Sunagakure

Onyx and Ivory

Hoshiko sliced through the air with her Wakizashi drawn. Her brows were knitted together as she spun and stabbed her sword behind her, impaling an invisible enemy. She reached into her pouch and pulled out four shuriken and launched them at the hanging targets in the trees. Hoshiko dodged imaginary weapons and spun around the nearest tree and then unleashed her Wakizashi towards another target. Her sword was enveloped in lightning as it shot straight through the target, incinerating it and then getting stuck into a tree behind it.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she placed her hands atop her hips and collected her breathing. She heard clapping from the right as she angled her head over to the source of it. She spotted Sasuke sitting atop a rock, a bright grin on his face.

"That was so cool!" He cheered happily.

Hoshiko rolled her eyes at him as she walked over to the impaled tree to fetch her Wakizashi. Sasuke hopped down from the rock and skipped over to her. "I can throw shuriken just as good as you." He taunted her.

Hoshiko wrenched the sword out of the tree with a grunt. Wood chips flew out and smacked her in the forehead as she brushed them away and then turned back to Sasuke who was still hovering around.

"Oh really?" Hoshiko drawled.

Sasuke nodded firmly. "Yeah. I'm the best in my academy class."

"I seriously doubt that." Hoshiko brushed passed the eight year old. Sasuke's mouth dropped open, his brows furrowed. Hoshiko sheathed her sword into its holder on her back and reached for her water canteen that was sitting on a tree trunk. Hoshiko sat down and started drinking. As she did, Sasuke appeared before her, a great pout on his face and his hands placed sternly on his hips.

"I'm not lying!" Sasuke whined.

Hoshiko dropped the canteen and gave a great sigh. "Okay, tell you what," she said as she reached into her pouch and pulled out three shuriken. "If you can hit three targets in the dead center then I might believe you."

Sasuke beamed and snatched up the weapons. "I'll show you, I'll be just as good as Nii-san!"

Hoshiko suppressed her snort as Sasuke took his stance. She was waiting for him to throw the shuriken when Hoshiko felt a presence suddenly appear at her side. Hoshiko looked over her shoulder just as Sasuke threw the shuriken.

Itachi was standing next to her, his hands clasped behind his back as he looked on at Sasuke proudly. There were three little 'thunks' and a little whoop from Sasuke.

"Did you see tha—Nii-san!" Sasuke exclaimed excitedly. Hoshiko turned back to see Sasuke, forgetting about his little shuriken challenge, running over to his older brother. Itachi greeted him with a soft smile and a quick ruffle of his spiky hair.

"You're back!" Sasuke shouted happily. "How was your mission?"

"Fine." Itachi replied courteously. "I trust you've been keeping up with your academy training?"

"Of course." Sasuke said proudly.

Itachi turned to glance down at Hoshiko who was still sitting on the tree trunk. "And you?" He questioned.

"Training everyday, Senapi." Hoshiko mocked.

Itachi refrained from rolling his eyes at her, instead the corner of his lip quirked up into a smirk. "We shall see if all your training has paid off. I've been informed that your ANBU entrance exam will be taking place in two weeks."

"What?" Hoshiko screeched as she shot up from the trunk, her water canteen flying through the air. Itachi dodged it with grace. Hoshiko began pacing back and forth. "I can't believe it, I'm actually going to be an ANBU! Shit I need to train! Itachi I need you to teach me something—anything new!"

The older Uchiha regarded her quietly before smirking and resting his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "I cannot. I'm due for another mission in the morning and I promised Sasuke that I would spend some time with him."

The little boy in question stuck his tongue out at Hoshiko childishly, his expression smug. Hoshiko's teeth grit in annoyance as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You're honestly useless, Uchiha."

"Ask Shisui if he can help you." Itachi replied. He turned on his heel, pulling Sasuke along with him as he did so.

"Yeah like he's going to take time out of his busy day to train me? He's so caught up in the police force now he barely has time to hang out let alone train…" Hoshiko sighed, watching their retreating backs.

