Anyways, Soon after this, I was promoted to a tokubetsu jonin and soon joined the Anbu in a year.

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In another year, Itachi joined the Anbu. He finally caught up to me, ha.

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I, Itachi, and Shisui-san were under the same Anbu faction, under Kakashi Hatake.

Itachi and I had grown too close – um, I'm not sure how should I put it? But I might have started having warm feelings for Itachi now.

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However, Danzo inducted me out of the group, and often had me to go on solo missions.

I was especially told to not sympathize with the Uchiha clan.

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In under 2 years, Itachi had ascended to the post of Anbu captain and had his own squad.

This was something even I had not achieved. He finally surpassed me, and at the mere age of 13.

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I was posted at the village outposts as a guard, in an attempt to increase security after the Kumo-nin tried to steal Byakugan from Hinata, the daughter of Hyuga clan leader.

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A few days later, I did not see Shisui-san, so I asked Itachi about him.

Itachi replied he wasn't sure of his whereabouts, and walked away.

But I sensed his chakra shaking when he made the statement, even though he might appear cold outside.

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One night, I was posted outside the village when in the dead of the night, I felt something disturbing -

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Chakra signatures screaming and growing faint. It was a few miles away, and normally shouldn't have been noticed by anyone – but at the rate the dense chakra was being cut off in the direction, it set off something unsettling in me.

I abandoned my post to my subordinates and rushed in the direction.

As I drew closer, I felt the same blood shrieking atmosphere – 8 years ago. I was nearing the Uchiha Clan.

I noticed the alleyways – soaked in blood.

I clenched my chest. My pulse. It hadn't been this high – not even in the Anbu.

My vision blurred.

The old couple lay dead on the street – they were one of the few who had been ever so kind to me.

Young children, women, girls, boys, infants still holding their still mothers in cold embrace soaked in blood.

My breathing goes erratic.

"CALM yourself." I said to myself. This is not real. Can't be.

I sensed two people on the adjoining street, relatively calm.

I rushed in the direction, I sensed a really familiar chakra signature.

When I arrive, I see Itachi with a cold sweat on his face stabbing a Uchiha couple with his katana and a guy with an orange mask beside him.

The man with the orange mask tried to make a move on me.

Itachi shouted "She's not an Uchiha!"

"Do you think we should just let her go then?"

"I'll take care of it."

Itachi stared at me coldly – a gaze I hadn't seen before him.

But his chakra wasn't maleovolent.

Itachi activated his Sharingan on me.

My eyes transformed into the Sharingan as well.

"Genjutsu won't work on me."

Itachi said, "Right… " and he closed his eyes. He bled blood and the tomoe in his Sharingan rotated and merged at the centre to reveal a pinwheel."…Tsukuyomi"

I saw the chakra change in his eyes. A Genjutsu.

I rewrote my entire chakra pathway flow in a matter of a millisecond to ward off the Genjutsu.

However…. One millisecond is all it takes.

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The next thing I knew, I was sitting beside Itachi by the lake eating rice balls that Itachi's mother made. Sasuke could be seen playing at a distance on the other edge.

"…What happened?", I said.

And soon realized, my head was on Itachi's shoulder.

"Oh, you had dozed off… Did you see a dream?"

There was a characteristic kindness and unforeseen melody in his voice.

It felt like it had been forever since I had talked to him while being so carefree.

"Yea.. a dark night. I thought I would have to fight you. It was a nightmare…"

"Huh, fighting me was a nightmare?"

"Um.. I don't know, but I would never want to fight you, Itachi."

"Hmm, I don't know but say, that were to happen, I'm sure…I'd lose."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because… I've already lost myself in you."

"Wh- Wha-… you said?"

"Huh? Because I have already lost to you."

"Oh- oh"

"What did you imagine?", he says and gives a hearty laugh.

"Don't tease me", I nagged at him.

Oh, this was so peaceful. If this was a dream, I wouldn't want to wake up from this. I would things could go on forever like this.

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Time skip

Our bond grew deeper and deeper with time.

Itachi proposed to me in due time.

This was paradise.

In 3 years of time, Itachi and I sealed the knot under Fugaku-san.

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The marriage was such a lovely one.

I even saw Minato-san and Kushina-san beside me.

Sasuke was holding my hands. It was so beautiful.

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And then, I blacked out for a second.

It was then, that I felt something shriveling up inside me. Like moving in violently.

I used my Ryuugan to peek inside. My chakra – my tenketsu were going berserk.

It broke.

I collapsed.

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I collapsed on the road.

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The nightmare.

The dark sky.

The eerie silent night.

The cold wind.

Itachi.

The orange masked person.

The blood soaked Uchiha residence.

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It all came back flooding to me.

Wha- What just happened?

What is this?

Masked guy: She broke the Mangekyo Genjutsu?

Itachi: You broke the Tsukuyomi?

"G- Genjutsu?"

That was a Genjutsu.

I quickly realized. Those three years.

Ah, I realized it.

Those things, those moments were too good to be true. It was all a Genjutsu.

What a Genjutsu. It shut off my Ryuugan and I couldn't even realize.

The next thing I knew, a Kunai cut me in the neck – The Masked Person.

I used Shunshin (Body Flicker Technique) to move away rapidly.

As I moved away, I saw blood oozing out of my neck.

I tightened the tenketsu on my neck, somehow restricting the blood flow.

"It's terrifying to see you copy jutsu like Shunshin and use it as if on par with Shisui himself."

He kept up with the Body Flicker Technique?! How is he that fast?

I used another Shunshin and got away.

But I saw him coming after me.

I created 4 Shadow Clones – each who used Shunshin and ran in separate directions.

Moments later, I saw 2 of my clones already destroyed.

How is he that fast?!

The next clone was destroyed. But it sent me information.

My clone tried cutting him with Lightning Chakra enhanced Kunai, but they passed right through him and my clone was destroyed.

When my last clone died, it had the Ryuugan reveal to me – he possessed the Sharingan.

It shriveled me up.

I could feel his chakra change direction and come after me.

I again split in four more clones and had them use Shunshin.

"I'm impressed that you could run, let alone create Clones and use a Technique of such level as Shunshin after getting hit with the Tsukuyomi and breaking it."

He went after one of my clones.

But just as he was going to hit my clone – It broke into 4 more clones.

When it touched one, the other two exploded – Explosive Clones Technique.

However, the explosions didn't faze him, and he had another go.

But by now, my other clones had dispersed far enough and they brought out the same explosive technique when they were going to be destroyed, effectively slowing him down a lot – allowing me enough Shunshin to lose him.

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I spent the night alone, far away, from Konoha.

My chakra reserves had gone dry, And I made this far only on adrenaline, my physical body collapsed the moment I stopped running.