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Onyx and Ivory

The sound of birds chirping was the first thing that Hoshiko heard when she awoke from her deep slumber. As consciousness slowly came back to her she could feel the ache in her limbs and the pounding headache behind her eyes. She groaned softly, reaching up to her face and pressing the palm of her hand into her eye socket, hoping to relieve some of the pain she was feeling.

She was on a futon, a blanket tucked around her body as she slowly opened her eyes and looked around the room, it was pitch black in the room, nighttime.

Memories slowly came back to her, one by one she remembered everything that had happened. She could hear the screams in her head, the painful cries and the sound of blood splattering against the walls and floors. She squeezed her eyes shut, but her mind was filled with images, some from her own memories, others from the people she had killed. It was filling her up from the inside, the voices, the images. Her hands went to her temple, digging into her scalp as she tried to block it all out. Her body was trembling, her head shaking from side to side.

"Stop," She hissed to herself, her voice hoarse. "Stop it," She hissed again, as if in pain. The screams became louder, the faces of the deceased clouding her vision as she could feel the lump in her throat and the pain in her own heart. "Stop!" She cried loudly.

A knock on the screen door had her jumping in fright; she sat up on the futon, her eyes wide as she searched the darkness. The voices and screams died away slowly as Hoshiko waited for whoever had knocked to enter her room. When she didn't speak there was another knock. Hoshiko threw the blanket off her, noticing that she had been changed out of her clothes and into a white yukata, similar to the blue one she had wore into Kosui's mansion. She didn't dwell on the fact that someone had changed her while she had been unconscious as she stood up and paced over to the door, ignoring the strain in her legs.

She pulled the door to the side, opening it up and letting the light from the hallway seep into the room as a haunted face lunged for her. It was Kosui's rotted corpse, Hoshiko jumped back, a scream ripping through her mouth as Kosui placed his fingers around her neck and squeezed the life out of her. The hole in his heart dripped blood onto the floor; his lifeless eyes bore into hers as she shrieked loudly.

Hoshiko's body jerked awake, her eyes snapping open in shock as she sat up on the futon. Her whole body shook as she gasped for breath, her fingers clutching at the blanket that had been wrapped around her. Her side bangs stuck to her cheeks and forehead from her perspiration as her silver eyes darted around forest. A small fire crackled nearby, only embers were left as her eyes settled on a figure perched on a log on the other side of the fire. The full moon peeked out from behind the thick clouds as the moonlight shone down on her companion. He was sitting stoically on the log and even from the low fire light and moonlight Hoshiko could see that he was staring at her. She withdrew her gaze from him, taking in her surroundings once more as she rubbed her face and pushed her damp hair out of her face.

"Where are we?" She managed to croak out. She could still feel the drain on her body from using her Mizukiri; it wasn't as bad as the last time.

"Just outside Hanabira. I thought it best we make camp out here in case the Shinobi from the mansion came to find us." Itachi replied monotonously.

"The children?" Hoshiko inquired.

"All have been returned to their villages, they are all safe," Itachi replied softly.

Hoshiko managed to smile, "That's good. How long was I out?" She asked.

"A day," he answered.

Hoshiko nodded, she glanced up at the sky, seeing the billions of stars twinkling above her. She sighed, pushing the thin blanket off her legs as she clambered to her feet.

"You should rest." Itachi told her firmly. She ignored him and brushed off the shakiness in her legs as she slowly walked around the fire and came to sit next to him on the log. She plopped down, a groan emanating from her mouth as she rubbed her legs and arms.

"I will get more wood," Itachi said quietly as he rose from the log, disappearing into the darkness as Hoshiko sat silently, listening to all of the night creatures around her sing their songs.

As she sat there, filtering through her memories, she couldn't help but think back on what happened in the mansion, she could remember everything clearly. The Shinobi she had killed, the way she had done it, the pints of blood splattering on the walls and floors and the painful cries as they begged for mercy. Their screams started to echo in her head once more, just like they had in her nightmare, dozens of memories invaded her vision, were they hers? Or the memories from the people she had killed? She didn't know anymore. Everything was blurring together, she tried to filter out what was real and what was taken. She could see faces, dozens of faces, family, friends; people she had never met before but knew nonetheless.

Her hands found their way to her head, gripping at her hair as she tried to drown out the screams, her body began rocking backwards and forwards on the log as her eyes squeezed shut.

"Please," she quietly begged. "Leave me alone."

