spat back, taking a step forward. She drew her twin swords, holding one in each hand. Ari was a remarkable swordsmen, light on her feet and swift and efficient with her strokes. Among the nicknames she had obtained over the years, from Half of the Ultimate Tag Team, to Demon of the Leaf, one of her lesser known nicknames, Phantom Sword, Itachi thought actually suited Ari's fighting style much better than her other monikers.

"I wasn't enough for you, huh?" Naruto spat out suddenly, "You had to go after Gaara as well! I'll destroy every last one of you!"

Itachi didn't say anything, but lifted a hand, readying himself to fight.

Kakashi jumped at Itachi's movements, "Everyone, don't look him in the eyes!"

Itachi glared at Kakashi as he said that. Well it wasn't like he was going to put people under the Mongekyo Sharingan or anything…why were they all so jumpy?

Kakashi lowered his stance and explained to the group, "Itachi's jutsu is a visual jutsu. If you don't look him in the eyes, his jutsu can't take effect."

"Yeah, that I know," Naruto said in a low voice.

"Okay, but then what?" Sakura asked.

Ari lowered her stance before she pounced. She took off to attack Itachi, looking back at her group she said, "you guys can come up with whatever battle strategy you so desire! I'll take him first and you guys pay attention to his movements, got it?"

Readying himself, Ari leapt high into the air, as she spun around and then aimed her foot to kick him hard in the face. Itachi dodged her attack as she crushed the ground beneath her upon landing. Man, she was going at him with full force. Did she know that she wasn't fighting the real Itachi?

She then swung her sword, managing to cut Itachi's cheek. She aimed her other sword at his neck, but Itachi managed to block her other hand, holding her wrist tightly. "You asshole!" she cried out, and then in a hush whispered, she spat, "Where in the hell is Hana?"

Itachi's eyes widened and he groaned.

Nope…she didn't know, she was just that pissed off…


Ari

I didn't care what happened to Itachi at this point! He was a dead man!

"Where the hell is Hana?" I growled in a low voice. Ita's eyes widened in shock.

"Where do you think?" I spat back, "Ari, she's with me!"

"WHAT?" I roared. I then looked around. You mean to tell me that he brought her with him? How stupid was he? "Itachi! You dumbass, where is she?"

"Ari," Itachi grimaced, "You aren't actually fighting me! This is a puppet with my chakra! Come on, use your head!"

I pulled away from Ita and we sparred for a brief moment. His scent was entirely different and his moves were off.

Oh. That made sense.

I took a step back and eyed Ita, my shoulders drooping as I lowered my swords. "Wait, so you didn't leave Hana home alone?"

"Why the hell would I do that?" Itachi yelled back a little loud, "What, do you think I'm some kind of idiot?"

"No," I laughed nervously. Well, yes…some genius prodigy can't even figure out how to change a diaper and kind of "forgot" to tell me that he was dying! Yes you're an idiot!

"Ari!" Naruto called behind me, "are you okay? You're not under a genjutsu areyou?"

I rolled my eyes and glared back at him, "just taking a breather!" I then turned back at Ita and sighed heavily, okay, what I thought was a crisis had been averted.

Ita began running towards me and made to attack me. As he did, he said, "I think we should fight now."

"No shit, Sherlock," I groaned back, "and don't think this isn't over with, I'm still mad at you!"

"I can tell," he whispered back, "Feel free to take out all your anger during this fight, but get it done quick because the Akatsuki are just stalling for time right now…and please…don't beat the real me up too badly…"

"I make no promises," I smirked, winking at him. We fought for a while longer; I beat the living crap out of him while Ita pretended to make jabs back at me. I started to grow tired…I guess I took out a little too much anger. I bounced back a little and Ita and I paused. I turned to the group…and they were still talking…

Chiyo was the one dragging things on, explaining the Sharingan to Naruto and Sakura like they had never fought one before. Which they hadn't. But man…could she talk any slower?

