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

Character age:

Akane, Itachi: 18

Naruto, Sasuke: 12/13

Shisui: 21

Kakashi: 26

"Hell no!" Suigetsu barked, grabbing my arm to keep me from moving. "No way you're leaving in the middle of training Uzu! Konoha-softies can su-" He never finished his sentence as I kicked him in the head, said head bursting in water. I sent an apologetic look at Ko, who didn't let anything show on his face.

"Suigetsu, they're not asking me to come as a kunoichi from Kiri. Remember those scars?" I replied and showed him the chakra burns I had on my wrist. "That's because I'm a Seal Master. I still have responsibilities toward the clans who hired me."

"But...but training!" he wailed and moved his arms around.

"You already know what to work on." A small smile appeared at the corner of my lips. I cut my left thumb and put my hand in the grass. "Summoning Jutsu!" A puff of smoke poofed into existence to reveal a light gray wolf with his eyes closed. On his four paws he reached my shoulders. He pushed his muzzle in my cheek. "Hey Seihitsu, do you mind taking care of Suigetsu's training for a while? I have business to attend to."

"Of course not Akane," he replied in his usual quiet voice. Seihitsu was my go-to summon in fights. Even if he was blind, he was a great sensor and an awesome partner. Gaku didn't really obey me anyway, I wasn't mom and he loved to remind it to me. I summoned my katana and put the handle between his teeth. A quick glance at Suigetsu and I felt proud of myself. Suigetsu was scared of my wolf friend, like he always has been since they met. I waved at him and followed Ko.

"So, why does Hyuuga-sama wants to see me? Is it about Hinata?"

"You saw her match between her and Neji, didn't you?" he asked me with a concerned frown. I nodded. Neji was...filled with such hatred... "Well, she had been in the hospital ever since, but she wants to leave. Hiashi-sama doesn't want her to. They thought you might be able to do something."

"I'm not a medic," I deadpanned at him. He shot me an exasperated look, that I returned for a few seconds. I averted my eyes first. "But I've been playing with medical seals since I was a genin."

"Please refrain to use the term 'playing' when it comes to Hinata-sama's health."

"Of course, my bad."

"Is that okay though?" I tilted my head on my shoulder and blinked. "With you being a kunoichi from Kiri and the still tensed situation. You are the face of your village and..."

"Ko, if you don't stop showing how worry you are," I purred with an amused smirk, "I'm gonna cry."

"You're still as annoying as before," he grumbled under his breath and I chuckled. I patted his shoulder and he turned his lilac eyes back to me.

"I appreciate it, be sure of that. But Seal Masters don't automatically pledge allegiance to Hidden Villages. I've never worked directly for Konoha except for teaching. My help is toward the clans I have a confidentiality seal with, and the shinobi part of my life can't interfere. Yagura can try, but he knows when it comes to this, he can't do anything to stop me and can't keep me from doing it because he would look bad. You get what I mean?"

"Yes. That's...reassuring to know you haven't changed that much." I raised a brow and he cleared his throat. "Hinata-sama was surprised to see you with the genin from Kiri and said there was nothing from the old you in your eyes."

"Oh." Hinata was quite perceptive. We walked in silence to the Hyuuga compound and I took my forehead protector off. I was going as a Seal Master, no reason to show I was also Kiri. I followed my Hyuuga friend on a path I used to walk often. Once we were in front of a sliding door, he knocked.

"Hiashi-sama, I have brought her."

"Come in." I walked in and Ko stayed in the hallway. I bowed to Hiashi-san and sat in front of the cup of tea which seemed to be waiting for me. Huh, Oolong tea, my favorite. Good to know they remembered the one selfish request I made when they hired me; having Oolong tea. "It has been a while, Sasaki-san."

"It has, Hyuuga-sama. I understand you required my help?" I replied, taking a sip of my tea. He nodded severely, cold eyes looking right through me. "For Hinata?"

