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

"Even dead you have to save people!" Shisui greeted him. Itachi blinked and looked at his surrounding.

Right, the after life. A place that looked like the real world. The entrance was in the form of a huge, rocky gate, behind which there was mist. Right now, he was in the replica of the Uchiha compound, where he knew his parents were most likely waiting for him. However, he had a hard time staying there.

Instead, he would go to the equivalent of Akane's house. It was not far, as they did not need to travel or anything. If they thought of something, they would be there. There was no notion of time or space anymore. They could age or be younger as they wished.

Because of that, he met her mother and brother. What had been strange, was how Fubuki, with his eight year-old physical appearance, managed to tell him he liked him for being nice to his little 'Red-chan' but then proceeded to threaten to kill him in many different ways for hurting her.

Not they could be killed as they were dead already.

But her brother was actually friends with Shisui now. It was weird to think they became friends in death but…

It was weirder to see his mother, Kushina and Akane's mother gathering together to look at the living and gossiping to each other.

"Anyway, we're all watching the rest of the war. Come on! Oh, and that Madara guy! It was Obito!" Shisui was talking about it animatedly, as if it was movie, whereas Itachi could only hope things would get better down there. Akane had been right though, and he was glad Obito had left before he could hear her talk about him.

There was a particular place in the afterlife. A wide and large glass that could project the world of the livings and what was happening. Although, what they saw was specific to each of them.

They won the war. They sealed a Goddess. Sasuke and Naruto both lost an arm. Sasuke went back to Konoha.

They all heard Kushina screaming in happiness when Minato arrived.

A girl named Rin, and an old Uchiha woman, were the only ones to greet Obito. He clearly was not comfortable when he saw all of them.

"You moron!" Fubuki screamed as he launched himself at Obito. Obito widened his eyes.

"Fub..." He was punched in the face. Then, the redhead pouted at Rin, who smiled at him.

"I know Fubuki-kun, but it's over now."

When he saw Sasuke asking Kakashi, newly made Rokudaime, a special permission to go and pick up Akane, he left. She told him she would update him on what he missed, he would wait.

"Itachi-kun, don't you want to see..."

"I don't need to," he replied to Izumi, who still looked thirteen. She pursed her lips.

"You're free to do what you want, but you might want to take a quick look at how she has been doing." He frowned.

"Is she alright?"

"Well, yes but..."

"Then there is no need for me to do that." She opened her mouth but Shisui's hand landed on her shoulder.

"Drop it Izumi, he has all the time he wants to watch over her." Then, he went to him and whispered in his ear. "Although, I remember asking you to keep an eye on her for me, not to make your way in her bed." He frowned slightly.

"Shisui," he told him in a reprimanding tone. His best friend crossed his hands behind his head, a toothy grin on his face.

He spent a lot of time at 'her' place. He could not wait the moment she would join him and where he would see her again. Shisui would crash there less often maybe, or he would monopolize her attention.

In any case, she would probably slap him for using his sharingan on her.

One day, his mother came over. He looked at her in surprise.

"Mother?"

"Are you done staring at nothing longingly waiting for the love of your life to arrive Itachi?" He did not know what to say, he knew better than to talk back.

"Son," his father said, walking behind his mother who had her fists on her hips. "How long has it been since you have taken a look at Sasuke?"

"He was on a journey with his girlfriend, why?"

"Wife, Sakura-chan is his wife now," his mother corrected him. His father shot her a tired look before gazing at his son.

"They have a daughter now." Itachi blinked and smiled fondly. Sasuke had his own little family now? It was wonderful.

"How old are they?"

"Twenty-one, and their daughter is called Sarada."

"Please tell me you didn't spy on them too much?"

"The same amount I was spying on Akane-chan and you." It made Itachi freeze. What did she see exactly? "Who do you think I am? I skipped the private things you did together!" His father positively looked blasé behind his mother.

"Itachi, just come." He wanted someone else to endure his mother, he was sure of it.

But he wanted to see his niece, so he followed them. From the corner of his eyes, he saw who he recognized as the Fourth Mizukage, now himself, next to a man who looked like him. There was a man with white hair and purple eyes who shot him a look, and funny enough, Kisame was with them.

They were all from Kiri.

Akiko and Fubuki were with them.

Minato and Kushina were also there, with Jiraya, and all seemed over the moon.

He turned his head, ignoring how he was suddenly supporting Shisui's weight because the latter had wrapped his arm around his shoulders.

Sasuke appeared in front of his eyes, walking next to his wife, his teammate, Haruno Sakura, if he remembered well. She was looking at the bundle in her arms, a head full of black hair visible. Itachi smiled. It was his niece and she was absolutely adorable.

They stopped at a doorstep and his brother searched in his pocket.

"Wait, is he seriously just..." Shisui started.

"Sasuke-kun, is it really okay for us to stay here for a while? I don't want to bother Akane like that." Itachi froze. This...this was Akane's place? It was much bigger than the old one.

Sasuke shrugged.

"In her message, she said she would love having us over. I still live here officially anyway."

"When they came back, Sasuke moved in her new place with her," his father explained in front of his confusion.

"Why would they...live together?" It meant they got along, which was more than he could wish for, but to move in together?

"There were reasons," his mother told him.

Reasons? Was it what Izumi implied before?

Was his love okay?

They entered. It was well taken care of, and it was decorated. Itachi saw a picture in the bookshelf, where Akane was smiling between a grinning Naruto and a slightly smiling Sasuke, both taller than her by more than ten centimeters. Her hair was shorter, barely under her shoulders, but she seemed happy. Her arms were around their waists as they had theirs on her shoulders, making her look even smaller compared to them.

In the picture, she was happy, and it made him happy. In the end, going to Konoha had been a good idea.

"She's not home?" Sasuke wondered. He went to the kitchen and looked at a paper on the fridge. "Weird, she's not supposed to work today."

"Maybe she is in town? Oh good, a crib!"

"Careful, one of the foot is not really stable anymore I think."

Itachi's stomach twisted and he shot a look at his parents, who were adamant on watching their youngest. Why would there be a crib at Akane's? