Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes and sorry for the long wait.

Character age:

Akane, Itachi: 15

Naruto,Sasuke: 9/10

Shisui: 18

Kakashi: 23

"What do you mean 'Shisui is worried about something'?" I asked Itachi, standing on the swing. After we became friends, aka I stopped being a bitch, we slowly started hanging out on days we had a therapy session around the same time. That was mainly the reason why we became real friends. And because I was working at the Academy and he was on missions, it would be in the evening. Hence why we were in the public park where street lamps were our only source of light, me standing on the swing and I was...swinging, whereas he was sitting on the swing next to me.

"I don't know, I asked him and he changed the subject. Did you see him since you came back?"

"Nope. But he was part of the team which stopped Iwa and Kiri, right?" Could it be...no, they would have spied Konoha for some time for...

"Something must have happened then...I haven't seen him like that since..." He stopped himself in the middle of his sentence. I raised my eyebrow for the show but knew he was talking about the coup that I was not supposed to know about. "Nothing. Do you think you could try to speak to him tomorrow?"

"I'll try yeah, the start of the school year is the day after tomorrow," I said and jumped on the ground. "By the way, did you make it official? With Izumi?"

"Not yet. I fear my father's reaction." Yeah, he decided to give her a chance. And he would come to me to ask me for advice, because I was a girl. I was horrible at that kind of stuff. My gender did not mean I would give good love advice, but Itachi didn't seem to give a shit.

"If I were you, I'd fear Sasuke's reaction more than your father's." It made him smile and he got up too. We started walking toward my place and I wouldn't stop taunting him. "I mean, maybe he will close your fan club you know, or join your fan girls to cry over your new relationship." That actually made him chuckle.

"Maybe I should get prepared then."

"Oh, you should Itachi, I think you know what a demon your brother can be," I said as we stopped in front of my house. I could see spiky hair through the curtain of the front window. "Thanks for walking me home. Good night."

"Good night," he replied as I opened the front door.

I took my shoes off and peeked at what Naruto was watching on the TV. Some kids show. He greeted me, his eyes glued to the TV, and I did the same as I went to the dinner table, where my mom was drinking tea, reading the newspaper she couldn't read in the morning. I sat and took a pear to eat when she gave me her paper.

"Read it Akane," she ordered me and I frowned at the seriousness in her voice. So I did. And almost choked on my piece of fruit. There had been a coup in Kirigakure and from what they were saying in the paper, Zabusa-san and a few other shinobi were on the run now. I remembered now...Zabuza-san had launched a coup against Yagura-sama. And for the news to be relayed on the continent, the village was probably in chaos. More than usual.

"That was bound to happen anyway, with how things are over there," I mumbled and gave her paper back. Yeah, days of peace would come to an end soon. I mean, I came back two days ago and I could see the high-ranked shinobi quite tense. "Maybe the spark it lighted will turn into a fire soon."

"You were the head of the Resistance in Kiri sensei?"

"Once Ao found out Yagura was under a genjutsu we knew in what direction to go, but yes. To be fair, it was also thanks to Zabuza's coup. I just wished Mangetsu and you could have been a part of it, it would have been faster."

So it was going to start huh...

"Nee-chan."

"What?" I answered, glancing at my cousin standing next to me.

"You're going to be our sensei this year?"

"Yeah. And you won't call me nee-chan at the Academy, okay? You'll call me sensei, like Sasuke. I don't want anyone saying I'm favoring both of you."

He nodded and went back in the couch to lay down on it. Humph, he looked tired.

"Uchiha...Shisui..." the Kiri-nin whispered, a hand on the bleeding gash on his side. The Uchiha looked down on him with a blank face. He was not the biggest fan of Kiri since he discovered they abducted Akane and forced her to be a kunoichi when she hated this. The simple fact someone would be forced into fighting and killing when they hated it was a disgusting idea to him.

"We sensed other shinobi from your village coming this way, you're lucky."

"Planning...to steal one...one of them too?" he managed to say before coughing blood whereas Shisui's blood ran cold. The sense of the question was pretty clear and he clenched his fists. He briefly thought about taking a kunai and end his life, but if he knew this, the chances he was the only one were non-existent. Plus, killing him would start a war. "...knew it...too stubborn to die..."

He turned his head to one of his teammate who told him Iwa was going back to the Land of Earth. Kiri was getting closer and closer.

"We're leavingn" Shisui said to his team and gave one last glance to the swordsman on the ground. "You're lucky your friends are coming."