"Yes. As you have seen, my nephew hurt her badly. She insists on leaving the hospital but even if she seems fine, our doctor thinks she could suffer a relapse under some particular circumstances, one of them being a trigger. I am afraid Hinata watching the match between Neji and Uzumaki Naruto might hurt her," he explains and I bit my lips, deep in thoughts.

"I could make a seal with healing chakra in it that would automatically heal her if there is a relapse."

"It would be ideal. How long would it take?"

"Not long. I would need your doctor and Hinata."

I soon found myself in Hinata's hospital room, with Ko and the doctor. She widened her eyes when she saw me and I smiled at her.

"Your father asked me to help."

I took a chair from the corner of the room and put it close to the night stand. I placed my back pouch on my laps and browsed in it. My ink and brush were quickly pulled out of the pouch and on the nightstand and I looked at each seal paper I had. I looked up at the doctor, who was eyeing me suspiciously, and showed him the papers.

"You know the nature of the injury, which size would engulf it perfectly?" He looked at me clearly startled by my question and pointed at the one almost the size of my hand. "Thanks." I opened my ink bottle and with strokes I knew by heart, drew a healing seal. "If you say she could suffer a relapse, then you know what kind it would be and how to treat it, right?" He nodded. I placed the seal on the palm of my left hand and extended it to him. I made the tiger seal with my right hand and the seal glowed green. "Please, pretend the seal is Hinata's injury. It will seal the jutsu and I will seal it in Hinata next." He did as told, and I proceeded to roll Hinata's shirt up.

The doctor showed me where the injury was precisely, her heart, and the symptom she could have. The tenketsu around her heart had been almost all closed, and even if they were working now there were still damages. Too much emotion could trigger her heart to beat a little bit too fast and relapse happen. I placed the paper on the injury and took my brush. A symbol for the activation in case the symptoms happen, another one for said symptoms, one for sealing foreign chakra in the seal, one for transferring the paper seal to the body seal, and finally a circle for the layer of protection against her heart, with a final symbol for her chakra to be that layer. I put my brush away and let the ink on Hinata's body dry.

"As the seal is linked to your heart, I have to create a layer of protection to keep it from burning your heart. I made it so that you chakra feeds the layer. The seal I drew is a rehabilitation seal. It will heal you if you have a relapse, however because the layer is made from your chakra you should not use too much of it and fight. Your Byakugan should be okay but reasonably." I explained with a serious face. "It's for one use only, it will dissipate if you use it and I will personally make a reverse seal and give it to your father. However, you need to promise me not to overuse your chakra. If the layer is not thick enough, your heart will suffer from chakra burns. Understood?" She nodded slowly, processing the information I just gave her. I turned my eyes to the doctor, who wrote down everything.

"We will make sure Hinata-sama follows all of the instructions."

"Fine." I made some hand seals and put my right hand on the paper. "Fuinjutsu: Seal Transfer." The black ink glowed green and went through the paper. Hinata winced a little and I shot her an apologetic smile. Once the glow disappeared, I took the blank paper and threw it in the bin. Useless now, there would always be chakra residues on it. I gazed at my seal to check. '治り', the kanji for 'recovery' was at the center. "I will do the reverse seal now and give it to Hyuuga-sama later, but now you have your first tatoo Hinata, congrats!" She chuckled softly. A peaceful feeling engulfed me. The one I felt when I was teaching Hinata before, and Ko was watching. It was just...peaceful, and it was nice. Once the seal was done, I looked up at Ko as it was drying. "Hey, thanks for asking for me." Even if I'm not on Konoha's good side. Even if I hurt Shisui and maybe Itachi already, like the kids.

"You're welcome," he answered with a small smile. I widened my eyes and looked at Hinata, my finger pointed toward Ko.

"He smiled at me, you see that!?" An offended snarl was heard, but I didn't care. Hinata chuckled once again and I could feel Ko feeling betrayed behind me.

