Disclaimer: The characters are Masashi Kishimoto's property, I own the OCs.

Characters age:

Akane: 6 (39)

Itachi: 6 (22)

Shisui: 10

Naruto / Sasuke: 1

Kakashi: 15

I had the weirdest dream. I had dreamed that Itachi, my Itachi was like me and in his child body. The Itachi I had not seen in almost seventeen years.

What a weird dream.

"Akane, are you okay?" I looked at Kushina-san and nodded. I looked around, confused. "You're in the hospital, you fell during your trip."

"Right." My right ankle was in a cast.

"Your ankle is broken; it will be six to ten weeks before you can walk properly." I let my head fall back with a whine. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Huh…not sure."

"Well, I guess Itachi-kun's version is the only one we have then."

"Itachi?" She nodded.

"He was with you when it happened. He said you had a fight and you left but fell from a tree. He carried you back here."

"Oh yeah…we had a fight and I got really upset." She pursed her lips.

"Well he asked me to tell him when you were awake."

"I'm mad at him." She frowned and put her hands on her hips.

"We don't like Itachi-kun right now then?" I blinked and couldn't help but chuckled at her falsely angry look.

"We don't like him right now." He nodded.

"As you wish then!"

When she was gone, I lay back in my pillow.

It was not a dream then, Itachi was…really here. He said he had a fever around the same time as me so…he had been here for a year almost. So, when he got me chocolates when I was here, or the shurikenjutsu, or wanting to be friends at school…

It had all been my Itachi and not the kid one? How long had he known I was…well, me? How come he was here? The seal on my stomach was still here, now appearing only when I'd use chakra or use it on my hand and touch my stomach but…was Itachi the same? No, he had been dead for sixteen years, I was the one to make deals with the Shinigami, not him.

Then how come he was here? How could he possibly be here? Had something happened…up there? Even though, why would someone else be here? I thought I was the only one and now…

New tears appeared in my eyes when I realized that someone could relate to how I was feeling, being surrounded by people dead for so long. The difference was that…

I sat up, my eyes wide in horror. Did it mean that for a year, Itachi had lived in the Uchiha Compound, under his parents' roof and seeing relatives he had killed before and remembered killing?

How awful it must be…and lonely. Here I was, thinking I had a hard time, but I had not killed any of them. I had not seen the betrayal and horror in their eyes as I killed them, knowing I had chosen to forsake them for my brother's life. I was a joke next to what he must have felt.

A few years after Shisui and Akiko's births, my twins, Sasuke had told me his brother's story. I had suspected some of it. Shisui wouldn't have trusted a latent psychopath and it always seemed to me like there was more to it than he let on.

I couldn't believe that.

My first reflex when I understood it was him was to punch him and break his nose. I felt the bone breaking under my fist and, I was not proud of it, it was satisfying to know I was hurting him too. All of the hurt and heartbreak I had felt and buried for so long over him leaving me to die by his brother's hand had come to the surface. He never hid he would die by his brother's hand, a suicide hidden in murder really, plus his disease, but it still had hurt.

When he left, saying I had not made him doubt his plan, not even a little bit, it had been as if he had ripped my heart off my chest to keep him with him for good. It was as if the three years we had spent together was real and important only to me.

With time, I even had come to wonder if he meant the 'I love you' he had told me on our last encounter, or if he just pitied me so much, he said what I wanted to hear. Shisui had asked him to keep an eye on me and sometimes, I would wonder if he had not started a relationship with me because I was in love with him and friends with Shisui and he felt guilty for not being able to save him. My son's resentment toward his dad, telling me he had never loved me, only brought those sad thoughts to the surface.

The next day, Kushina-san came back, saying I could go home. She had a box of chocolates in her hands.

"I know we don't like him right now, but Itachi-kun has taste." She read the tag. "And expensive one at that." I took the crutches. "Do you want to tell me what happened?" I shook my head. "Okay then, let's go home."