Tears began to form under her closed lids as she hunched down, her head touching her knees.

A hand on her shoulder had her jumping out of her seat, she gasped, her eyes shooting open in fear as she stumbled a few feet away from the log. Her silver eyes found Itachi, who was calmly staring at her, a few thick branches in his hand, the other was still extended out to her as his brows dipped into a frown.

"I'm sorry!" Hoshiko gasped out, trying to calm her beating heart. Now that her attention was diverted, the voices and memories in her head had started to die down, they were still present, they just weren't overwhelming her anymore.

"What are you sorry for?" Itachi asked. He tossed the branches into the dying fire as embers sparked and floated up into the air. He turned his attention back to Hoshiko who was sitting back down on the log.

"I know I said I wasn't going to use it, but I did. I thought that I would be ok, that I wouldn't feel like this…"

"Like what?" Itachi pried.

"…Like a monster," Hoshiko whispered painfully. Her hand clasped her shirt over her heart, feeling the erratic beating beneath her palm. "I wanted to prove that I could control it, that I wouldn't turn out like the rest of them, like what the villagers all thought I would become—but I couldn't control it, and now…"

"You saved fifteen lives," Itachi reminded her, he sat next to her once more. Hoshiko's watery eyes glanced over at her friend sitting beside her.

"I killed them." She stated.

Itachi sighed, "We would've dealt with them accordingly."

Hoshiko shook her head, her mouth agape as she furrowed her brow, "Not that like! There's killing for justice, and slaughtering people. You saw what I did and I couldn't control myself! You saw how powerful I became; I killed all of them without a second thought. You even tried to stop me—how did you stop me?" Hoshiko changed the subject quickly, thinking back to her last memories.

Itachi remained quiet for a few seconds, thinking over what he was going to say to her as he faced her, "My Sharingan." He said.

Hoshiko suddenly remembered that Itachi had indeed activated his Sharingan with her, it had been when he threw the kunai to distract her, when she turned back he was inches from her, his crimson gaze locked on hers. After that was when she felt like herself once more.

"I didn't know if it would work, your Mizukiri is rooted in your eyes and head. I placed a simple Genjutsu on you, interrupting the stream and allowing you to disable it."

Hoshiko pressed her lips into a firm line, "How long have you been thinking about that?"

"Since the first time you used it. I knew that there would come a day when it would happen again, I was prepared to stop you," he replied instantly. Itachi suddenly thought back to the deal he made with the Sandaime.

"Then an ultimatum," Itachi said firmly, his onyx eyes meeting the Sandaime's murky brown. "I will ensure that she never harms another person with her Kekkei Genkai again. I know it had been brought to the advisors attention that she is dangerous, if she found out about the Coup, I wouldn't doubt she would try everything to stop it."

There was a tense silence between them both, the two Konoha Shinobi stared the other down, waiting for the other to back down. Itachi hadn't wanted to resort to this, but he saw it as the only way to make sure that Hoshiko wouldn't wind up dead. She would probably hate him if she ever found out, but Itachi was prepared to take that burden on his shoulders, he wouldn't let innocent blood be spilt.

"Is that all?" The Sandaime asked him with his piercing gaze. Itachi nodded once. "Then I agree to your terms." There was a pause. "But if she should hurt another person, then she will be placed on the surveillance team stationed on the Uchiha watch. Good luck on your mission tomorrow."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama."

"We shouldn't speak of this to anyone in Konoha," Itachi muttered quietly. "Even if it was against enemy Shinobi, I doubt the advisors would be pleased." Itachi said, referring to Koharu and Homura who had been against her from the very start.

"You're right," Hoshiko agreed, sighing.

Itachi felt bad about deceiving her, he should tell her the truth, that he made a deal with the Sandaime, but then the why questions would pop up, he was doing this to keep her out of the Uchiha affairs. It was better for Hoshiko to not be involved with this; he just hoped that this would be the last incident with her Mizukiri.

"Get some rest." He told her softly, feeling her chakra fluctuate from the stress.

"I can't sleep, I'll have nightmares." Hoshiko stated, her voice weak and quiet. She drew her legs up on the log and wrapped her arms around them, her gaze fixated on the now burning fire. "Every time I shut my eyes, I see their faces, hear their screams, live their memories." Hoshiko froze when she realized what she had said. Itachi didn't know about the memories part.