"What we're dealing with isn't any ordinary Sharingan," Kakashi interrupted Chiyo. Ita was pausing long enough to listen to what Kakashi had to say. Kakashi continued, "He uses Mongekyo Sharingan. It's far more powerful than any other visual jutsu. It only takes a second, but if he hits you with that jutsu, it'll be the longest second you ever lived…"

Ita and I looked over at each other and I had to suppress a dirty grin. That was all true, if you were his enemy at least…but if you're with your partner and you both are getting a little frisky, but someone has a heart problem and you guys can't have any real fun while at the same time, a three year old running rampant around the house on top of that, well…a visual genjutsu could come in quite handy…

Itachi shot me a glare, knowing what I was thinking and I had to force my grin back down. Man, it was impossible to take Ita seriously in battle. Things could get tricky if I wasn't careful.

Kakashi continued, "time itself gets warped. What seems like a second in the real world can seem like hours or days for someone trapped inside the genjutsu."

I pursed my lips tightly to keep from laughing, more dirty thoughts forming in my head. Yeah, a really nice several hours or days, thank you! I looked over at Ita who was still glaring at me, but then cleared my throat and paid more attention to my group.

Kakashi was still talking, "I would know this, I wandered around in it for three days and lost consciousness for more than a week. It's not a genjutsu that can be broken just like that."

"That does sound tricky," Lady Chiyo noted, "what a troublesome fellow this is."

We all turned our attention to Ita, the air shifted as things got much more serious. I took a deep breath, ready to fight him for real this time.

"Very good, Kakashi," Ita said, "I see your sojourn in my Tsukuyomi wasn't wasted."

"Oh believe me, I learned something else as well," Kakashi said, causing Ita to jump slightly in surprise, "There's a price to pay for using that sharingan, isn't there? It exhausted you during battle and you had to quit before it was over. So in addition to using up a lot of chakra, you risk permanent damage to your eyes, don't you, Itachi? I wonder…just how much damage has already been done to your eyesight?"

Itachi lost his composure at that one, his eyes widening. I suppressed a mini heart attack as well and looked nervously at Ita. He avoided my gaze, obviously realizing he had forgotten to mention another very important piece of news about his suddenly declining health.

"Ita…!" I let out a low growl, my anger boiling up again. I clenched my fists, if he wasn't seriously dying on me, I would have beat the living shit out of him when I got back home. First he neglects to tell me that he's dying, and now he's apparently going blind? Agh! How many other secrets was I about to find out?

Thankfully for me, that was really pretty much it (minus the whole, steal your brother's eyes and get your sight back, ordeal, but that didn't really apply to our situation, but it made for a lovely surprise when Sasuke appeared before me later on blabbing about his Eternal Mongekyo!).

"Kakashi," Itachi lowered his voice, "could it be that you…?"

He didn't finish though and (still avoiding eye contact with me), lifting his finger, pointing at Naruto. "It's time you came with me, Naruto!" I looked over and saw Naruto stiffen up. He was caught under Ita's genjutsu already. Naruto suddenly started screaming and ran off to the side with his Rasengan, striking a tree. Sakura and Chiyo followed closely behind to break Naruto's genjutsu while Kakashi and I took off to fight Ita. As Ita and I made contact with each other in our sparring, we started bickering, exchanging our thoughts. Looking back, we were starting to sound like an old married couple…

I struck him from behind, but he managed to turn and block me.

*Oh, I'm surprised you were able to block that, you know, considering you're blind!*

*I'm not blind, Ari! And I'm sorry, I literally had almost forgotten all about that. My vision's hardly gone at all since the Mongekyo awakened. The only time I ever really used it was three years ago when I came back to Konoha.*

*And last month! And for what, just some leisurely free for all?*

*Hey! It was one time! And Hana was sick, and it was a busy night, and you were wearing nothing but a towel!*

*Because I took a shower!*

*You were lying on our bed waiting for me.*

*Well sorry, I wanted a good time!*

*Well sorry, I did too!*

*You could have just as easily taken your clothes off and joined in.*

*Uh. One, I had just come home from a mission and my heart is crap. And two, Hana was throwing up down the hall and was calling for you.*

*Okay, okay, fine! But you're going blind? How much bad luck can you get?*

*Can we talk about this later? You're making it really difficult for me to fight both you and Kakashi…*

*Good! You're our enemy right, now, remember?*

*Well, he's going to catch on if you don't shut up!*

*Ugh…fine…*

Kakashi and I leapt backwards and joined the others as they broke Naruto free of his genjutsu. He was dazed and a little shaken, but he was alright.