When we got home, the smell of a cake was in the air. Without a word, my crutches fell to the floor when Kushina-san picked me up as if I weighted nothing. I grabbed onto her with a yelp.

"I've got her!" Minato-san turned from the counter, Naru strapped to his abdomen.

"Right on time, the cake is done!" Kushina-san sat me down on a chair and brought a cup of hot cocoa to me. Minato-san put the cake on the table, the words 'Welcome home Akane!' written in yellow icing on it. I just stared at it.

"But you…work?" Minato-san cocked a brow at me.

"I have days off you know and decide if I have other ones." I looked back at the cake.

"I…thank you," I thanked them quietly.

"It's nothing kitten, it's what families do for each other," Kushina-san said, her hands on my shoulders. Minato-san gave everyone a slice. I just stared at it and felt a tear rolling down my cheek. "Oh it's okay, we're here Akane." Kushina-san's arms were around me. A sob came out of my lips, and I put my hands on my mouth. Naru heard me though and turned his head to me, tears starting to appear in his eyes.

"You should go give your nee-chan a hug Naruto," Minato-san said gently, handing me baby Naru. I took him and let him be up on my legs. He was looking at me with big, wet blue eyes.

"I'm okay Naru-chan," I whispered to him, hugging him. He hugged me back and soon, another pair of arms, stronger this time, were around me.

I didn't know why I was crying. The shock of Itachi, them still doing that even if I was no longer treating them as family…

I just sobbed in their arms, surrounded by their warmth.

He felt terrible. He should have thought more about how Akane would react when he would tell her and not how he would tell her. Of course, she would be shocked. He had died after knocking her out, telling her he loved her. And now, he was here, in the flesh.

Of course, she would be shocked and pay less attention to her surroundings. Of course, she would not want to see him immediately. Hell, maybe she didn't want to see him period. If it had been years for her, then he had no idea what her life was before she got here. She could have been traveling, or stayed in their…her house, or moved to Konoha, or settled down somewhere else. For all he knew, she was married or had someone before she…

He was not an idiot. He had died and got here, meaning that Akane had died too. He didn't want to think of her as dead though, he didn't want to think that in a world where his body was probably just dust now, hers was decomposing or just bones. He knew that if for her it had been years then she could have had a life with a man that was not him.

It was like twisting a knife in his heart just to think of that though. Her smile, the kind look in her eyes, her embrace, her lips, the feeling of her skin beneath his lips and fingers, it had always been for him and him only. The thought of another man having them, of Akane possibly saying 'I love you' to someone else was making his skin crawl. He had pushed back these thoughts for a year but now she knew it was really him…he couldn't ignore it anymore.

There was a possibility that his love had moved on from him and no longer loved him like he loved her. It was breaking his heart just to think about it, but it was a possibility.

Itachi shook his head in front of the Namikaze household. Even if it was true, he could still be her friend. Maybe it would be torture once they reached their teenage, then adult years, to just be friends, but if she didn't want more, he would agree. He just wanted to be in her life, and he wanted her to be part of his.

He just needed her forgiveness first.

"Itachi-kun?"

"Hokage-sama." Minato chuckled.

"'Minato-san' in informal situations is fine Itachi-kun." He nodded. "Why are you here?"

"I wanted to know if Akane was still mad at me."

"I'm afraid yes." He looked down. "She's going back to school tomorrow, I'm sure it will soon be better." Itachi nodded.

"Thank you." Itachi turned around, his head down.

As he walked behind the house, he looked up. He briefly caught Akane looking at him through the window of her bedroom before shutting the curtains. He sighed deeply.

She was mad at him, and he knew he deserved it.

The next day, he saved his bullies from a bigger bully. He was called 'Itachi-sama' in the hallways, again. This time though, an audible laugh reached his ear. He looked to his right, only to find Akane leaning against the wall, a hand on her mouth to muffle her laugh. The second she saw his blank look; she laughed even harder. His bullies did not even realize he no longer was following them.

"I hate carrying your stuff," Kou commented, leaving their classroom. He looked at Itachi, then the boys talking about him. "What did you do?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Kou shook his head.