He blinked and rubbed his eyes. He had not slept from all night, which he spent staring at his ceiling. He was talking about Akane, there was no doubt about it. He frowned and turned on his side. Kiri had no mercy for their nukenin. They were killed. So if they knew she was alive, and in another village, they would get rid of her and he would not let that happen.

He was alive thanks to her. His clan and the village were relatively at peace because she shared her knowledge with them, and he would never thank her enough for that. That was a debt the Uchiha clan would forever have to her. He cared about the sad little girl he met when he was eight when he just awoke his Mangekyo Sharingan, and he cared even more for the fifteen year-old who did her best to reconcile the village and his clan.

Maybe even a little too much considering her age and his age.

A groan left his lips as the doorbell of his apartment rang. He got up and slipped a t-shirt on to open his front door. He was met by the beautiful brown eyes of the person he was worried about.

"Yo," she greeted him and showed him a plastic bag. "Want some breakfast?" He stepped aside to let her in and watched her pinched her nose. "It stinks here, when was the last time you opened your window?"

"I don't know..." he mumbled, catching with ease the bag whereas she went to his window to open it wide. He peeked at the food and his stomach grumbled at the sight of the many boxes inside. "How was Suna?"

"Hot and dry. Itachi is worried about you you know, and asked me to come to make you talk. Mom thought you might want some homemade cooking so..."

"Thanks Aka-chan," he thanked her and he widened his eyes when she turned to face him. He put the food on his table and walked up to her, staring at her cast. "What..."

"I'm happy that a broken arm was the only thing I got from the mission, it could have been much worse," she said with a wave of her valid hand. He raised his eyes to meet hers, which, even with the sun behind her, had that light red undertone to them. "I heard you met one of the Seven Swordsmen. The only one who must have been left out of the coup against the Mizukage recently."

"He knew you were alive," he said in a low voice.

"I figured it would happen sooner or later. Let me guess, around my age, white hair, purple eyes and sharp teeth?" He frowned. He knew she knew people in Kiri but...it still kind of make him angry the fact he didn't know everything about her. So he nodded. And widened his eyes when she warped her arm around his neck.

"Wha-"

"Thanks for saving his life Shisui, thank you so much," she murmured in his shoulder. He took a deep breath, regretting it the minute her scent reached his nose. Fruity, but with the faint smell of the ink she would use every single day.

"You know him?"

"My teammate. Thank you," she repeated once again and let go of him. The relieved smile on her lips didn't escape his dark eyes. "You told the Hokage right? So that he can take the appropriate..."

"I didn't." Her quizzing look made him avert his own. "The elders could try to get rid of you and..."

"Shisui, it doesn't matter what they do to me. I won't let my presence fuck that place up with war. You gotta tell him before..." She stopped her sentence when he grabbed her wrist. It felt so small, so fragile in his hand. His hand wrapped her whole wrist and he felt like he could break it too easily. Maybe she could fight but he could not help but think Kiri would crush her easily. So easily, too easily. "Shisui, don't forget I'm almost forty in my head. I know what I am doing probably more than you, no matter how strong and experienced you are right now. Peace is the most important, right?"

"It is," he admitted and he ran a hand through his hair. "But it doesn't mean I can't want to protect you from them."

"Well, the will to protect people is what makes you strong around here," she chuckled to ease the tension and he allowed himself a small smile. "It's not like you. You're the one to cheer people up. Anyway, I gotta go. Be sure to eat and to see the Hokage. Everything will be fine, trust me."

"Got it," he said and grinned at her. She grinned back at him, patted his shoulder and left his place. He wouldn't let her get hurt.

"Oh!" she yelled and went back at his door. "Go and talk to your cousin, I thought he was going to cry because he didn't know what was going on with you. Bye!" And she left.

"My name is Akane Sasaki, you may remember me from that Suiton jutsu. I'll be your teacher in the initiation in fuinjutsu this year and if you continue next year, I'll be your teacher too. Questions? Yes?" I said to a student, next to Hinata.

"You're the girl Uzumaki called 'nee-chan' before, you're related?"