"Hinata-sama!"

"You did Ko, you can't deny it."

I stuck my tongue at him and he glared. Yep, just like the good old times. I could here, with Ko, because he wouldn't try to stick his nose in my business. And they asked for the Seal Master, not the kunoichi like Itachi and Shisui. I could be myself, in these conditions.

I left the room once the reverse seal was done and stopped at a window in the hallway. Lee was working out outside, still in his hospital blouse. There was training and there was obsession. Suigetsu put him in that state though, even if Lee was stronger than Suigetsu I think. Even Suigetsu said he was overwhelmed and that in term of power, he was under Lee's level.

It was just a very unlucky for Lee to fight Suigetsu.

That was the reason I ended up next to him. He stopped in his push-ups when my shadow towered him.

"You do know training a wounded body has the reversed effects. You're hurting yourself more than you grow stronger."

"I don't have time to waste," he grumbled between clenched teeth. I stared down at the kid in front of me. Once upon a time, it was a man I had no trouble trusting my children's safety to.

"Still, if you don't let your body have the time to heal properly, you'll be wasting your time for the rest of your life," I told him sharply. "If you want that youth thing Gai-san and you always talk about to continue in the future, then make sure to pass it to the next generation one day." I body flickered away. Lee would only grow stronger, I knew that, but seeing him so frustrated over a defeat was annoying.

"I didn't do anything I swear. Oh no, is it because of Shisui?" Itachi didn't even spare me a glance as we continued walking to the Hokage Tower. We had a week until the Exam. Oh, now I was thinking about it, didn't Jiraya-san told me I would see him and the Hokage? Crap, what could they want from me?

As I was thinking, I found myself in front of the Hokage for the second time in a month and Jiraya-san was leaning against the wall with crossed arms. I glanced in Itachi's direction for a brief second and it was enough for me to catch his eyes looking at me, wondering why Jiraya-san was there too. I shrugged. I didn't know either.

"Itachi-kun, please leave now." Itachi bowed and left quickly. I looked at the two men in front of me with puzzled eyes. "I heard about your...discussion with Shisui-kun." I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly.

"I tried to keep him away, he was just..."

"Worried about what you went through once again in Kiri. But it is not my place to tell you."

"Why am I here exactly?" I asked in confusion.

"I was wondering, Akane-kun, what will you do once the coup in Kiri happen?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"You have been brought in Kiri by force when you were barely eleven and you went back to the shinobi life two years ago because the Mizukage was putting pressure on Konoha. Once everything is over, what will you do?"

"Help...the Fifth Mizukage?" I replied, unsure of where this was going. "I don't understand...what I do after is none of your concern, is it?"

"It depends actually," Jiraya-san pipped up, "Minato placed you in his will, saying he would like for you to serve in Konoha. If the Fourth Mizukage is deposed and the Fifth sticks to their words about changing the village, then the law that made you a kunoichi over there will be annulled and your duty to Kirigakure won't exist anymore." I blinked at him and slowly turned my gaze to the Hokage.

"And if I don't have any duty to my village anymore, then the Hokage's will could be used. If..."

"If you wanted to be a kunoichi of the Leaf then we wouldn't be able to say 'no', be it me, my successor, the council or the Elders. Minato made sure of that," the Hokage finished for me. My eyes fell on what was on the desk. A brand new forehead protector, with the Leaf symbol carved in the metal. I took a step forward and grazed the metal with the tip of my fingers. A kunoichi here? Alongside Naruto, Itachi, Shisui, Sasuke and Kakashi? A picture of me wearing that green flak jacket instead of my usual gray one appeared in my head. Konoha was a good village, I knew it, but I was trained in Kiri. There would...I would always be lonely deep down with how drastically different the moral was in these two places.

I took a step back, my eyes focused on the floor. "I'm sorry, but I don't think it would be wise for me to accept this. I'm not even sure if I'll make it out alive."