Itachi glanced over his shoulder at her, watching the dark haired teen stand there pouting. Sasuke was talking into his ear already about what they were going to do but he wasn't paying much attention to him. He already had a surprise for his little brother lined up back at the manor. He knew that Hoshiko would be annoyed at him for not training her right before her entrance exam—but he wouldn't have put forth her name if he didn't think she was ready…

Hoshiko watched them go. She had half a mind to chase after them, but decided against it. Instead she fetched her canteen that had been launched a few feet away from when she had jumped up and tied it to her waist. As she was about to leave the clearing, she forgot that she hadn't even checked to see if Sasuke had hit any of the targets. She turned her silver eyes up to the trees and hacked out a laugh.

"Well, what do you know…the little brat can aim," she said with a smile on her face as she stared up at three shuriken impaled in the dead center of their targets.

The scorching sun bore down against her cloaked back. Sweat was rolling down the side of her face and dripping off her chin, evaporating into the air before it could hit the sand beneath her feet. Even in the afternoon the heat of the Suna desert was still just as brutal. Hoshiko desperately wanted to remove her cloak, the material was weighing her down, she felt like she was going to overheat, but it was far more dangerous to not wear anything covering her body from the sun.

She avoided travelling during the heat of the day, only moving in the early morning, afternoon and well into the night. But the thing was with the desert, not only was it blistering hot in the day, it went into the below freezing temperatures during the night. Hoshiko wanted to arrive in Suna as quickly as possible. She couldn't take much more of this.

Seven months had passed since she had set off on her own, collecting information on the Bijuu as she went. When she had been in Kumo for four months, she had only managed to get the bare minimum on the Jinchuuriki whereabouts. Pein was satisfied though, he had told her that it would have to do and that she needed to head to Suna for work on the Ichibi.

What Hoshiko knew of the Ichibi was that its Jinchuuriki was the Kazekage, and that he was a young teenager. Hoshiko didn't know whether to marvel at the fact that someone so young could accomplish something like that or fear him, someone that powerful should be feared. How the hell were they supposed to get close enough to extract the Bijuu anyway?

That was her job, to figure it out.

She was hopefully on her final afternoon of travel. She had been in the desert for three days now; surely she should be getting close. On her map that she had 'acquired' from a very informative Suna Nin, it detailed landmarks that pointed you in the right direction. Hoshiko had been checking them constantly, and knew that she should be close to the village.

Hoshiko raised her head up to the sky, her straw hat jingled with the single bell attached to the brim. The sun was lower in the sky now, and she had to use a hand to block it out for a moment before she lowered her head back down. Just a little longer and then it would cool down again. If she had to choose, Hoshiko would pick the freezing cold over the sweltering heat any day.

It had been a lonely seven months for her. Sure she stayed in villages and spoke to random people, but it wasn't the same. She missed Itachi—which she really hated herself for. She hated being a girl that pined after the man she cared about, but she couldn't help it. She also missed, dare she say it, Kisame—and Deidara. She missed the banter, the joking, the ways that they would take her mind off of her crippling anxiety.

She had been in contact with Itachi on a regular basis; well it was more sporadic than regular. She would receive a crow with either a letter or some form of communication to let her know that he was ok and where he was. Hoshiko always replied to him, and nagged at him to keep up with his medicine. She never dwelt on the fact that she only had around a year and a half left with him—it hurt too much. She wanted her mission to be over so that she could reunite with him once more.

She staggered through the thick sand for a little while longer before she saw something on the horizon. Her mood perked up as she saw the looming walls of Sunagakure in the distance. Hoshiko let out a sigh of relief. Finally, she would be able to relax for a few days before she started her poking around.

As Hoshiko drew nearer to the village she knew that she needed to now contact Pein, and in turn, Sasori, to receive her new identity. There was a large boulder that she ducked behind, and using her senses she made sure that there was no one in the nearby vicinity for her to use the communication jutsu.

Hoshiko pumped chakra into her ring and then performed the hand seals that pulled her astral body out of herself. She felt the sensation of flying, and when she opened her eyes she was standing in the meeting room of the Ame hideout. The colours around here were muted, everything tinged in blacks and whites. From the shadows, Pein stepped out to greet her.