"Yeah, but that's none of your concern. If you have no question school related, then we can start." I scanned the room with my eyes and sighed of relief when I saw no raised hands. I recognized some faces though. Choji, for instance, eating chips. Shikamaru was sitting next to him, his chin in his hand and his eyes barely open. Of course, there were Naruto and Sasuke behind them, Shino sitting next to the Uchiha. On the front row on my left, Sakura and Ino were next to each other. And Kiba was in the back, his hands crossed behind his head. "Fuinjutsu is the name given to any sealing techniques. Taijutsu is hand-to-hand combat, Ninjutsu is when you use techniques and Genjutsu illusions. I'm sure some of you are already at a certain level in some areas, but Fuinjutsu is a complex discipline. Can anyone give me the most used seal by shinobi?"

Sasuke raised his hand, a smug look on his face. Hinata also raised a shy hand. You bet she'd know that, now she could deactivate an explosive tag a second before it explode. Naruto didn't seem to really care, so I questioned Sakura.

"Explosive tag, shinobi often use them with kunai," she recited, strangely sure of herself. I thought she had self-confidence later on, once she was Tsunade-sama's student, but I wouldn't complain. So I nodded.

"Yeah. Unfortunately, because it would take too much time and I don't think it would interest a lot of you, we won't get into the details of a seal. I won't teach you to read them or to write them as it takes a lot of time..." Sasuke had a very proud smirk on his lips, "for someone to do so. This year, you will learn how to distinguish the most used seals and how to seal items in scroll."

"That's useless! We can't even use them in fight!" a student yelled, standing up. "That sucks!"

"So you think I'm defenseless right now?"

"Yeah!"

I smiled sweetly at him and disappeared, to reappear behind him. I put a hand on his back and placed my immobility seal on him, making his upper body crash on his desk.

"At your level, you're right to say it won't be useful in fight. The most you can do is sealing weapons in scrolls, and yet, you would need to summon them very quickly. However, at a high-level, you can seal anything, on a living being or not. You can make your opponent immobile, block his chakra, break the pact between a shinobi and his summon and the list goes on. Just to be clear, if you say Fuinjutsu is useless in fights, you're implying that the Yondaime Hokage and Jiraya-sama, one of the three sannins, are weak, as they both are Seal Masters. The Yondaime even used seals as one of his main fighting style." I released the seal and walked to my desk. "But as for what you'll learn, you should be able to seal and summon food or any other items from scrolls, which can be useful as sealed items do not change state. An apple will still be eatable even after a month. We're good?"

They all nodded and I rolled my eyes at Sasuke and Naruto. They were snickering at my victim.

Time flies. I saw Shisui a lot more and, he never said it but I knew he was on a mission. He was watching me. Because the tensions between Konoha and Kiri were getting worse. It was back to normal with Iwa, but Kiri wasn't happy their mission failed because of Konoha. It would have failed either way but...I could almost see Yagura-sama pacing furiously in his office, barking orders at every shinobi who dared to come in.

But except for the awful feeling of being watched, nothing changed. Naruto and Sasuke realized that what I would make them do in class had nothing to do with what they would do at home, and many students set items on fire when they tried to seal them. Too much chakra and boom. Hopefully I knew many water-based jutsu.

But we still ended outside. When it came to the level above, I still had Neji in my class. And he would ask quite often how to break seals. It didn't take a genius to know why. Well, for me anyway because I was still working with Hiashi-san on a way to reduce the damages the curse seal does on the Branch House. I also had Tenten, who was pretty good at weapons storage. Not that I didn't know it already, but it was something to see her progressing so much.

Also, I got a tatoo. Nah, just kidding, but I had a seal on my right wrist. A confidentiality seal. With how things were with Kiri, who knew what could happen. So mom, with a sample of Hiashi-san's blood and Fugaku-san's blood, sealed all the things I knew of the Hyuuga and Uchiha clans so that I wouldn't spill their secrets. And the only way to deactivate to seal would be with their blood.

"Date?" I repeated, blinking slowly.

"Yeah, we need to go to the upcoming festival with an Uchiha date," Itachi explained to me when him, Shisui and I were sitting on the porch of his house. I opened my mouth but nothing came. They both had girlfriends anyway, so that was normal. It was even a miracle Shisui had the same girlfriend for more than three months.

"We can still meet up somewhere!" Shisui told me when he saw my pout. I shook my head.

"No way I'm the third wheel on a double date!"

"Wouldn't that make you the fifth wheel?" Itachi pointed out with a smirk. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Shut it you smart ass."

"I can go with you nee-san."

I hugged Sasuke around the waist. I was sitting and he was standing, so that was making it easier.