"I need to use the restroom." He left them alone. Itachi shot her a shy look.

"Naru and Sasuke have a playdate when we get home from school," she stated simply. He nodded, understanding the message.

She didn't look at him when they met up when school ended, but she handed him her bag. He didn't protest and carried it all the way, his heart beating so fast he worried for a second if it was not going to explode.

When they reached the Namikaze residence, his mother, Kushina-san, Naruto and Sasuke were in the living-room.

"Welcome back you two," his mother said.

"Hello Mikoto-san."

"Do you want a snack?" the Uzumaki asked them.

"No thanks, we have homework to do for tomorrow." She elbowed him in the ribs. "Right?" He nodded.

"You made up then?" the Uchiha matriarch asked with a relieved smile. "Itachi has been so sad since you weren't talking to him Akane-chan." Akane blushed a little and he glanced at his mother in embarrassment.

"Mom!" She chuckled.

"I'm sorry Itachi, but I was worried."

"Let's go," Akane muttered, and he nodded, following her.

Once in her room though, they sat on her bed side by side. He looked around briefly. The room was bare except for a family picture on her nightstand, a black tag on the face of what appeared to be a man.

"How long?" He looked at her. "How long have you known it was me?"

"I noticed something weird when we trained for shurikenjutsu for the first time." She groaned.

"That long? You've suspected it was me basically the whole time?" He nodded sheepishly. "And you didn't think about telling me earlier?"

"I wasn't sure of anything, and it is not a subject I was going to approach without being sure. When I heard you talking to yourself, I knew it was you." She sighed. "I…know you're mad at me about the last time we saw each other but…I am sorry. I really am." She scoffed and looked down; her hands clasped on her pants. "A…"

"I mourned you." He closed his mouth. "I cried for you, for a long time. I couldn't see one of your shirts without crying." He didn't know what to say. "I grieved and never fully recovered from your death and now you're…here?"

"…yeah." Silence fell upon them. "I haven't looked for the reason why exactly yet, but I'm sure…I'll find why we're both here an…" She raised her hand, stopping him.

"I know how I got here, at least I'm pretty sure." He blinked. Akane knew? How? "Can you…lift your shirt for me please?" He didn't really know why but he did without thinking. Maybe it was because not so long ago to him, he was all too happy to disregard his clothes around her.

She gathered chakra in her hand, the tips of her fingers turning blue and put it on his stomach. She frowned as it did nothing.

"What the actual fuck?" she muttered. "Do it to yourself." He did. Nothing. "Huh. You're a mystery."

"What were you looking for?" She sighed and raised her shirt. She did the same thing except that on her stomach, a seal appeared. "What is that?"

"I died by using the Death Reaper Seal." He looked at her in shock. He knew that kinjutsu, the Yondaime had used it to seal Kyuubi and then died. The Sandaime had used it to deal with Orochimaru.

"Why would you do that to yourself?" he asked her, still in shock. There was also something else in him.

Anger. She had promised him she would join him and tell him everything he had missed once her time had come. However, those who used the Death Reaper Seal sold their soul to the Shinigami, which then would be tormented for eternity in its stomach. He wanted to rest with her by his side and she just…sold her soul? For what?

"It's irrelevant why I used it now," she replied, letting go of her shirt. "The thing is, I used it, I woke up here, but what I don't get is why you are here."

Now he was more confused. If it was a kinjutsu Akane had used before, when he was already dead…why indeed was he here? How?

"I doubt the Shinigami can touch a soul without leaving an imprint or something, right?" she continued, biting on her thumb nail. "But you look perfectly fine so…"

"Well, I'm here, it is what really matters," he cut her off, not wanting to think about this issue. She opened her mouth, but seeing his harsh eyes glaring at the floor, she didn't say anything.

"…you're here, yes…" He looked up at her, seeing her struggling to choose her words. "I'm not sorry for punching you, you deserved it." He nodded.