"Memories?" He questioned, turning to face her. Hoshiko tried to bury her face in her knees. She kicked herself mentally; she hadn't meant to let anyone ever know about her ability to harvest people's memories as well as their chakra. "What do you mean?" Itachi asked her.

"It's nothing," she said hastily, standing up from the log. She tried walking to her futon when she felt his hand grip her wrist.

"Hoshiko," he called her name.

She turned to face him, pulling her arm out of his grip; it was easy seeing as he was applying hardly any pressure.

"Just leave it," she said to him, her eyes hardening. She got two steps before he captured her wrist once more and stopped her from walking away from him.

"Why do you not trust me?" He said.

"Why do you care so much?" She retorted with a frown.

"What did you mean?"

"You should learn when to drop something."

"I will when you learn to stop being so stubborn."

"Don't hold your breath."

Hoshiko held his gaze, waiting for him to back down, but she knew that neither of them would. As Hoshiko continued to stare into his bottomless black orbs, she thought back to Aishi, and her reading of her. Aishi had practically told her to open up to someone about her ability, that she shouldn't carry her burden alone; but could she subject Itachi to the real reason why she feared her Mizukiri so much?

Hoshiko was faintly aware that his fingers were still wrapped around her wrist, tighter then they were before, probably because he didn't want her to turn away from him again.

Hoshiko's gaze softened slightly, she knew that if there was one person on this planet that she could trust with her secret, it would be Itachi. It was doing her more harm than good to keep this to herself, so maybe she should confide in him.

"I take them, the memories." She said finally.

Itachi's expression remained impassive, "…I don't understand…" Itachi muttered. If the situation had been any different, Hoshiko would've laughed at confusing the almighty Uchiha Itachi.

So much for being the Uchiha prodigy, Hoshiko thought to herself. "It's a side effect, I guess," Hoshiko explained. "When I absorb their chakra, I take their memories too, it happened with Kakashi."

There was a beat of silence.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Itachi asked her.

Hoshiko scoffed and shook her head, "How could I tell anyone? People are scared of me enough as it is, if I say that I can take their memories, how would they react? I'm starting to understand how my clan managed to infiltrate the Konoha camps. They took their memories Itachi!" Hoshiko was getting worked up, her voice was rising, "All those people I killed, I know everything about them, I know their whole lives, I can hear their voices in my head, see the lives they have lived." She thought back to Kakashi's memory.

"I know things that I shouldn't know. Sometimes I think that their memories are my own. I don't know what's real and what's not anymore," Hoshiko said desperately, her voice lowering once more.

"I can take them away." Itachi stated. Hoshiko searched his face for a lie; she found none.

"You can?" She asked.

Itachi nodded once, "The Sharingan can make you forget certain things—"

"Do it!" Hoshiko cried, she stepped towards Itachi, her free hand grasping the sleeve of his shirt tightly. "Please," she added.

Itachi looked for any doubt in her expression but he saw none, she was determined about this. He shut his eyes for a second, and when they reopened Hoshiko was staring into blazing crimson eyes. Her hand dropped from his sleeve and fell to her side.

"You're sure?" Itachi asked her.

Hoshiko nodded. Itachi's tomoe started to slowly swirl as suddenly her hands gripped his shirt again by his stomach, "I don't want to forget about what happened. Just take their memories away," she instructed. Itachi didn't reply but instead captured her silver gaze within his own as he began to filter through her memories, finding hers and the unwanted ones.

Hoshiko slumped down onto the log, Itachi following her as Hoshiko held her head. Itachi was concerned that he hadn't been able to take them all.

"What's wrong?" He asked her.

Hoshiko smiled, glancing over at him, "Nothing. It's quiet."

When Hoshiko awoke the next morning, she kept her breathing even and her chakra flow subtle, she didn't want Itachi to know that she was awake just yet. She felt the sun on her exposed skin; it wasn't yet warm so it was probably early in the morning still. Her head was resting on something comfortable, but she was still sitting up on the log from last night. She could feel the object gently rising and falling in sync with her own slow breaths, it was then she realized that she was leant against Itachi's shoulder. She remembered him telling her to go to sleep after he had wiped her memories from the Sound Shinobi, she had refused, saying that she would still have nightmares about what had happened, thinking back to the horrible one she had about Kosui. Itachi had then told her to try and rest, she had complied, and sometime during the night she had fallen asleep against him.