Itachi swiftly weaved handsigns and called out, "Fire Style: Pheonix Flight Jutsu!" as he breathed out several small fire balls from his mouth. Kakashi dodged them all easily and I followed closely behind. Ita then breathed out a standard fire ball jutsu which Naruto, Sakura, and Chiyo were all able to dodge. Kakashi brought out his Lightning Blade and made a charge towards Ita. I stood back and readied myself once Kakashi had Itachi distracted. Itachi leapt out of Kakashi's way, and I made my move, releasing one of my chakra chains and wrapping it around Ita, trapping him in the air. Naruto came from above and struck him hard with the Rasengan, creating a huge explosion.

I shielded my eyes as the dust settled. When I looked up, I realized that we had only attacked a shadow clone as Ita was still standing before the crater we had created.

"Well now," Ita said, "he's learned an interesting jutsu."

I sighed heavily. Ita was good, even with all three of us going at him, he was still able to foresee our attacks. That was the prodigy for you, always thinking ahead. I sighed, wondering which one of the two of us would be the victor if we really were enemies and had fought one on one. It would have been close, and though I was physically stronger than him and faster than even his sharingan could see sometimes, I had a feeling Ita would have me beat.

Looking around, I noticed a heavy fog coming down over us. Kakashi was using the Hidden Mist Jutsu to stop Ita's sharingan. Hm. Good idea. I used the falling mist to leap up high into a tree so I could see more clearly.

"The Hidden Mist Jutsu," Ita noted, "quite an effective jutsu to prevent one from casting a genjutsu. Unless of course, that person possesses the sharingan. Kakashi! Can we please stop this childish game of hide-and-seek?"

From my perch, I stifled a laugh. "Hide-and-seek? I take it you've had one too many rounds with Hana," I muttered to myself. That was her favorite game with Ita as Hana would constantly try to find a hiding spot so spectacular, even Itachi's sharingan couldn't find her. Being Ita, he would play along of course, and pretend to have difficulty figuring out where she was before he'd sneak up behind her and pull her into his arms, both of them laughing hysterically. I sighed heavily, wondering how much longer I would get to see those two smiles together…

Kakashi came out from his hiding place in the trees and threw some kunai and Ita. Itachi responded with a fire ball jutsu, but was caught off guard as Kakashi came up from the ground within the rubble the fireball created, aiming to punch Ita. Kakashi missed as Ita took a step back, grasping hold of Kakashi's shirt sleeve and made to strike him. Kakashi turned his head out of the way of the blow, so Ita reached behind Kakashi, grabbing the back of his neck as the two caught each other in a genjutsu.

I watched as the remained motionless. The puppet Ita was using was running out of chakra, and Itachi had failed to notice that he was attacking a shadow clone. Naruto took the opportunity to ready another Rasengan. I smiled, and remained at my perch. I'd let those two handle it and see where this would go.

When Itachi realized it was a shadow clone, it was too late. Naruto and his clone made a mad sprint towards Ita, readying a gigantic Rasengan, as the struck Itachi screaming a battle cry. I smiled to myself. Wow, Naruto had gotten incredibly strong in the two and a half years he was away. I hopped down from my perch and joined the other four, but Kakashi and Naruto had perplexed expressions on their faces. We walked up to the body lying on the ground, observing the remains. I narrowed my eyes and held my breath. That still looked an awful lot like Itachi…

But just as I began to worry, the face of the body changed suddenly, causing everyone to gasp in shock.

"What on earth?" Chiyo asked.

"When we were fighting, I could feel something was off," Kakashi explained.

I nodded my head, "Yes, I've fought alongside Itachi for many years…his moves were different.

"I don't get it," Naruto grimaced, "what's going on?"

"It has to be some kind of jutsu," Sakura noted.

"But this man," Chiyo stated, "his name is Yura. And he's a Jonin from our own village!"

I looked down at Yura's body and sighed heavily, "It seems that the Akatsuki used some sort of body manipulation jutsu to make living puppets and disguise them as different members. Itachi's still out there…and this was all a ploy to stall for time to keep us from reaching Gaara in time…"

Naruto's jaw dropped as he turned to me in a wild panic, "you can't be serious!"

I narrowed my eyes at the boy, "But I am. Isn't it perfect? We all hold personal grudges against Itachi, so who better to stop us in our tracks to get us distracted from the task at hand."