"I know." He could see the many emotions in her eyes and how she was struggling to speak. Ultimately, she gulped.

"I…"

"Can I hug you?" he interrupted her in a whisper. She just stared at him and nodded.

He turned, both his legs on her bed and took her wrist in his hand, pulling her against him gently. It was not the same as before where she was smaller and shorter than him. Right now, they were of the same build, it was not the same.

The second she leaned her face on his shoulder, he let a breath out he was not aware he was holding. He closed his arms around her and relaxed.

Even if he was back to being a child, there was something lacking. He didn't feel entirely home, maybe because deep down, he knew he had lost it by his own hand a long time ago. Or maybe because he always felt there was something lacking to call Konoha and his family home now. Maybe he had an impostor syndrome as he was not the six-year-old everybody saw him as.

As he finally had his love in his arms though, even if they were children, he finally felt at home. The piece that was lacking was the piece Akane had provided him with years ago and that she kept with her each time he'd leave.

"I missed you," he whispered without realizing. She squeaked on his shoulder. "I…"

"Shut up," she mumbled. He could feel his shoulder getting wet. "I'm…Really sick of crying so…please, just shut up Itachi." He smiled at that and hugged her tighter, burying his face in the crook of her neck.

He did just that, letting her cry silently on his shoulder.

He wouldn't leave her this time.

My relationship with Itachi was weird. He really was…the one I had been in a relationship with for three years. I didn't really know how to interact with him and he was nothing but patient, assuring me he understood I needed to get used to him being here again. He had assured me he was okay with being my friend and nothing more.

It wasn't as if being six and a half would allow us for more anyway.

On October 10th, we went to the ceremony remembering the lives lost a year prior. I stood next to Kakashi, holding Naruto against me as Kushina-san, as the wife of the Hokage, was next to him alongside the Sandaime and the Elders. Naru was surprisingly quiet. We were all quiet for a few minutes in front of the memorial until the group split up, going on the different graves in the cemetery. Kakashi took Naru from me and took my hand. I looked up at him and he eye-smiled at me. I gulped and nodded before we left for my mother's grave.

I had never visited it before, and neither had I visited my brother's either. Their tombstones were side by side. My mother had never recovered from losing her son at the age of eight before, by the hand of her crazy husband, so in a way, I was glad she could be with Fubuki again.

"Give me Naru," I asked Kakashi once I was on her grave. He did and I knelt on the ground, keeping Naru standing on it by hugging him around the waist. "See Naru, it's where nee-chan's mommy and brother are resting now. They were awesome, I'm sorry you can't meet them." I kissed his head. "I miss them very much, but they died so we could live, so we have to, for them." I leaned my forehead against his head. "They're watching over us now." Kakashi stiffened next to me. I stood up, Naru in my arms and looked next to him.

I froze when I recognized Orochimaru.

"It is a shame that outsiders are the one to die for Konoha's sake," he commented, glancing at me from the corner of his eyes. Naru started to cry under the Sannin's gaze, irritation flaring in his gaze. "What a shame."

"Now Orochimaru, don't frighten kids today!" We looked back to see Jiraya-san. He waved at us and relief washed over me. "Seriously, you always look so gloomy."

"I am surprised you are here and not conducting your 'research'." The Toad Sage laughed and slapped him on the back.

"I could think you're not happy to see me!" From Orochimaru's face, it was spot-on. "Now, I have so much to tell you about!" Jiraya-san dragged him away.

"My savior," I whispered in relief.

"You don't like Orochimaru-sama?"

"He gives me the creep." He didn't comment.

"Nene!" I perked up and looked back. "Nana!"

"I'm going to visit Rin," Kakashi told me as Itachi was walking toward us, holding Sasuke's hand as he was walking.

Sasuke had started talking while Naru could say 'Mama', 'Dada' and, much like Sasuke, 'Nene'. The last syllable of my name was apparently the easiest one for babies to say.