She wondered why she hadn't fallen off the log, it wasn't like she had any support—wait, she did. Now that she was fully awake she could feel a warm hand gripping her shoulder, Itachi's arm supporting her back as she slept against him during the night. He probably hadn't moved her in case she woke up. Hoshiko also realized that she had slept rather well, even though her back was aching from sitting up, she hadn't dreamt about killing, blood or the stench of death.

She then felt guilty, she made him sit up the entire night on the uncomfortable log with her, he should've just shoved her to the floor and told her to go sleep on her futon like a normal person, but Itachi was too polite to do anything of the sort. She could feel the blush rising to her cheeks as she thought about the position they were in, she had never seen Itachi come into close contact with anyone but his brother and mother, they were the exception, and she couldn't figure out why he would have his arm wrapped around her as she slept soundly beside him while he had to endure the night.

There was a little voice inside Hoshiko's head telling her that she was enjoying the feeling of his hand on her shoulder and the warmth of his arm on her back a little too much; Itachi was just being polite, as soon as she woke up they would go about their day as if nothing happened.

She shifted on the log, pretending to be waking up as she made her chakra return to a more faster flow, as soon as she had started to move, she felt Itachi straighten his back and he withdrew his hand and arm from around her. Hoshiko raised her head from his shoulder, rubbing her eyes as she yawned loudly.

"Did you sleep at all?" Hoshiko asked him through her yawn.

Itachi shook his head. Hoshiko could see the bags under his eyes and the way his face had become paler.

"Gomen," Hoshiko said softly. "I should've let you sleep last night instead of me."

"You needed it more than I did." Itachi commented as he stood from the log. He walked to the fire, seeing the embers still glowing under the ashen logs.

"Don't be stupid," Hoshiko scolded him. "You need your rest too, tonight I'll take the watch."

Itachi kicked the dirt onto the fire, effectively putting out the embers, "Now who's being the fool?" He commented lightly.

The return journey to Konoha was peaceful for the two ANBU agents; they had detoured into Hanabira before setting out, seeing the lively town, and hearing laughter and joy from the safe return of the children. They hadn't stuck around for very long, both eager to make their way back home. They had jumped and ran side by side the entire time, at night they set their beds up near each other, not realizing it until either one of them had laid down first, but both were too shy to move away. Hoshiko had found it comforting to have Itachi near her, she slept more peacefully when he was, much like the night on the log.

On the third day the tall gates loomed on the horizon, Hoshiko had breathed a sigh of relief and had pointed out to Itachi that they were in fact almost home. "Look there they are!"

"I do have eyes."

Itachi had told her that he had realized something was amiss when the messenger hawk that had returned informed him that the owner of the inn that they had been staying at was a male widow. It had been why they had gone to the inn in the first place, the previous team had stayed there and when Itachi had mentioned the information they had received from the elderly woman the Chuunin team had thought to correct him, setting off the alarm bells in his head. He had also sent a hawk back to Konoha the day Hoshiko had been asleep, informing them of the safe retrieval of the children and the demise of the man responsible, he hadn't gone into detail of how the man had died for obvious reasons but he had dwelled more on the fact that all the children had been returned home safely.

It was then that Hoshiko and Itachi found themselves reporting to the Hokage personally, both stood with straight backs, their arms stuck firmly to their sides and their masks still covering their stoic faces.

"Remove your masks," the Sandaime said, drawing in from his pipe and exhaling the smoke around the room. Both Itachi and Hoshiko complied as they reached up simultaneously and removed their porcelain masks, holding them by their sides. Hoshiko tried to keep the fear off her face, she knew that they had agreed to keep what had happened with her Mizukiri a secret, but she couldn't help but feel fearful that the Sandaime would figure it out. She tried to calm her nerves, this was the Hokage before her, he would be able to pick up on her chakra flow in an instant if she started to panic too much.

"I read through most of your report, but I would like to hear it from both of you with what transpired," the Sandaime requested as Itachi nodded, taking the lead. Hoshiko silently thanked him, there was no way that she would be able to keep the weariness out of her voice had she been the one to recall the events of the past week.

Itachi delved into great detail of what happened to them, he recalled their meetings with Sadao-san and the elderly woman who fed them false information to lure them into the trap at Kosui's mansion. Before the pair had returned to Konoha, Hoshiko had filled him in on everything that had happened in the mansion before he had arrived.

"It seems that this Kosui was using the Shinobi to kidnap the children and he would sell them off to the man behind everything, he wanted them for experiments."

"Experiments?" The Sandaime repeated.