"You're the only Uchiha who won't break my heart!" I cried dramatically and I heard Mikoto-san's laugh coming from inside. "You're the best Sasuke, you know that?"

"Obviously," he replied smugly. I let him go and he started walking away. "Mother, I'm going out!"

"Where?" Came his mother's answer, sticking her head through the doorway. I muffled a laugh behind my hand when I realized the three of us were listening the conversation.

"I don't know, the dobe asked me to come over for something, if I don't go he'll be more of a pain than usual."

I busted into laughter, Shisui snickered and Itachi smiled. That was so cute to see their friendship blossom.

"Where are we going?"

"Just follow me Sasuke! I know someone who can help us for fuinjutsu class!" Naruto replied, running through the crowd, Sasuke following him closely.

"I don't need help!" the Uchiha hissed when they arrived at the park.

"If you blow up one more thing nee-chan is going to kill you. Did you see the weird thing her eye did the other day?"

"I did, but she won't do that to any of us."

Naruto stopped in his tracks and shot him a deadpan look.

"Maybe she would," Sasuke admitted, "but it doesn't mean that..."

"Oh, here she is! Sakura-chan!"

Sasuke went stiff. That was the name of one of his fangirls, wasn't it? The pink-haired one? Sasuke watched the blond boy run toward her and a blond girl, the Yamanaka heiress if he remembered well, and asked them something. He came back quickly with a sad face.

"She won't help us Sasuke," Naruto sighed deeply.

"We don't need her anyway. Let's go back to training." The children started to leave but a small voice stopped them. They turned to see the girls running to them with reddened cheeks and Sasuke's frown deepened.

"You both need help?" the blond girl asked them, but staring at Sasuke. "Sakura can help you in the end, and I'll come with her!"

Naruto started to make a face but the prospect of Sakura coming made him grin. "Yeah, th..."

"Absolutely not," Sasuke cut him off sharply, shooting cold glances at the girls. "If we need help, we can ask nee-san or nii-san, even Akiko-ba-san."

"But..."

"Shut up, you're annoying." With that sharp answer, the pinkette looked down. Naruto cast him an angry look but Sasuke returned it before leaving. Naruto soon followed him, screaming at him to apologize. "You're dumb dobe, they were ready to do it because I was here."

"Don't you think I already know that teme?" At his answer, the Uchiha shoved his hands in his pockets and scoffed at him. "I don't care if Sakura-chan..."

"You should build yourself some self-esteem. You won't use me to get your crush to work with you."

"If I can use our friendship to get close to her then I will!" he claimed loudly when they reached a street close to where Naruto was living.

"Hmph, as if I would let you do that. She is annoying."

"No she's not!"

They fought all the way, but later that day, when he was eating dinner with his family, he realized something that made him grin.

Sasuke had not denied their friendship.

"Oh, are you going to the festival by the way?" Ko elegantly raised an eyebrow at me and Hinata turned from the seal to look at me. "What, I'm gonna play the babysitter for Naruto and Sasuke, I'm looking for people to drag down with me!"

"Are they that bad?" the oldest Hyuuga asked me and I nodded.

"Individually they're okay, but together? They're always bickering for one thing or another. Hey, why don't you come with us?"

"That's..."

"Yes!" I smirked. Hinata beat Ko to it and, even though she was blushing now.

Turned out Sasuke coming with us ended up in Sasuke sleeping at our place. My mom was with some colleagues, even though she would probably be with Mikoto-san at some point. So now, we just met with Sasuke and his parents. If Naruto was wearing an orange yukata, we tried to get him another color but he wouldn't have any of it, with his sleeves rolled up to the shoulders, I had opted for a plain burgundy one with a black obi around the waist. The most striking thing was my curly hair instead of my usual straight auburn hair. It was nothing too crazy, but mom wouldn't let me do my hair myself and made soft curls. I liked it anyway, like the soft makeup she put on my face. For once, I did look like a girl.

"But...where are your stuff Sasuke?" I asked the kid in a dark blue yukata. He shot me a smug smirk and showed me a scroll. Naruto gaped at him and pointed.

"Not fair!"

"Told you I didn't need her help."

Oh right, there was that thing with Sakura and Ino. Sasuke did not like how they were trying to get some time with him through Naruto I guess. How cute.

"Thanks for taking Sasuke Akane-chan. Have a good time," Mikoto-san told us. Fugaku-san nodded and they left.

"By the way, I asked a friend to come with us," I informed the kids, who raised their eyebrows.