I crouched and opened my arms to Sasuke while Naru left to greet Itachi. Sasuke's small and chubby arms were quickly around my neck, and I kissed his cheek loudly as I got back up. Itachi was holding Naru's hands but was still gazing at the two Sannin slowly disappearing from our sight.

"They're gone," I told him quietly. He furrowed his brows and nodded, still not looking at me.

Without a word, he guided Naru back to me and knelt on my mom's grave, bowing his head in respect. I just stared at him, not really understanding why he was doing that.

"She deserves all of my respect," he said simply, feeling my confused gaze on him. "Her help has changed everything." I looked down, biting my bottom lip. I let Sasuke go when he started kicking, only for him to start a 'conversation with Naru.

"Thank you," I whispered back, moved by his words. He stood up and smiled gently at me.

"It's the truth." I nodded. He glanced at both Mom's and Onii-chan's graves one last time. "Are you okay?" I looked at them as well and smiled sadly.

"The strange thing was having her around," I confessed out loud for the first time. I looked at him. "How are you coping?" He blinked, taken back. "And I mean really, Itachi. How are you coping?" He pursed his lips and glanced at his parents, talking to Minato-san and Kushina-san.

"I feel like an impostor sometimes," he admitted quietly. "But I have a chance to do it all over again with my family, I don't want to mess up again." I looked down.

He saw them as his family. Then how come I didn't?

"And you're here, so I'm not alone with it." I blushed a little at that.

It was true. No matter how I felt toward him, we were in this together.

Slowly, we built a friendship again, or at least I got used to his presence once more. Not having to think about romantic feelings helped a lot, because I wasn't sure I would be able to handle it. When December rolled in, I could discuss with Itachi relatively normally, his teasing going back to normal.

He had stopped, not wanting to overwhelm me, even if I was fully aware teasing me was one of his big passions in life.

"Why are you pretending?" Itachi asked me suddenly when we were eating lunch, Kou in the bathroom.

"What?"

"You could ace all our classes and graduate quickly. Do you enjoy school?"

"Well, the positive wins over the negative." He frowned at me. "It's boring, I'll give you that, and being surrounded by kids is not the best but, at least, I'm staying under the radar." I looked down. "The old mummy already knows I'm here but haven't tried anything since the Kyuubi attack, and the snake…if I stay in school, if I stay average, then I can stay away from them." I pursed my lips. "The only issue is that I can't get my hands on any of my mom's belongings or Uzumaki knowledge until I'm a genin, at the bare minimum. I can't win in any case."

"Sure but…" I looked at him. "Don't you want to graduate quickly?" I shrugged.

"Not being sent on missions is fine by me. The main mission I have is to watch over Naruto, and Sasuke, I can't do that if I'm not around."

"Sasuke too?"

"Yeah, we got tight before," I said simply, not wanting to explain more.

Itachi had not asked me anything about my life. I would be lying if I said a part of me was not upset by this, thinking he just didn't care about what happened to me after he died. There was probably another reason he wasn't asking but…I failed to see it.

"I asked him to take you to Konoha," he whispered, gazing at his bento.

"He did. He stayed in the village." He smiled a little at this.

I wouldn't mention the prison sentence Sasuke had seen cut short if he brought me back, curtesy of Kakashi the Sixth.

"That's right, didn't you graduate in a year before?" He nodded. "And this time?"

"I don't know. I know what got me on their radar, I can avoid it." He sighed a little. "I want to be more present for Sasuke." I smiled.

"What keeps you from doing it then?"

"Knowing."

I knew all about the Uchiha Massacre. I wouldn't approach the subject though; I'd let Itachi talk about it if he wanted to. Only if I were to see it was getting out of hands, or if he was close to…doing the same things would I step up.

He had been in the shadow, not asking for anything against what he was doing, for his whole life before. He deserved to stay in the light this time around.

As we were eating dinner, I put down my knife and fork and looked at Minato-san. He noticed me immediately.

"How do we graduate from the Academy?"

"Well, you have a written exam and a practical exam, as well as an on-going evaluation during your last year."

"What's the practical exam?"