"Yes," Itachi confirmed with a nod. The Sandaime's tawny gaze passed over both Itachi and Hoshiko.

"Did they reveal who was behind it?"

"No, Hokage-sama," Hoshiko chose to talk. "They were Shinobi from a village we had never seen before. They called it Otogakure."

"Sound?" The Sandaime clarified.

Hoshiko nodded, "Their headbands had a musical note, they said their master wanted the children for experiments and he had been studying many aging techniques."

At this, the Sandaime sighed, rubbing his fingers across his forehead as he took another long drag from his pipe. He had a feeling he knew who was exactly behind this.

"Hokage-sama?" Itachi inquired, seeing the defeated look on the old mans face.

"I believe I know who was behind this unfortunate event," he revealed; causing both Hoshiko and Itachi to exchange concerned looks. "His name is Orochimaru."

Itachi was able to recall a few meetings he had with a man called Orochimaru, he had been a Konoha Shinobi a long time ago, back when he was only a boy, he had deserted Konoha after being exposed at experimenting on the residents, he was also the Sandaime's student and one of the Legendary Sannin.

"I've heard about him," Hoshiko said, a slight frown on her face as she tried to recall her memories.

"He was my student." The Sandaime continued. "He betrayed Konoha years ago, we lost track of him when he deserted, the last we heard he had crossed into the Rice Country, if what you say is true then Orochimaru has started up his own Hidden Village and is still continuing with his experiments."

"Why take children from the Fire Country? If he deserted he should've figured out that we would come to find out sooner or later," Hoshiko argued.

The Sandaime rose from his chair, he turned his back on the two young ANBU as his old and weary gaze settled over Konoha. "Orochimaru's hatred stems from being passed over as Hokage after me. He loathes Konoha and the Fire Country; him continuing his experiments is an attack not only on this country but on me as well. His arrogance is also another reason; he believes that he would get away with it and explains why he took the children from the Fire Country and not anywhere else."

"We should send a team to stop him," Hoshiko offered. "Two of his men could still be alive, we can find him and put a stop to this, he's an enemy of Konoha."

"By this time Orochimaru would've covered his tracks," The Sandaime told her, turning around to face the young girl. "There is no need to send a team, I will send this information to Jiraiya, he's been trying to find evidence of Orochimaru for years now."

Hoshiko recognized that name too, she had learnt about the Three Legendary Sannin back in her academy days.

Tsunade, she was the best medic ninja in the Fire Country, if not the world.

Jiraiya, the Toad Sage; he could summon companions as large as towns themselves supposedly.

And Orochimaru, they hadn't gone into much information about the Snake Sannin, only that he was probably one of the most intellectual Shinobi to ever come out of Konoha.

"I commend you both for the safe retrieval of the children and success of the mission given the circumstances that arose from it," the Sandaime changed the subject, not wanting to dwell on Orochimaru any longer then necessary. His tawny gaze hovered over Hoshiko, "You're dismissed, Hoshiko. Itachi," his gaze moved over to the Uchiha who had been standing quietly. "I must inform you about your next mission, please remain." The Hokage said as Itachi quietly nodded his head.

Hoshiko bowed to the Hokage, wondering why Itachi was being briefed on another mission when they had barely been home five minutes. She gave Itachi a reassuring nod as she left the room, shutting the door softly behind her as she headed off down the stairs.

She detoured to the ANBU headquarters to drop off her mask and armor; now that she was back she wouldn't need it until her next mission, she didn't know how long that would be as of yet. She didn't want to say out loud that she was jealous of Itachi already having another mission, seeing as that mission would obviously be without her; they had worked well together, they knew each other and were able to feed off of each other, and she was still slightly terrified that if she went on another mission and Itachi was not there to stop her from going on a rampage with her Mizukiri; people might get hurt again.

The door shut with a resonating click as Itachi faced the Hokage once more; the Sandaime had returned to his chair and was now flicking through paperwork on his desk.

"I trust no incidents happened with her Mizukiri?" The Sandaime asked.

"None, as I promised," Itachi lied coolly, not giving anything away. He had become accustomed to lying on a daily basis now; it had become second nature to him to lie to those around him. No one was safe from his lies, not even Shisui and Hoshiko themselves.

"That's good to hear, the advisors were worried about it," the Sandaime commented.

"Their worry was not needed. Hoshiko managed the mission fine."