"You have other friends than nii-san and Shisui-san?"

Ouch. That, that one hurt. I punched him on the head, which he surprisingly stopped, and Naruto dragged us to a food shop. We had just bought, or more like I had bought us takoyaki when Ko's voice called me. Naruto and Sasuke were surprised to see Hinata, who was cute enough to eat in her lavender yukata.

"I swear, if one day there is no more octopus in the world it will be because of you," Ko told me, eyeing the takoyaki in my hands with despair.

"You're just jealous because you want some."

"I don't...get that out of my face!"

"I feel bad for her. She looked upset we left her alone tonight," Shisui sighed. His girlfriend Chihiro was talking with Izumki. She was a true beauty, with the dark hair and dark eyes all Uchihas shared. She was kind too, and simply just a wonderful woman.

"I'm sure she found people to go with," Itachi replied smoothly.

"Hum..."

"I mean, she looks beautiful tonight but it looks like that Hyuuga I saw in her hospital room some time ago is with her."

"Wh..." Itachi pointed something behind him with his finger. Shisui glanced at what he was showed and widened his eyes a little. It was Akane, definitely Akane, but she was looking extremely feminine for once. Not that she was not, but she would be feminine according to her mood. Her yukata was fitting her perfectly and he could see some makeup on her. She was...gorgeous. "Wow," He said and then saw a boy next to her, playing some fishing game, "that's the Hyuuga?"

"Hyuuga Ko, he takes care of the clan's head daughter and helps Akane during their training sessions."

"Do I wanna know how you know that?"

"I asked her."

"Your crush huh? Getting jealous? You said she was beautiful, didn't y..."

"I'm stating facts, she's a dear friend of mine and I'm not going to say she's bad looking if I think otherwise," Itachi interrupted him with a frown. "And you're the one getting jealous, not me. I'm not clenching my fists." Shisui stopped clenching his fists. "I'll admit I'm not good with feeling but I'm not the one lying to myself for once."

"Who said I was lying to myself Itachi?" Shisui replied in a low and serious voice with a frown. "She doesn't see me that way, and I'm too old for her anyway. I wouldn't touch her before she's eighteen."

"You don't know how she sees you."

"You're right, but I know her. There will always be something holding her back."

Itachi frowned at his cousin, who shot one last longing look at their female friend, who was oblivious as she had not even realized they were looking at her. Shisui and Akane had a secret he did not know, and with this situation with Kirigakure, he probably knew a part of it.

He needed to make her admit she was a nukenin from the Hidden Mist though.

"What..."

"Tsk, her again," Sasuke hissed next to me. He took my hand rather harshly but Sakura did not look at him. She stopped in front of Naruto, looking down at her feet. My cousin blushed by the way. And bad timing, Hinata glanced at him right at that moment. There was nothing better than ten year-old kids drama.

"Sa...Sakura-chan?"

"I'm...sorry for the other day. It was not right to...to be an opportunist when you needed help," Sakura said and I could tell she really was ashamed of herself.

"Hehe, that's okay!" Naruto laughed, half embarrassed as he scratched the back of his head. I discreetly pinched Sasuke when he scowled.

"Hey Sakura, why don't you come hang out with us? We were about to go find a spot for the fireworks," I asked her with a smile. She shot me a stunned look, and briefly glanced at Sasuke. Hmph, I could feel his murderous glare on me.

But we still ended up on the cliff of the Hokage. Ko was sitting on Hinata's right, who was next to Sakura, who was next to me who was next to Sasuke. Naruto? He was sitting between my legs, my arms around him and his head tucked under my chin. I smiled when the colorful explosions filled the dark sky above us. It was beautiful, and the threat of war left my mind for a short amount of time.

It was a beautiful village, wasn't it? If oji-chan and Itachi thought it was worth their lives, then it couldn't be that bad.

As we went home, dropping Sakura at her place and Ko and Hinata walking with us until mine because the Hyuuga boy was carrying my sleeping cousin on his back, I couldn't help but think it was in those peaceful times you could really see what was worth protecting.

Hey, thanks for reading! I'm struggling for the end of the first Arc, which should be in one or two chapters.

skittlesdeb: Thanks for the review :)

DeiStarr: Thanks for the review :) and the your opinion on the pairing. After almost a year without touching this story, my love for Itachi came back and old ideas probably won't be put in the story. But because Akane wants to do things differently in her second life, I don't think she will be in a relationship for a very long time, I really want to focus on her :)