"Thinking"

"Talking"

"Impactful word"

Location: SSV Normandy SR-1 – Third Deck - Engineer and Storage room

The party that had been sent on the asteroid scattered quicker than she expected, not that she complained. It was a trying mission, if ranked by shinobi measures she would consider it somewhere between an A and S-rank mission.

On second thought, it brought some memories back. The first time she had been on a mission of such importance was under Haruko's command, and while she had known at that time that she was in good hands, it had done little to dim her fear.

It was to be expected, she had been nothing but a rookie freshly scouted from the academy. Nevertheless, the anxiety subdued through time and experience coupled with a healthy dose of luck that she was even able to survive this long, though she always suspected Haruko's watchful eye during the missions.

She stood at the weapon table in the cargo bay, slowly discarding her weaponry from her pouches. There was no need to hurry, that was until her ears picked up a beep sound coming from her left arm, making her sigh a bit in exasperation, thinking she would be granted a longer reprieve than five minutes. She hastened her ongoing actions to look at her omni-tool, finding a message from the Commander.

Akane swallowed the lump that had been stuck in her throat.

Thousands of possibilities flooded her conscience behind the reason for Shepard's summoning only to find herself at loss this time. For once the calculated kunoichi had no clue what to expect which only served to fester unease in the pit of her stomach. Without letting it trouble her mind any further, she made her way to the captain's quarters.

"Ah, Akane, I've been expecting you."

Shepard ventured for her to have a seat. There was hesitation in her movements and she was sure that the Commander had already picked up on it by now, albeit she couldn't tell because the redhead didn't give anything away.

There was a pregnant silence stretching between them and to be honest, she hated every second of it, but suppressed the urge to fill it long enough for Shepard to begin, "There is something I wanted to talk to you about."

The tone the Commander adopted unsettled her. "Regarding what?" Her voice sounded meek to her own ears.

"Your past." Akane stiffened under her coat, but thanks to her shinobi training, didn't let it show on her posture. She dared hope that Shepard wasn't going to inquire about her identity this early on since joining the crew of the Normandy, alas she was proved wrong.

Moreover, it was not a topic she was absolutely eager to delve into, not right now, possibly not ever.

But on a serious note...

Who, in their right mind, would believe her that she came from a different time? From an era long gone? From a completely separate race? Sorry, but even Akane would have trouble accepting something that sounds this unbelievable. At this point, it was better to resort to a lie than be honest from the start when the truth wouldn't be accepted either way. Yet perhaps...

The young Uchiha shifted under her troubled thoughts in her seat, inwardly being grateful of Shepard, who was giving her enough time to think about this. She hated lying, but she wasn't sure if it was safe to indulge such information to Shepard when she still hadn't fully figured her out yet.

Suddenly, she came to the conclusion that it was tied to the question of why she was still being around Shepard in the first place.

After escaping the hospital, countless options were at her disposal yet she deliberately chose to come back to the Commander. She tried to convince herself that it was because of her uniqueness; however, there was more to it than she wanted to admit.

Shepard reminded her somehow of her late twin. The way they interacted with the world was jarringly similar and it made her want to come closer while at the same time keep her distance from the redhead.

The hurt of Shirone's passing still lingered deep within her. Raw and untended. Akin to an open wound that did not heal and Shepard's presence was what put salt into it.

Then why did Akane continue to follow her when it brought her so much pain?

For once, this was beyond her knowledge.

She simply did.

And that was something that startled her very being, for she had never done things without a specific reason.

Noting the strange behaviour of her youngest crew member, Shepard tried to assure her, "You are not obligated to tell me every detail, just which you're comfortable sharing, but I do need to know something about you since we're going to have each other's back during missions."

This pleased the shinobi greatly. Shepard's reasons were relatable to the former Buntaichō, she would want to entrust her life to her squad members rather than awaiting a knife to the back anytime, too.

"Thank you for your understanding, Ma'am, though I must confess, it is not a subject I speak lightly about."

Her reaction was answered by a nod from the redhead, letting her take her time. If talking about her past was a sore subject for her, Jane wouldn't pressure her as if on an interrogation. She simply wanted some common ground to build their friendship onto - naturally, if the feeling wasn't one-sided.

"What would like to know?" The Uchiha asked perplexed, clueless on how to begin.

Jane shot a surprised glance at the teen, who she hadn't seen this unsure in their short time together, "Well, how old are you?"

"Fifteen, Ma'am."

"Where are you from?" Akane pondered a bit, hoping that Shepard wouldn't take it as her stalling time to make up a lie.

"Eden Prime." To Jane, it made almost sense, weren't it for the fact that she or rather her given name, wasn't recorded in Eden Prime's nor the Citadel's archives. Though there could be another explanation to that and Jane intended to draw it out from her as subtle as possible.

"What of your parents?" she asked in the softest of voice.