"You've arrived?" he asked her, his voice crackly through the communication.

"Just outside the village." Hoshiko stated tiredly.

Pein nodded to her. "I shall summon Sasori." He said. Pein created a hand seal and for a few moments there was silence between them both.

Sasori suddenly flickered into the room, his own hologram taking a quick look around the room before his sharp gaze narrowed in on Hoshiko. "Took you long enough to get there, brat." His distorted voice commented.

Hoshiko rolled her eyes at the beast like man. "It's not exactly the easiest of places to get to. Now, do you have the stuff for me or not?" Hoshiko demanded with an icy tone.

Sasori narrowed his eyes at her. He glanced over at Pein who gave the puppet man a small nod of the head. Sasori fixated his gaze back onto Hoshiko. "To the East of the village, just before you see the walls on the horizon there is a stone formation that resembles a scorpion. There you will find all the items you need to infiltrate Suna."

Hoshiko wanted to curse out Sasori. That meant she would have to double back to this stupid stone formation. She kept her attitude in check for the time being and simply resorted to nodding in acknowledgement.

"My sleeper agent, Yuura, is on the Kazekage's council and will not know anything about his Akatsuki involvement unless I undo the jutsu on him." Sasori explained.

"Which means you are on your own there." Pein added. "We already know quite a bit on the Kazekage. Your job is to analyze their defenses. Find their weaknesses. Find out the perfect time for us to strike and capture the Ichibi."

"I understand," Hoshiko replied numbly.

"Make no mistake," Pein continued on. Hoshiko met his gaze. "Our success relies on the information you find for us. Because of the nature of your assimilation, communication will be difficult, so I shall contact you in six months time. During that time you are to act as any normal Suna shinobi would. If they ask you to fight, you fight. If they ask you to kill, you kill. Do not give them any reason to suspect that you are an intruder."

Hoshiko nodded, keeping her guard up. It was going to be a long six months, or even longer if her mission carried on. Pein dismissed Sasori first as he flickered out of existence. Hoshiko held Pein's stare for a long moment before she too was dismissed.

Hoshiko found the stone formation with little difficulty. The worst thing had been walking away from the village after she had spent so long to get there in the first place. The stones were indeed set up like a crude scorpion; Sasori was obviously one for the dramatics. Hoshiko wondered where the items could possibly be, until she spotted an opening where the 'head' of the scorpion would be.

Hoshiko reached into the hole, and felt around blindly until her hand grasped a small bag. She pulled it out, thankful that Sasori hadn't booby-trapped the entire thing; it seemed like something he would've done.

Opening up the satchel Hoshiko tipped out the contents onto the sand. There was a Suna Hitai-ate, a photograph, a small sheet of paper and an identification card. Hoshiko picked up the card first and read over the name that she would be calling herself.

Noguchi Yakeru.

Another name. It reminded her of the years that she had spent as Fuyuko, pretending to be someone she wasn't. Now she was doing it all again. It was like the universe was telling her that Ginyoru Hoshiko wasn't good enough. Hoshiko stared down at the face of Yakeru. She had been a beautiful woman, face more stunning than Hoshiko. It was a pity that Sasori had claimed her life. Hoshiko tried not to dwell on that fact for too long.

Yakeru had stunning amber eyes, awkwardly large for her small head. Her hair was a mix of brown and blonde, it was sun bleached from the scorching Suna weather. She had been a Chuunin, and worked as an assistant to none other than Yuura. Hence why Sasori had killed her. It was the perfect way for Hoshiko to get close to the Kazekage and all the secrets of their village.

Hoshiko read over the piece of paper next. It gave her a quick detail of Yakeru's life. She had been an only child, her family lived in a small village on the border of the country and Yakeru had moved to Suna on her own to attend their academy when she was a child. It was apparently a very common thing for children to do this. She had graduated at twelve with average scores. Yakeru became a Chuunin at sixteen and then started her role as Yuura's assistant until Sasori had claimed her life at the age of nineteen.