Naruto began to panic, looking around. He desperately wanted to save Gaara. I didn't blame him, he considered Gaara a close friend and was the only other person in the world who could directly relate to Naruto as they were both Jinchuuriki's. I sighed heavily. I just hoped that we weren't too late to save him.


Itachi

As Naruto delivered the final blow to the puppet, Itachi opened his eyes, releasing his connection with the puppet. He looked over at Kisame who was just finishing up as well.

"Looks like you're done too, huh?" Kisame asked.

"Yes," Itachi responded, "I was out of chakra. However, this was more than enough to by us a little time."

Itachi grimaced, Gaara was close to death and the Shukaku was almost completely sealed inside of the statue. There was no way Ari's team would be able to save either of the two now. Poor Ari, she was going to be devastated when she found out.

Also realizing what was about to happen, Kisame eyed Itachi and in a low voice said, "Itachi, as troublesome as she may be, I still consider Ari my friend…with all of the news she has received lately, I wouldn't deem it wise to give her any more stress. At the very least I suggest you spend some time with her when she gets home, and don't try to argue with her, no matter how unreasonable she may get."

Itachi nodded, sighing heavily, "I'm aware, Kisame. Believe me, I'm aware."

"I was just making sure," Kisame said. The two then glanced down at Hana, who was still asleep. Kisame shook his head, "the next question I have is how Hana will handle it if we end up taking her birth mother too…"

Not daring to think of what would happen, Itachi pulled Hana into a tight hug, holding her close. He grimaced, not wanting her or Ari to suffer any more pain. He stroked Hana's hair gently. Ari, Hana, and Sasuke meant everything to him. He had already corrupted Sasuke to a point he feared was no return, he didn't want to make the same mistake with his precious flower. She and Ari were all he had left to live for. And he wanted to badly to live with them forever.

"I swear, if it's the last thing I do," Itachi said in a low voice, "I will protect them. I won't let them suffer any longer because of me."

Kisame sighed heavily, narrowing his eyes at Itachi, "I just hope you didn't jinx yourself with that one."

"Me too…"


Ari

As I had feared, we were too late. By the time we had finally broken down the entrance to the Akatsuki hideout, all we found were Sasori and Deidara sitting atop of Gaara's lifeless body.

And Uncle Shukaku had been sealed away…permanently…

Deidara had kidnapped Gaara's body, having a giant clay bird swallow it. Naruto's rage began to boil over, and I could feel my father's chakra beginning to spill out of him. I grimaced as Kakashi and I trailed Naruto and Deidara, if Naruto didn't calm down here pretty soon…there was no telling what would happen. I love my dad, don't get me wrong, but in that point in time, I knew that if even an ounce of his will came out in Naruto, it would be the death of everybody who was nearby. Perhaps even me.

As we trailed Deidara, Kakashi built up enough chakra to activate his own Mongekyo Sharingan, and ability that I didn't know he could use with Obito's eye. Using a Space-Time Warp Ninjutsu, he managed to take one of Deidara's arms. I threw some of my chakra chains up and pulled the clay bird out of the sky while Naruto attacked Deidara. Before long, we had Gaara back.

But he had already left this world.

And Naruto was so beside himself, Dad was about to reenter it.

Running around, his eyes blazing red, a red cloak of chakra began to surround Naruto, taking the shape of my father's body as two tails sprouted from it. I held my breath, horrified by what I was seeing, but Kakashi acted quickly and pulled out a seal, slapping it onto Naruto's forehead. The seal dissipated Naruto's chakra and the boy began to collapse. I ran up and caught him in my arms, holding Naruto gently until he regained consciousness moments later.

We later regrouped with the others to find that Sasori had been defeated. We thought that Deidara had been taken out as well, but when I returned home, Itachi told me that the trigger-happy artist had survived somehow, but was temporarily out of commission until Kakuzu could perform surgery and sew Deidara's arms back on.

But that still left Gaara. The Kazekage had earned a hard-won recognition from his peers and was loved by his people, touched by both he and Naruto, Chiyo gave up her life to resurrect Gaara. Hundreds of shinobi from the Sand came to greet Gaara as he awakened, and we all mourned in a moment of silence for the loss of Granny Chiyo. Sakura had been the most affected by her passing, as she had come to admire the old puppet master. With a successful mission, and the Kazekage returned safely home in good health, our team returned to Konoha.