"They haven't been alive for quite some time." Jane saw the smallest of emotion pass through the ever so present poker face and it made her want to stop going deeper because now she knew why she recognized that expression from somewhere.

She was an orphan, just like her, though she wondered if it was by choice.

"Are you an assassin?"

"You could say that." A small smile managed to creep on her lips. Among other things, she wanted to add, but refrained from doing so. Being a shinobi covered way more than that. It brought a smile to the Commander too, seeing that her change of topic had a positive effect.

"Anyways, nice work with the batarians earlier." Akane humbly inclined her head, her long black hair swaying with the movement.

"If it's not too much to ask, where are you taking them, Ma'am?" It was not a question spoken out of pity, not the least, but out of curiosity since it was most likely the next course they would take.

"To Arcturus Station... well, actually I've been meaning to ask if you would come to visit a friend of mine," Shepard raised her brows expectantly, making it hard for Akane to turn down her offer.

Oh, how she resembled Shirone in more than one way...

She could never deny her twin anything, if it came down to that, no matter how she tried, it had been always futile with her second half. And now she displayed the same weakness to Shepard, who she trusted wouldn't take too much of an advantage of.

"If you desire my presence, I shall be there, Ma'am." She bowed slightly, the stoic expression returning to her face.

"Great! I am going to quickly send him a message, just gimme a second," her lithe fingers swept through the omni-tool with practised ease and when she was finished typing, she lifted her head, cheerful eyes meeting the void of her white ones, "done!"

"Am I dismissed, Ma'am?"

"You are dismissed, but you ought to go to Dr Chakwas for a medical check-up, and Akane," she used her commanding undertone that made the kunoichi stop mid-way from leaving, "in private, call me Shepard."

Jane grinned, watching the teen exit her quarters, before telling off Joker to head for the headquarters of the Alliance Navy. And to a certain someone, that she was anxious to see after quite some time. She hoped the Admiral would figure more out of the teen than her.

Location: SSV Normandy SR-1 – Second Deck – Med-bay

As soon as the Anbu entered the medical room, she was greeted by the sight of Garrus getting patched up by the doc on one of the beds, engrossed in a friendly chat with the greyhead. Her presence was gone unnoticed until she came closer to the two.

"Akane," Garrus greeted.

"Sir Vakarian," The Anbu returned the sentiment, though her voice sounded much colder.

"Please, just Garrus. You make me sound like my father."

"I have been wondering when our newest addition would come to visit."

Akane's expression was left blank to the doc's statement, but she still inclined her head a little as a greeting, to which the doc answered in a similar gesture much to the teen's amazement. But she chose not to act on it whilst the turian was still in their presence. Not that she didn't appreciate Garrus and his lame attempts as humour; it was truly amusing and cute in its own way.

"There! The intrusions should heal in no time, now, if you please make space for Akane."

Garrus all but hopped off the bed, taking his leave without much of a back glance. An exhausted sigh left the Uchiha as she sat down the bed, ignoring the somewhat eager-mixed-with-curiosity gaze she caught in the doc's eyes as if she were some kind of anomaly, but hid it excellently through a practised mask of professionalism.

Actually, at this point, she shouldn't be wondering.

It was but a matter of time until somebody found out, if not already by her display of ninjutsu earlier on the mission, then definitely by modern technology she had yet to acclimate to. There was only so much a shinobi could prevent others from knowing, and it was obvious that her true nature was soon to be discovered.

"Some injury I should know of? New or old?"

It took all of her not to scoff at the greyhead. Scars? That, she had plenty to show, but she wasn't entertained by the idea of undressing at the moment.

"Not that I do not know of, no." The Anbu replied after a moment.

"A rare occurrence, but one that pleases me greatly." The doc stated, eyes softening, accent stirring yet another misty memory the Anbu had thought long forgotten in the wake of events.

Chakwas reminded her of her grandparents, despite her not being able to remember how they had looked like. Yet another remembrance of times long lost in her conquest to survive - to war.

"I will run some scans just to be on the safe side."

Akane let her do what she wanted, not that she had a say in the matter. She didn't want to raise more suspicion by denying to be scanned for medical purposes or the Commander would be the first to hear of it. Pale orbs were trained at the elderly woman, using the opportunity to examine her behaviour.

She noted that the short-lived curiosity was replaced by a look not even she could decipher. The doc's thin brows furrowed as if she was faced with a complex problem, trapping her chin between her thumb and forefinger as she contemplated.

Akane was a patient in nature but she still hated the silence that was accompanied by it. It almost became tenser for a moment than it had been at the captain's quarters but thankfully, was filled sooner by the delicate voice of the doc.

"It seems that you're perfectly fine, there is nothing strange worth noting."

She could not help herself but think of the last part as a lie. She was dead sure that the scan would have picked up something. Her chakra among other things. And it left her disappointed for some reason that Chakwas would attempt to withhold this from her.

Kami above, when had she become so pathetic?