"Well, the offer will still stand in the future," the Hokage actually sighed and he took the hitai-ate to put it in a drawer of his desk. I shot a quick glance at Jiraya-san, who was looking at his sensei with eyes that said 'I-told-you-so'.

"Jiraya-san, I thought you were still training Naruto?"

"Oh, he's in the hospital since this morning. Chakra exhaustion." Even with Kurama's chakra? Wow. He was training on the Summoning Technique, wasn't he? Who did he manage to summon? Gamakichi was small right now I think.

"Hokage-sama." An anbu appeared in the room, a scroll in hand. "We have just received words from the Mizukage. However, the seal seemed to be programmed so that only Uzumaki Akane can open it." The scroll ended up in my hand and I unsealed it quickly. My eyes scanned Yagura's hand writing meticulously.

"He won't come but he's sending reinforcement."

"Reinforcement?" Jiraya-san repeated with a quirked brow.

"I...I don't know either. I mean, if he really wants us to beat Oto, it would be logical of him to send people I work well with and oh god I know who they are. It will be the first time you have so much Swordsmen in your village Hokage-sama. Oh gosh Yagura is really pissed at Orochimaru." They watched me pacing in front of them, mumbling things to myself.

Mangetsu and Dai were coming. Shit was about to get real. We never failed a mission together.

Of course, when I told him, Suigetsu was half ecstatic, half scared his big brother would come. He was supposed to give up his first match after all. However, when everyone was asleep, I stared at the ceiling. I was proposed to join Konoha shinobi. It wasn't just something I could not think about but...

"Come here, now," Minato's voice said in my head. I kept myself from sighing and closed my eyes, chakra pooling in my seal. When I opened my eyes, oji-chan was looking severely at me, his arms crossed over his chest. I peeked above his shoulder, spotting a light yellow armchair and scrolls on the floor.

"Getting cosy in my seal I see."

"I figured I could make some arrangements and really work from here," he explained with a shrug of his shoulders. We stared at each other and he sighed before going back in his chair, motioning me to do the same. A burgundy chair appeared out of nowhere. "You get used to it." I nodded and sat silently. "You have time to think about Sandaime's proposition you know, you don't have to be concerned about it for now."

"Sensei said she would start the attacks once the Exams are over, it's a matter of months until the coup happen," I replied blandly. My eyes went wide as that particular piece of information fully reached my brain. "Shit, it's just a few months before the coup oji-chan."

"Hey, you trust Mei-san, don't you?" I nodded slowly and his smile reassured me a little. "Then you know she won't attack until you're all ready. Even if I don't like the part you are playing as a spy, you are doing a good job at balancing the two, but mostly at asking your teammates for help concerning your mental health."

"You kept bugging me about it," I muttered. He was right though, Mangetsu and Dai just knew when it was on the verge of being too much and knew how to calm me down and remind me I was not on my own. "I just...being a shinobi from Konoha seems surreal...I never thought about it, to me Konoha meant fuinjutsu and not active duty y'know? But in Kiri it is active duty however it is forced, I..."

"You didn't become a kunochi for good reasons," oji-chan said gently, "we both know that. Now I know it's different. Mei-san said it herself, your progresses were faster, and it's because you have a goal. What is it?"

"Change Kiri. Make it a home for kekkai genkai users unlike how it is today. A home for people who are lost and confused about what their purpose is in life, like me in my past life," I blurted out. I pressed my hand on my mouth by reflex. I knew I wanted to turn Kiri upside-down, I didn't realize it was because I would have wanted a place like that before.

"You have never really searched for an answer as to why you personally wanted to join the Resistance," Minato stated calmly with a knowing smile. "However, if you have that in mind, then where does your loyalty lie?"

"Sensei, obviously," I answered automatically, "she went through the Bloody Mist before Zabuza-san, she wants an end to it. I'll put the Mizukage hat on her head and help he...OH!"