I felt as if the life had been drained out of me in the past week. It had started with a carefree morning full of love and laughter, and it had ended with being bitch-slapped several times by a dark and cruel reality that was finally catching up to us. The Mongekyo was blinding Itachi, a lifelong heart condition was killing him, Uncle Shukaku had been taken, Hana's mother was next, and the Akatsuki wouldn't stop until they had taken every single jinchuuriki, including Naruto. And on top of everything else, Orochimaru was on the move again, and Ita and I were beginning to fear that he would try to absorb Sasuke now that three years were almost up.

Needless to say, I was pretty miserable when I came home. Not even Hana's cheerful greeting as she leapt on me cheering, "Welcome home, Mommy!" could do much to lift my spirits.

"Hi sweetie," I said, deflated. Itachi came up to greet me, smiling warmly at me. I forced back a smile at him, but couldn't muster up the strength for anything else. Seeing my misery, Ita's face fell, concern enveloping his eyes. Hana had sensed something was off as well as her eyebrows knitted together in confusion when she looked up at me.

"Mommy," Hana said with an uneasy tone, "do you want to go play? I want to show you all the paintings that Daddy and I made while you were gone."

"Of course I want to play!" I grinned, placing my hands on my hips, faking my enthusiasm. I looked back up at Ita and started to give him a hug, but I found I couldn't without fighting back tears.

Itachi noticed this and he placed a hand on my cheek, "we'll talk later. Our little flower has been dying to see you."

I nodded and followed Hana as she led me up to her room. She didn't give me time to change out of my gear as she closed the door and pulled out her dolls. While she was fearless with Ita, she was a storyteller with me. We played house and Tea Party as Hana's imagination ran wild. She showed me all the masterpieces she had created while I was gone. She made a really cute painting of Her, Ita, and I holding hands. In the corner she had added a fish bowl with a shark.

"What's that?" I asked, pointed at the fish bowl.

"Well, I didn't quite know how to get his hair right, so I just made Uncle Dory a fish. Do you think he'll mind?" she explained.

I started laughing, Hana's innocence helping me forget all about the troubles of the world. That's one thing I love about Hana, that little flower can take any bad situation and make light out of it, bringing smiles to everyone's faces, no matter where she went.

"Hana, we tease him so much I don't think he'll care," I said, "but Uncle Dory?"

Hana shrugged, "well, Dory was the only name he didn't say 'no' to when I was asking what I could call him. All he did was groan so I took it as a 'yes'."

I chuckled, shaking my head, "well, I think this picture's my favorite!" I said. I took the picture and brought it to the kitchen, hanging it up on the refrigerator along with other masterpieces by Hana. A couple of hours later, I went to make dinner. Hana was upstairs napping, and without her, my mind was starting to run wild. I was tired and I still hadn't changed into more comfortable clothes, I was growing more and more frustrated. I burned the first couple of things I tried to make and started making ridiculous slip-ups. Unable to focus, the frying pan slipped out of my hand and fell on the stove and I burned my finger.

"Dammit! What else can go wrong?" I groaned, fighting back tears.

Itachi came to the kitchen after hearing the commotion and ran up behind me, gently taking the control of dinner preparations from me.

"You've had a long week, Love," he said gently, "I'll make dinner tonight. You go on upstairs and unwind. Take a shower, you'll feel better."

Sighing heavily, I nodded. But no matter how hot or relaxing the water felt on my skin, the shower only made me feel worse. My head kept spinning, going from Itachi, to Hana, to Shukaku, to Auntie Tabi, to Dad, to Naruto, to Sasuke, and back. My whole world had managed to fall apart in a matter of days and I didn't know how to put it back together. What was even worse was that I knew this was only the beginning.

Frustrated, I gave up on relaxing and finished scrubbing up. I turned off the faucet and reached for a towel. At about that point, I heard a knock on the door.

"Ari?" Ita said from the other side, "dinner's ready."

"I'm coming—" I began to say, not paying attention to my surroundings. I slipped on one of Hana's bath toys lying on the floor and fell, hitting my head on the toilet. I screamed, releasing a few tears and a bout of frustration out in the process.

"Ari!" Ita called, barging in. When he found me naked and lying on the floor crying, he closed the door and knelt down, wrapping a towel around me and pulling me into his arms. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?"

"Leave me alone!" I screamed at him, pushing him away, "I'm fine!"

Ita frowned, eyeing me sadly, "Ari, do you need to talk?"

"No!" I yelled at him, "Now get out! Just leave me alone!"

Sighing heavily, Ita did as I had demanded. When he left, I instantly felt bad for yelling at him. He was only trying to help me. I curled up into a ball and cried silently for a good few minutes before I got dressed in a camisole, one of Ita's button-up shirts, and a pair of sweat pants. I haphazardly brushed my hair out enough so it wouldn't get tangled together, but didn't bother making it look at all decent. I sat at the table quietly, playing with my food. All four of us ate in silence, the atmosphere heavy.

"So Hana," Kisame said, trying to lighten the mood, "why did you make me a shark in that picture you drew?"

"Because, silly," Hana giggled, oblivious to how distraught her parents were, "you look like a fish and I didn't have the right color blue for your skin! Plus your hair is hard to draw…"

"My hair is hard to draw?" Kisame asked, pretending to be insulted, "I would think your mom's hair is even harder! I mean, look at it! It's so wild and all over the place!"

Hana giggled, "but it's long and pretty! Your hair is short. I can't do short hair."

"Hmmm," Kisame thought, "well maybe you need more practice then! You know, we have an artist in Akatsuki, he could show you how to draw short hair!"

"Kisame," Ita groaned, "I'm not letting Deidara even a mile within Hana's reach. He's a trigger-happy pyrotechnic."

"Calm down, Itachi, I was only joking!" Kisame laughed. He then looked up at me and said, "Ari?"

I jumped out of my trance and said, "Huh?"

"For someone who just came home from a mission, you don't seem too hunry," he said. I looked down at my plate. I had been twirling the soba noodles Ita had cooked around with my chopsticks. As I looked over at the others, I realized that I was the only one who hadn't finished eating.

"Oh, sorry," I said, "I was just distracted is all…"

"Ari…" Ita began to say, but then he glanced over nervously at Hana, not sure how to begin the conversation he wanted to have with me without scaring her.

Kisame saved the day as he caught on and distracted Hana, "say, kiddo, you want to have a movie night with me tonight? We can build a fort in my living room and watch all your favorite movie and eat popcorn. I can fix some sundaes too if you'd like."

Hana grinned brightly as she looked at me and Itachi expectantly. She loved movie nights with Kisame. "Can I, Mom? Can I?"

I smiled and nodded, "sure. But Kisame, don't give her too much sugar. I'd like her to be able to sleep tonight."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Kisame brushed me off. Hana ran upstairs to grab Tim-Tim and several blankets. She was already in her pajamas so Kisame said he would just bring her up when she fell asleep. As Hana led Kisame down to his floor, he reached over and patted Ita on the shoulder and said, "you're welcome."

Kisame closed the door which led to his floor, leaving Ita and I alone. I sat in the chair, trembling. I knew what was about to come. Even though I had insisted on having this conversation right when I had gotten home, I realized that I just wasn't ready to face the facts. I couldn't even look Ita in the eye without crying.

After a long moment of silence, Ita stood and held out his hand, "it's been a while since we had time alone together," he said, "what do you say we have a movie night of our own?"

Ita's smile was so sweet. I looked up at him. He was treating me gently, as if he were handling a fragile piece of china that could easily break. Still shaking, I nodded my head and took his hand. We went upstairs to our living room and I sat down on the couch as Ita pulled out the movie selection. He sat on the floor next to where I sat and skimmed through all of the romantic movies like The Notebook and Titanic and went straight to the more explosive titles, but not because he didn't like those movies. In fact, for some strange reason, he loves them. Well, to be specific, he enjoys watching them with me. I, on the other hand, was the one who enjoyed the action-packed superhero movies and the comedies that were too inappropriate for Hana to watch. As a couple, our movie tastes were the exact opposite of what they probably should have been.

"Okay," Ita said with a playful grin on his face, "what do we want to watch tonight, Skyfall or Fast & Furious?"

I grinned and narrowed my eyes, "what, no chick flicks tonight?"

Itachi shrugged, "I can only watch those if you're in a good enough mood to make fun of me for crying."

"And why is that?" I asked, leaning down towards him.

"Because my soft side arouses you," Ita teased, chuckling as he tilted his head back towards me, our faces drawing close, "and if I let you make fun of me, I can make you happy, and in turn, you end up giving me everything I want."

"Uh-huh," I said, laughing. The edge was slowly rolling off my shoulders as I teased, "I think you've been hanging out with Jiraiya a little too much since he and Naruto came back…you're started sounding like him just now."

Itachi let out a laugh and put in Fast & Furious. I cuddled up next to him as we sat under the blankets, getting lost in the plot that mainly consisted of fast cars and lots of explosions. Ita wrapped his arms tightly around me and I leaned against his chest. About half way through the movie I couldn't take listening to his haphazard heartbeats anymore so I grabbed the remote and paused the movie.

"Something wrong?" Ita asked.

I sighed heavily, fighting back tears before I turned to face him, "how long are we going to do this for?" I asked, "how long are we going to pretend that our lives aren't completely screwed up?"

Itachi eyed me slightly confused and he shrugged, "I wouldn't say our lives are so bad…screwed up, yes, but it's not that bad…"

"Itachi," I groaned. I held up my left hand, showing him my engagement ring, "you've proposed to the daughter of a Tailed Beast, and your fiancé and daughter are probably the two most feared monsters on the planet. You're an S-ranked criminal charged for the murder of his clan but were acting on orders from the Leaf. And, on top of everything else, your living best friend looks like a fish. What's not screwed up about that?"

"You left out all the normal parts, which why it sounds so bad," Itachi chuckled, "and we have really got to stop making fun of Kisame. He's going to go ape on us one day."

"Well, he needs to stop being so easy to make fun of," I groaned, "But Ita, I…ugh…I don't know how to say…I just feel like I'm being stretched in all directions. I'm tired of living in secret like this. I'm tired of having to go back and forth between two places because I can't bring you with me. I'm tired of calling you my fiancé because I want to just call you my husband already. And frankly, I'm really tired of your heart and I'm tired of all the lies!"

I shook as I finished speaking. I instantly felt guilty as I said the last part, I hadn't expected for that to come out. Ita was silent for a long moment, his expression hardened. He looked up at me with stone, but sad eyes and asked, "…are you breaking up with me?"

"What?" I asked in disbelief, "No! I—I would never! Ita, you're the love of my life! I'm just…I'm just sick of having to put up with all of this shit!"

Ita looked away and nodded, he sighed heavily and said, "I'm surprised you aren't, honestly…after everything I put you through this week alone…"

I nodded, fighting back tears, "I almost considered it," I admitted, "you really put me through a cheese grater with all of this news at once, but I know you didn't intend for me to find out everything. I know you were only looking for the right time to sit me down and explain to me what was really going on. You were just trying to protect me, and I understand."

Ita remained silent for a long moment. He leaned forward and lowered his head before he looked up at me, his voice cracking as he said, "Ari, I am so sorry for everything. I'm sorry I've put you through all of this, and I'm sorry I had to be the one you fell in love with."

"Why would you be sorry for that?" I asked, starting to lose it, "Ita, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I don't care how much I have to suffer, as long as I can stay by your side. You're the only one I ever feel at peace with."

"Ari…" Ita looked away, "you are too good to me, you know that?"

I shook my head, tears escaping my eyes, "I'm not good enough…if I had just been quicker to the catch…if my medical ninjutsu was even decent at all…I could've…I wouldn't have to…goddammit, Itachi, I can't say goodbye to you!"

At that, I began to sob. I clutched the blanket over my lap tightly as I bent over, lowering my head. The tears came out uncontrollably and it took everything I had to keep from screaming. Itachi watched me for a moment, but then pulled me gently onto his lap, cradling me and comforting me while I cried. His kindness only made me cry harder as I realized I didn't know how much longer I could be in his arms like that.

I was still crying when Kisame brought a sleeping Hana upstairs. He looked over at Ita and me, a frown on his face, "I'll just put her to bed then," he said softly.