Hoshiko frowned down at the piece of paper and then incinerated it quickly with a fireball. Hoshiko took the photo of Yakeru in her hand once more and then created the hand seals for her Henge no jutsu. In a puff of smoke Hoshiko's regular appearance was suddenly transformed into that of the young girl. Hoshiko removed her Konoha Hitai-ate and replaced it with the Suna one and then stripped off her cloak, revealing Suna shinobi attire underneath. Hoshiko bundled all of her things together and shoved them into the bag that had contained Yakeru's details and then placed the bag back into the opening of the stone formation.

...

"Hope you had a pleasant trip, Yakeru." The guard at the Suna entrance said as he checked over her identification card. Hoshiko smiled politely, the girl she was impersonating had no doubt been a very kind and sweet person, a vast difference from Hoshiko's own blunt and crass demeanor.

"It was lovely to see my family again, but I'm eager to get back to work." Hoshiko replied, even her voice sounded different.

"I'm sure you are." The man replied with a grin. He handed her back her card as Hoshiko tucked it away safely. The guard swept his arm out to the side. "Welcome home."

Hoshiko thanked him and then proceeded to walk between the cliff faces. There were a few more people entering and leaving the village. Some were shinobi teams and others a few civilian merchants. She ignored them and emerged into the heart of the village.

It was nothing like she had ever seen before. Everything was made out of sand and mud. The buildings were all cramped together and rose high up into the sky. The population of the village had to have been larger then what was provided in the textbooks. But even though every village was completely different, there was still something that made them all similar…

It was the way that they all meant home to someone.

Children were running around freely. Vendors were selling their wares to the nearest person. There were shinobi walking around, joking and sparring with each other. It all felt so foreign but familiar to Hoshiko. She wanted to know that feeling of home again. She had it once, a long time ago…and she wanted it back. But that dream was falling further and further away from her.

"Welcome back, Yakeru!" A voice made her stop and turn suddenly. She was on high alert for anyone that used her fake name. Hoshiko spotted an older man walking towards her with a smile on his face. He had sandy robes covering his body and a white bandana. Dark hair obscured one of his dark eyes as he rubbed a hand over his goatee.

Hoshiko knew that this man must have been Yuura, Sasori's sleeper agent. She recognized the council robes that he was wearing. Hoshiko smiled back at Yuura. "Thanks, good to be back. How has everything been?" She asked.

Yuura fell into step beside her and chuckled. "What, you think I haven't been able to look after myself without you? Give me a little more credit."

"I shall when I see it," Hoshiko teased.

Yuura smirked down at her. "You're in a good mood today. That trip back home must have done you some good then?"

"I'm feeling refreshed and ready to get back to work!" Hoshiko grinned.

"You always were a workaholic." Yuura rolled his eyes at her. "Have you even been home yet? Actually don't answer that—I already know the answer."

They detoured into an office that Hoshiko assumed must have been Yuura's. It was equipped with a modest desk and chair. Papers were littered over it and a few draws in the cabinet were opened. Yuura moved around to the other side of the desk and started sorting through papers.

"Well," Hoshiko muttered. "Looks like you really did suffer without me."

Yuura sent her a stern glare. "I couldn't find something, okay? But now you're back and you can help me sort through all this mess." Hoshiko wanted to scream. She certainly had no organizational skills. This was going to be a fucking nightmare. "Ah, here it is!" Yuura exclaimed. He pulled out a large file and extended it out to Hoshiko. "Can you run this down to the Apothecary? I need the Head Doctor to sign off on it."

Hoshiko took the file from Yuura just as her heart skipped a beat. Her amber eyes flicked up to stare at Yuura. "Apothecary?" She asked. That meant there was medicine here. Medicine that might not be available to the general public or even better treatments then what Itachi had been receiving from the Ame doctors.

Yuura's brows furrowed slightly. "Isn't that what I said?"

Hoshiko wiped the stunned look off her face and replaced it with a sheepish smile. "Yes, sorry, I was just double checking I heard you right. What are the documents for?" She asked, opening up the file and flicking through them—like she was actually going to read them.

Yuura sat down at his chair and waved his hand in the air. "Just some go aheads for treatments of some patients. They want to test a new drug on some of our terminally ill citizens. Kazekage-sama has given his signature for them and now they just need the doctors." Yuura looked over his desk with a dejected sigh. "And when you're back I could really use your help deciphering this desk."

"I'll get right on it." Hoshiko said with a smile as she spun on her heel and marched out of the office. Maybe this new position in Suna wouldn't be all that bad after all…

Hoshiko tracked down the apothecary easy enough. It was a massive greenhouse near the back of the village. She had let herself in and marveled at the sheer size and diversity of plants and herbs that dominated the building. A few nurses were walking around, some holding clipboards and others holding vials of liquids.

"Noguchi-san!" Someone called out to her as Hoshiko spotted an elderly man walking briskly towards her. He was dressed in the white and red robes of the medical staff for Suna.

"I brought this for you to sign off on for the treatments. Kazekage-sama gave his approval." Hoshiko handed the file to the doctor as he grinned.

"Excellent, I'm glad that it happened so quickly." He turned, his nose almost pressed up against the paper as he shuffled off to the nearest table to have a read and sign his papers.

Hoshiko took a moment to look around the room again. It was amazing that they could grow so much in the greenhouse, considering they were in the middle of the desert. There was a large fern to her right, it was almost three sizes bigger than her and looked to be simple plant that you would find in Fire Country.

"Its sap contains properties that we use for a sleeping draught." The doctor explained as he came to stand beside her.

Hoshiko reached out to touch the leaves of the fern carefully. A few small droplets of water ran off its leaves. "Have you ever come across a cure for…like a lung disease or something?" She could feel his eyes on her, it made her uncomfortable but she shook it off.

"Can't say that I have, why the interest?" The doctor asked her.

"I met someone on my travels." Hoshiko explained. She took the file off the doctor and tucked it under her arm. "He suffers from a horrible lung disease. It's killing him but the medicine he's been using can't cure it." The doctor's sympathetic eyes made her look away from him.

"Do you know what it's called, maybe I can do some research?" Hoshiko shook her head at him; she had never bothered to ask. "What about symptoms, maybe I have heard of it."

"Uh, coughing, chest pain, he coughs up blood if he strains too much…" The worried look on the doctor's face said it all for her.

"You know, to me, that sounds like his disease has progressed quite far along. If he came to Suna, maybe I could treat him for the pain…make him comfortable."

Hoshiko shook her head sadly. "That's not possible…he lives too far away. But maybe there's a herb or a flower—or something that we've never tried before to heal the disease."

The doctor reached out and patted her shoulder gently. "There might be, we can certainly test out some medicines to see if they would work, but it would take time and we are very busy."

"Yeah," Hoshiko muttered numbly, "Thanks for signing this, I should get back to Yuura."

"Anytime, Noguchi-san." The doctor bid her farewell her with a wave and Hoshiko tried not to let the hurt seep onto her face as she left the greenhouse.

Hoshiko twisted the key in the lock and then pushed open the door to the apartment. She flicked on the lights and shut the door quietly behind her. Yakeru's apartment was small, with the kitchen, dining, living and bedroom all open plan and mostly squished together. There was a separate door, which led to a bathroom and one large window behind the single bed. For now, this is what Hoshiko was going to call home.

She moved further into the room and studied the little things that were dotted around the place. There were a few photo frames of Yakeru as a child in her home village, some during her early academy and Genin days. Hoshiko walked up to all of them and turned them down. She may look like Yakeru, but she wasn't her. This wasn't her house and it certainly wasn't her life.

...

Hoshiko emerged from the bathroom in a billow of steam. Her brown and blonde hair fell around her face, dripping onto the stone flooring as she quickly scrunched her hair with the towel. Hoshiko walked to the bed but stopped a few feet away from it, it didn't feel right to sleep in a bed that wasn't hers, no matter how much she looked like her and acted like her.

With a frustrated growl, Hoshiko ripped off the blanket from the bed and dragged it over to the couch. She threw herself onto the furniture, tucking the blanket around her and shifting around on the couch until she was comfy enough. It took her a while, but eventually her exhaustion won out and Hoshiko finally fell into a deep sleep.

...

She was awoken by some annoying noise. Her eyes blinked open wearily as she rubbed at them and sat up a bit higher on the couch. Hoshiko was wondering what the hell could have woken her up when she heard it again.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Hoshiko twisted herself around to stare at the window, where the noise had come from. It was still pitch black outside so it would be hours before morning still. The tapping sounded again and Hoshiko squinted but was finally able to make out the silhouette of a bird at the window.

It was a crow. Itachi!

Hoshiko sprung up off the couch and all but threw herself across the bed and opened up the window. The crow came flying in and perched itself on the dining chair. It made a small chirping noise as Hoshiko walked over to it and held her arm out for the animal.

"Has he got a message for me?" She asked the bird. The crow blinked slowly, as if thinking about her question before it gave a small beat of its wings to land on her outstretched arm. Its talons dug into her skin a little, causing her to flinch slightly. The crow angled its head, and Hoshiko was a little unnerved to find that it was now staring her dead in the eye. For a moment, everything seemed to freeze, and then Hoshiko felt like she was falling backwards into a large hole.

She expected to feel pain, or sore from falling but Hoshiko soon realized as she opened her eyes that she was fine. She also knew that she was under some form of Itachi's Genjutsu. It was the only explanation as she stood atop the Hokage monument, Itachi by her side.

"Are you well?" He asked her, turning to face her. He didn't have his Akatsuki cloak on, revealing his thin frame. Hoshiko tried not to linger her eyes on his protruding collarbones or the thinness of his face. His eyes were sunken in slightly and his breathing seemed to be quite fast. The past six months had not been good to him.

"As fine as I can be." Hoshiko replied. She reached for his hand, and not surprisingly she couldn't feel him there. She knew that she was touching him, but it was a Genjutsu, different from the ones he normally put her under as he had been present, but this one had been done through the use of his crow.

"How are you doing?" She asked, hesitant to know the answer. She could see it on his face; he was in pain but was trying hard to hide it.

"The attacks are happening more so now. I've had to tell Kisame, he was growing suspicious."

"He'll look after you." Hoshiko smirked up at him. Itachi scoffed lightly. Hoshiko glanced down at their intertwined hands.

"I wanted to see you, I understand that communication will be difficult while you're in Suna." Itachi spoke softly. It made Hoshiko's heart flutter that he had thought about her. "My crows are also too easy recognized. I do not want to risk your safety."

"I'll be okay." Hoshiko reassured him with a slight squeeze of her hand. It felt bizarre, like she was squeezing air, but it made her feel better. "The sooner I get all the information that Pein wants the sooner I can get out of here and find you."

And spend what little time we have left together…she voiced it in her head; she didn't dare speak it out loud.

Itachi turned away from her, looking out over the village. Hoshiko followed his gaze. She could tell that it hurt him to never go home again. He wanted to return home, the place he had done so much to protect, but he never could. Hoshiko had once stood on the monument as a teen and thought that the view had been the most beautiful thing in the world, now, as she looked down across the village all she felt was contempt.

"If you get into trouble, send me a sign and I'll come for you."

His voice had been quiet, but she heard him. A smile crept across her face as she glanced over at him. "What kind of sign? It'll have to be a code word or something."

She saw the ghost of a smirk on his lips. "A simple messenger crow will do."

"No way!" Hoshiko protested. "It'll need to be deciphered, or something no one will ever realize it's a secret message."

"It seems very childish." Itachi chuckled.

"Tactical." Hoshiko corrected with a stern glare. Itachi finally cracked a smirk, his eyes crinkling up. He pulled her to him and wrapped one arm around her shoulder and the other caressed the side of her face, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Hoshiko couldn't feel his touch, but if she concentrated hard enough, she could imagine his fingers on her skin.

"You decide then," he said. "What shall we say?"

Hoshiko furrowed her brows in thought. She was silent for almost three minutes before she grinned up at Itachi, her head resting against his chest. "If I say 'meet me at the dango store', it means that I'm in trouble and I need you."

Itachi smiled at her. He pressed his lips to the top of her head and rested himself there for a moment. "Meet me at the dango store it is."

"Well what about you? You need one too."

Itachi closed his eyes and savored the moment. "Yours suffices."

Hoshiko snorted. "You just don't want to admit that you can't come up with one."

"I have many, one being a simple 'help me', but you decided on this nonsense." Itachi muttered teasingly.

Hoshiko rolled her eyes. "Well what if I can't say or write help me without causing suspicion? This way it'll look like a simple meeting place. Don't insult my intelligence, baka."

"I wouldn't dream of it, Hoshiko." Itachi sighed. The area around them started to fade, and both Itachi and Hoshiko knew that their time was up with one another. Itachi pulled away but Hoshiko grabbed onto his shirt to stop him.

"If you get worse, or something happens, you tell me and I will be at your side in a second, you hear me?" She said seriously to him. "Damn the Akatsuki and everyone in it. I'm only doing this for you."

"You have my word." Itachi agreed.

Hoshiko released his shirt; she smoothed out the material and stared up into his tired, dark eyes. "Be safe."

"And you…"

Hello hi yes its me i'm still around and kicking. I apologise for keeping you all waiting for so damn long. these past few months have not been kind to me and I've been struggling with certain aspects of my life that I couldn't control. I'm slowly getting back into being the person who I used to be and finally found myself wanted to write again. This story has always been in the back of my mind and I'm so so sorry that it's taken me so long to come back. I desperately wanted to try and have this thing finished by the end of the year but obviously thats not going to happen haha!

Anyway, thanks for sticking around and we'll be getting into the goody canon bits soon, maybe the end of next chapter - i really don't want to drag it out for too long as all the exciting changes and events start to happen!

Janeth16 - hope this chapter didn't bore you too much xD we'll be getting to see more characters soon enough and oh boy do i have a treat for everyone with some reuniting very soon :D sorry it took me a while to get back on my feet!

katydid001 - I love writing Itachi all cute and protective, but damn i miss writing him brooding and nasty as well. it was so much fun! but anyway our poor lovebirds are still separated. thank you for your kind words. boys do suck really bad sometimes- i jus happened to find one that was very toxic, but its in the past and we're moving up and on!

FANGIRLWHODIES - Tobi's a dick at this point xD has itachi not learnt to just tell our girl the truth? he's still keeping small things from her. but anyway i totally know what you mean by him deserting his whole 'i killed my entire family for the sake of the village, but now the love of my life accepts me? yeah fuck em' thing. Itachi is an honourable man through and through. man this story is gonna suck for a bit soon xD

Thundqh - Yeah...about that...sorry it took me so long. this story is totally not dead i just needed a moment...or four.

andresskorskiruiz - thank you!

Kris XD - he warned her about tobi but how hard is it to be like 'yo, his name is actually madara and he batshit crazy, kay love you byeeeeee' i hope this girl succeeds in keeping him alive too.

Lala Maryama - sorry took me a while to get this out. another filler chapter here until the good stuff starts back up. I am actually 25! I turn 26 in febuary and i'm dreading it xD look lets just go with the assumption that she is totally meeting team 7, i cant not do that!

gogominjo - sorry that the smut made you uncomfortable, totally ok with me for you to skip it! Thank you for leaving a review, and seeing as its like 7 months gone we can safely say that our girl is not preggers xD im getting sick of doing these types of fillers so ill be jumping into canon real soon but yeah I hate rushing things and like to give it a good pace before main events of a story!

itsmisspretty - thanks for reading and leaving a review! I know it's been a while since i updated but i'm still around! ive tried to make Hoshiko as real and likable as possible if she were a real person. like i know if all this shit happened to me i wouldnt be this happy go lucky person. id hate the world and everyone in it too. she has her own ideals that differ from everyone and she's not afraid to speak her mind, but anyway thank you! xD ive said from the beginning that I intend to have this a happy ending story...we just have to get there first.

Kuroxi - Thank you! I know it's been a while but hopefully i'll get some more chapters out soon!

Archangel299 - Definitely not abandoned. just going through some rl problems that made me loose track of time! Thanks for reviewing and reading!

Again, my bad for being away for so long, and sorry this chapter might be a little boring but we must get through all this for the good stuff (or bad depending on how you look at it xD) thanks for sticking around!