"You don't have to think about Sandaime's proposition now, do you?" I furrowed my brows at the sadness lingering in his smile. He noticed that and brushed my concern aside. "Don't worry about me. When Kushina and I wanted you and your mother in Konoha, it was for your safety, you would have been a kunoichi if you had wanted too. Uzumakis survivors are interesting for most villages, and you are part Yuki too, it makes you even more special. It's only natural for you to be wary of who you want to help with your skills. With how things were in your past life, what Konoha did back then and didn't do here a few years ago, I understand you do not necessarily want to fight for her."

"The Uchiha clan is alive too," I added in a whisper, "they don't need me with powerhouses like Itachi, Shisui or Fugaku-san. In Kiri it's..."

"I know." Desolated, awful, it needs strong people to fight for it whereas Konoha already had some. I snorted and raised a brow when oji-chan stood up and crouched in front of me. "I also know you're hurt by your argument with Shisui."

"He hates it, me being in the Mist, right? He was...he was worried, wasn't he? And I pushed him away as if he was nothing. I hurt him a lot two years ago and I hurt him once again. I'm a terrible friend, ain't I?"

"Well, you did hurt him, there is no denying it." I sighed and relaxed when Minato embraced me with one arm, pulling me closer to his chest. He was dead, I knew it was only his soul, but he was solid and warm. "You have a mission too, and he doesn't know it. It's...Yagura knew what he was doing by sending you here, he wanted to test you, break you a little bit more and it worked. But when it's all over, Shisui will understand your position. Even if he is worried right now, as a shinobi he will understand."

"Man, do you know how scary are the Uchihas when they care about something?" I asked with a roll of my eyes. "And when they care about you they're actually terrifying. They really wear their hearts on their sleeves when it comes to love and it's...it's terrifying."

"You know something about it, don't you?" I pushed Minato away with a blush at his teasing.

"Would the people here even understand if I stayed in Kiri after the coup?"

"With time yes. Don't think about them though, nobody but you can decide for who and for what you want to fight. They really care about you, if it makes you happy even if it's not here they will accept it."

"I...guess you're right."

"When in doubt you can talk to me you know."

"I know it's just...I know sometimes I need someone to remind me of what's going on so that I don't drown in the pressure of all of it, but I don't want to become emotionally addicted people. I don't want to get addicted to people telling me I have to keep going like I've been being since I saw Shisui. No, since I came back in Konoha."

"Well, that's exactly what Yagura, Obito wants. Once you're back in Kiri your thoughts will be clearer. Keeping your secret around people with whom you've already shared some of your secrets is not easy. You have to keep yourself from getting lost in all of them."

"Easier said than done! I mean...I..."

"Akane, can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah?"

"What is Uchiha Shisui to you?" I blinked sheepishly at him. Shisui? What was Shisui to me?

"Safety," I replied slowly. "He got me out of Kiri at the moment I least expected. He brought us back to Konoha and believed me. He's like my safety net and I can't have one right now. Actually, I don't wanna drag any of them in the mess that is Kiri. I know how I am, and I know if Shisui was there to pick me up when I'm down then I wouldn't resist falling over and over again, because I know he would always pick me up without asking anything in return."

"You're scared of taking advantage of him?"

"I'm still a coward deep down you know," I whispered, my eyes starting to close, "and I had closed myself so much to people in my life that when someone shows me kindness and wants to help, I tend to just say 'yes' and let them do everything. I know denying help is not the solution, but I also know it's one of the only way I will do something by myself. In Konoha they're so...so soft, soft fools, somehow. In the past I wished to be the same, but the Bloody Mist will never let me be one. I...do I still make sense?"

"The subjects are changing but I follow you," he told me with a grin. "You're falling asleep anyway. We'll talk more later, when the Exams are over, okay?"

"'kay...thanks for making me talk and listening...it's a lil'bit clearer now I talked about it to someone else..."