The Sandaime 'hmmed' in acknowledgement as he set down the papers he had been flicking through, "Now then. On to other important matters, you should be informed of what transpired with the Uchiha while you were gone…"

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

Hoshiko stretched her arms above her head as she exited the ANBU headquarters; a loud yawn escaped her mouth as she glanced up at the setting sun. The sky was melting into a burning fire, oranges, reds and pinks started molding together to create such a picturesque sight for her. Hoshiko decided that she had been away from Konoha long enough to forget what the colours did to the village, the best spot was to see it from atop the Hokage monument. She knew that she should return home to see her mother, she was probably worried about her, seeing as this was her first ANBU mission, but she could wait a couple more minutes, Hoshiko wanted to have this moment to herself.

As she turned to head towards the stairs that would take her up the mountain she spotted a figure crouched by the floor, their back pressed against the wooden fence; their arms encircled their knees. The child's scruffy black hair stuck up in all directions, his pale skin was marred with dirt and his clothes had small tears and stains on it.

"Yo, Sasuke!" Hoshiko called out to the little boy. Said boy turned his head, glancing up at the taller girl as she approached him. His wide onyx eyes, identical to his older brother stared up at her. "What are you doing here?" She asked him, giving him a comforting smile. Sasuke pouted.

"Waiting for Nii-san."

"Maa, you might be waiting a while. The Hokage needed to talk to him about his next mission." Hoshiko muttered.

"Already?" Sasuke cried out, his expression betrayed him as he looked away sadly. "Nii-san is always on missions," he grumbled, a quiver in his voice.

Hoshiko bit her bottom lip as she rubbed the back of her head, "Did I say mission?" She corrected herself with a toothy grin. "What I meant to say was that I'm pretty sure Itachi was debriefing the Hokage about his mission and that he was on his way to go buy you a present for being away for so long!"

Sasuke's reaction was immediate; he jumped up from the floor, his grin wide and his dark eyes sparking, "Really?"

"You bet!" Hoshiko mirrored his excitement. "He said something about it being really expensive and cool you know!"

"That's so awesome!" Sasuke jumped up and down in excitement, his little fists pumping the air.

"You should definitely go find him, he said something about going to the market district, he might be there already!" Hoshiko continued on with the lie as Sasuke beamed up at her.

"Nii-san is the best! Arigato, Hoshiko-nee-chan!"

Sasuke, the fastest she had ever seen the child run, sprinted off in the direction of the market district as Hoshiko stood rooted to the spot, a blush coating her cheeks as she realized that Sasuke had referred to her as a sister. It was the first time that had ever happened, Sasuke normally detested her; they had always been at each other's throats for as long as she could remember. It brought her happiness.

Hoshiko heard footsteps to her right; she sensed Itachi's chakra as she ran over to him. The Uchiha looked startled to see her as she ran right up to him, as she was passing she gripped his hand in hers and tugged him along behind her.

"What's the meaning of this?" Itachi questioned her as Hoshiko leapt up onto the nearest roof. Itachi let out a sound of surprise, as he had to follow along behind her, her grip was like a pair of handcuffs when she wanted it to be.

Hoshiko landed on the roof and crouched down, peering over the tiles as she checked to make sure that Sasuke hadn't seen his older brother. Itachi landed beside her as she released his hand.

"Ok, I don't think he saw us," Hoshiko sighed in relief as Itachi continued to stare at her like she had lost her mind.

"Why did you drag me up here?" Itachi asked her, annoyance in his voice as Hoshiko faced him. She was facing the setting sun as Itachi had to slightly recompose himself, her eyes reflected the sunlight, making them shine ethereally, it reminded him of when she used her Mizukiri, her eyes would glow; but then again it also just seemed really beautiful.

"I kind of told Sasuke that you were buying him a present."

"You what?"

"Well he was sad and he was waiting for you! I told him that you were getting a mission brief and he got really upset so I kind of said the first thing that came to mind!" Hoshiko explained quickly, not pausing to take a breath.

"And now I have to buy him something…" Itachi deadpanned.

"Yes—expensive too."

"Expensive?" Itachi's eyes narrowed.

Hoshiko shrugged her shoulders with her hands up, "I didn't want him to be sad," she said. "What better way to make up for lost time then with an expensive present, works on me all the time!"

"That I do not doubt," Itachi muttered under his breath.

Hoshiko heard him perfectly as she narrowed her own eyes, without thinking she took his hand once more, causing Itachi to jump slightly and try to tug his hand away but Hoshiko just held on tighter as she yanked him off the roof and down onto the ground.