"Thank you, Kisame," Itachi said gratefully. I would have thanked Kisame as well, but I was too busy holding onto Itachi for dear life, crying like a baby. When Kisame left again, Itachi stroked my back gently, humming softly in my ear before he finally said, "Ari, there is just one thing I wanted to tell you…about what will happen in the next few months, that is."

I stopped sobbing long enough to look up at him, my face puffy and red and soaked in tears. He wiped the tears off my face and he held my head in his hands as he looked me in the eye and said, "the first night we spent with Hana, I knew I didn't know how long I would be able to spend with you guys, and I realized something that night. I had resolved to do exactly as I am about to promise you."

"What-what do you mean?" I whimpered.

"Ari, no matter what happens, no matter what hell or high waters may await us," Itachi began, "but I promise to stand by your side and protect you and Hana with my life until the day I die. But even in death, I will not leave you. You may not be able to see me, but I will be there, guiding you towards happiness. I will carry you when you are no longer able to stand, and I will sing to you when you are unable to sleep, and I will hold you in my arms, protecting you from harm for the rest of eternity. And I will do the same for Hana, loving her as a father should. You may not know it, you may move on and find new love, and I may become nothing more than a painful memory. In fact, I hope that's one day the case, but I will always be there, watching over you. Do you understand?"

My eyes widened as Ita spoke. His words were comforting and heartbreaking at the same time, but my mind was put at ease by the words of his promise. I leaned back into his chest and held him tight as he rocked me back and forth. "Itachi…" I whimpered, "thank you…"

A few moments later, the light came on in Hana's room and she came trudging out into the living room, holding Tim-Tim tightly. She rubbed her sleepy eyes, worry encasing them when she saw me. "Mommy?" she asked, "why are you crying?"

I shook my head, standing up. I held Ita's hand tightly, not wanting to ever let go and we walked over to her. "Nothing's wrong, sweetie," I said, "Daddy's just being a hopeless romantic is all. Did we wake you?"

Hana shook her head, "I got thirsty," she explained. I took Hana in my arms and brought her back to her room, tucking her into bed. Ita went downstairs to get a bottle of water then returned moments later, handing the bottle to her. I stroked Hana's forehead gently and Ita lied down next to her, the three of us just enjoyed each other's company.

"Can you sing me a song?" Hana asked sleepily as she yawned.

Ita and I exchanged glances, but I started to sing the chorus of one of Hana's favorites, "You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains…"

Ita then sang, "you raise me up, to walk on stormy seas…"

Then we both sang together, "I am strong when I am on your shoulders. You raise me up, to more than I can be…"

Hana smiled and began to close her eyes as we sang more of the song. When she had finally drifted off to sleep, I grabbed Tim-Tim who had been tossed to the foot of the bed and set him down next to her before I pulled the covers up to her chin. I kissed her forehead and Ita followed suit by kissing her on the cheek and whispering into her ear, "Goodnight, my little wild flower."

We both crawled into bed that night lying on our sides, facing each other. We looked into each other's eyes and held hands, saying nothing. I scooted closer to him and buried my face into his chest as we fell asleep in each other's arms. I smiled to myself as we did so, thinking back to the picture of us four-year olds sleeping hand-in-hand. Who knew that such a harmless action could blossom into a relationship so poisoned yet blessed with love such as ours.

I fell asleep, afraid of the future, but also comforted by Itachi's promise. He would stand by my side and carry me when I could no longer stand. He would be my rock to lean on, even if he wasn't there. That promise and Hana's smile would be my comfort as the storm came through. After that night, Ita's health quickly took a turn for the worse, and our love was trampled over and tried time and time again as we were ripped out of each other's arms, then brought back together, and the process repeated over the course of the next year, as the hunt for the Bijuu continued, a fierce and final battle with Sasuke ensued, the Leaf saw its destruction at the hands of pain, a war in pursuit of Naruto and the Eight-Tailed Jinchuuriki began, and the Edo Tensei Jutsu wreaked havoc on the living world, reviving the dead upon its activation before stopping just as abruptly as it came, but not before reviving Madara Uchiha, who almost single-handedly destroyed the world alongside Obito Uchiha and the Ten-Tailed Juubi, and my Mother, who I fought in one final battle with before she freed herself from the jutsu and gave me the strength to help Naruto save the shinobi world and possibly saved my life with her final gift of life.