"I am here to listen Aka-chan," he chuckled as I felt myself leaving this plan.

"Hi, I'll be your the escort to your comrade Uzumaki-san," an Uchiha around my age with short spiky brown hair and black eyes told me, the police symbol proudly on display on his sleeve. I nodded and turned to look back at the road. The Exams were the day after tomorrow, so tomorrow would be the start of the festival. Today, Dai and Mangetsu were coming. I didn't know where my genin were, I knew Itachi was still looking after them as I had another Uchiha with me, but we were supposed to meet at three in the afternoon with the boys. It was two right now.

"Good to know." We stayed in silence for a couple more minutes, the chuunin guarding the gates glancing at us every now and then, until I spotted a white moving thing far away. "Here they are in the flesh." I ain't gonna lie, the more they were getting closer, the more at ease I was feeling. They would be able to make me keep my cool. I took a step forward when Dai's emerald eyes met mine and he smiled at me.

"Uzu, still alive!" he greeted me, seemingly ignoring Mangetsu who was continuing their conversation. I smiled at them when they stopped in front of me. "You took the young version, but the old version has been so annoying since you guys left!"

"Are you really complaining about me when I'm here?" Mangetsu asked as he squinted his eyes to our medic. Said medic made a shocked face.

"Me? Making fun of you? Never man, never!" We both rolled our eyes at his childish behavior.

"So, they passed?"

"We wouldn't be here if they didn't," I answered the swordsman and started walking. As we went to the training ground, the Uchiha silently observing us, I felt my teammates looking all around them. Mangetsu was already drinking. With no mist around and the summer sun above us, he would be dehydrated pretty fast.

"It's different," Dai stated as we stopped at the lake. "More...colorful. Even you Uzu, you're less pale than when you left."

"Yeah, living surrounded by mist gives us our beautiful corpse-like tan, so when we go out in the sun..."

"So, how are you?" I glanced at Mangetsu, who was shaking his empty bottle while staring at me. My eyes went back and forth between him and Dai and I offered them a strained smile.

"I'm very happy to see guys. Dai, you were right about being caref-"

"Oh don't tell me you got on an Uchiha dick!" I deadpanned at him and the only Uchiha around, who seemed slightly familiar, blushed furiously.

"I think she meant the other thing." I nodded and Dai made a relieved face before walking over to me to hug me.

"Now physical torture doesn't work anymore Yagura uses the mental one," he hissed in my ear, making circles on my back to soothe me. "You managed though?"

"Yeah...now it will be better because you're here." Mangetsu joined us and patted my shoulder with a knowing smirk.

When my team arrived, they all had long faces. Suigetsu barely greeted his older brother, and it was when Itachi popped into existence next to me in civilian clothes I knew something bad happened.

"Itachi, the fuck happened?"

"They had a meeting with Gaara of the Desert at the hospital, Naruto and Nara Shikamaru were here too. I made my move when he was ready to make his." My blood froze in my veins at what Itachi was implying and my eyes searched for any injury on my genin. There seemed to be nothing except a rest of fear in their eyes. They knew some jinchuriki, but they never met an unstable one before.

"It looks like we all have a lot to talk about," Mangetsu stated plainly, shooting a quick glance to Itachi, who returned it. Right, Itachi and Sasuke were the second pair of prodigy siblings I had to deal with in any of my lives. God knew Mangetsu and Suigetsu were worst.

"Let's go to Ichiraku then," I muttered under my breath.

Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :)

Ederisu: Thanks for the review, and who knows who she'll end up with :)

Bella-swan11: Thanks for the review :) and...her children will most likely stay in her past life for reasons I'll explain later.

nevvy: Thanks for the review and I'mm glad you like the fight scene :)

Also, I received a review from Doombug and even if they won't read this, do you guys think Akane's condition is confusing or something like that? I'm planning on explaining it better before the timeskip anyway, but let me know :)

Bye !