"Just for that, you're going to buy me one too!"

"Why do I have to buy you one?" Itachi asked, confused.

"Because you're being a baka! Baka." Hoshiko scoffed in amusement as she marched through the streets, dragging a seriously confused Itachi behind her with a huge question mark over his head.

Itachi stood back with his arms crossed, a tender smile on his normally stoic face as he watched Sasuke, his little brother, playing with his brand new Shuriken set that he had bought him not an hour ago. The steel shuriken were more of an ornament then actual weapon, but nonetheless, Sasuke was pretending to throw them at the wooden post. It seemed that Hoshiko's idea had actually worked, when Itachi and Hoshiko had found Sasuke peering into a window shop Sasuke had run over, his little mouth chatting his ears off, begging to know what Itachi had got him. Hoshiko had suggested the set of steel shuriken, to which Itachi had sent her a pointed look but Sasuke had 'whooped' and pleaded with him.

Itachi could never say no to his little brother.

He would never admit it to his boisterous friend, but she had been right, it was the right thing to do for Sasuke seeing as he had been away for over a week, and he was indeed scheduled to go on another mission soon. He just hoped that Sasuke wouldn't be expecting a lavish gift every time he went away.

"These are—really—good!" Hoshiko said in between chews as Itachi lowered his head to Hoshiko. She was sitting on the deck, a pile of dango in her lap as she placed the skewer in her mouth and used her teeth to take all the food off it. "No wonder you love dango so much! These are the best in the village!" Hoshiko said in delight as she proceeded to eat another two.

Itachi sighed, his smile growing, Hoshiko's gift had indeed been dango from the Uchiha owned store just down the road. She lifted her head to look up at him, offering him a stick, "Want one?" She asked, her mouth brimming with the sweets.

Itachi reached out to take the stick from her when Hoshiko quickly pulled her hand away, "Just kidding! These are all mine!" She laughed maniacally, tossing her head back.

Itachi rolled his eyes at her, but then smirked as his suddenly pulled out a dango sweet from behind his back.

It was comical to watch Hoshiko's silver eyes zone in on it as her mouth dropped open.

"Oi!"

Hi guys! I'm sorry this took a little longer to get out, I honestly re-wrote the beginning part so many times! I just couldn't figure out how I wanted to scene to play out when she woke up, but finally i settled on that one and I'm happy with it finally! I loved all of your reviews about the fight and crazy Hoshiko! Hopefully you guys all enjoyed this chapter even though it's kind of a filler/bridge. From now on it'll start to be more focusing on the coup and the Uchiha's downfall! So prepare yourselves for what's going to happen! Also how cute were these little Hoshiko/Itachi moments!

REPLIES

jcwhale2380 - Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it and my fight scene's, I love writing them so much but I tend to always drag them on and loose track of how much I write with them, not necessarily a bad thing though! xD

StarshineRose18 - Yes this girl can get a little crazy, I wouldn't want to cross her on a bad day!

Bananarock509 - It's ok I wasn't upset or anything! No harm no foul! I thank you for the compliment! :) Honestly I would find it hilarious if i found another story like this one!

ALilSweetNSour - She is a badass, I love that about her! Thank you! In a previous chapter with Danzo explaining to his root member he does go into a bit of detail about her abilities, I actually can't remember what chapter it was but he mentions that her clan does have a tendency to sort of become 'addicted' to the power, so pretty much it's her having the side-effects of her ability.

Sora4D - Yep she's a real creeper with ripping people's limbs off without batting an eye. I hope you enjoyed her reaction and Itachi's reaction to her and all the little moments in between with them both!

Sarette - Thank you! I do too!

Davina - Thank you! I'm pretty sure that it's my favourite chapter to date so far, I just love writing the fight scene and Hoshiko going a little cray cray. Post-massacre will be coming up soon, not sure how many chapters as i keep getting new idea's to throw into the story xD

Thanks for all your reviews guys! I would like some of your opinions on her abilities, I have tried really hard to not make her too OP and not a Mary-sue, even though she does have a massive power boost and she does become powerful it does give her major side effects that even she can't hide from. I would just like to know if you guys think that it's all ok, do you think she's too powerful? Too weak? Or just right? Remember she is only a kid and has just started using it so over time she'll learn to control it and learn more about her ability but I would just love to hear what you guys think about it!