"The Clone Jutsu and the Transformation Jutsu." We stared at each other for a few seconds. "That's all."

"You send genins on the field just by making sure they can transform and make a clone with no substance?" I summed, not hiding my disdain.

"D-rank missions are within the village and the jounin-sensei take care of training them in fighting. They test them to see if they are really ready to be genin as well."

"It's light. We're still at war with Kumo too." Kushina-san seemed to agree with me as she was feeding Naru mashed vegetables. "I can do it, but don't they learn how to walk on tree at least?" He sighed.

"Akane, it's not…"

"Is it war protocol? It sounds like it, the Academy teaches the bare minimum of shinobi skills before sending them on the battlefield." He put his cutlery down stiffly.

"She's not wrong Minato," Kushina-san pointed out. "Akane has the same graduation conditions we had, and that Jiraya-san had as well apparently. Maybe it is time for an update."

"Do you think I don't know that? There are some many things in Konoha that need…" he trailed off, taking a deep breath. "Akane, if you think the Academy program is so bad, what would you do about it?"

"The theorical curriculum seems fine, it covers a lot. You need to put it to the test before graduation, someone who's good on paper can be everyone's loss on the field. Have more simulation situations in the last year, or last two. Put at least one offensive ninjutsu and how to break out of a genjutsu as part of the final test. Have chakra nature tested, tree walking, there are a lot of things that you could put in place. Tell them there are options regarding about what kind of shinobi and kunoichi they want to be, like medic-nin, fuinjutsu users, Intelligence and…the sensei is a team leader and teacher, sure, but not a counsellor." He just stared at me, dumbfounded. "What?"

"I didn't think you would say so much." I shrugged.

Kiri's graduation was…no longer the one Zabuza-san had had. There was a survival test in the swamps, you'd fight a chuunin for ten minutes when they had the intention to kill, experiencing killing intent, and the final part of your graduation was your first kill.

With the amount of missing-nin, Yagura had found a use for them. If you froze or couldn't kill them, you were not a shinobi.

It was way too harsh, but Konoha was way too simple. You could meet at the middle; it was just a matter of how and if you wanted it.

"Are you hiring?" I joked, smirking. He chuckled.

"I haven't legalized child labor yet." He went back to being serious. "However, you are bringing up good points." I nodded and went back to my steak as the two adults in the room exchanged a heavy glance. "Akane."

"Hum?"

"Are you being average at school on purpose?" I stopped my fork and looked up at the Hokage. He had a serious look in his eyes now. I closed my mouth.

"Except for shurikenjutsu, yes." Kushina-san sighed. "If I'm average, the mummy won't be interested in me, right? That's what you said last time."

"The mummy?"

"Shimura Danzou-sama," Minato-san told her. "Akane, does it bother you?"

"Not really no, I'm fine in school. I don't want to miss too much of Naru's life." I narrowed my eyes at Kushina-san. "But I want to be a genin too and she knows why." She found something very interesting with her son the second Minato-san's blue eyes found hers.

"Okay then. Look, if you are okay with being average in school, then I will gladly let you graduate at a normal pace. However, if you suddenly become sick of the Academy and decide to stop hiding, which results in you graduating…then I would have to make some adjustments." I tilted my head on the side. "I think it would be better if Kushina and I adopted you when you become a genin." I widened my eyes, dropping my fork.

What the actual fuck was he saying?

"Akane?" she called me, worried.

"No."

"Lis…"

"You're not my parents, you won't replace them!" I suddenly yelled, making Naru cry. His mother immediately picked him up to calm him down, but I didn't care. I put my hands flat on the table and stood up, my chair creaking against the wooden floor. "I am grateful for you for taking me in, but I am not your daughter, so no, you will not adopt me, even if it make things difficult at some point."

I went to my room and closed the door loudly.

They were not my parents! My mom was dead, my dad was as good as dead, my older brother was dead! They would not replace my family just like that!

Thanks for reading. I hope you have liked it, please do let me know in reviews! Thanks to mikand26for their review!

Bye!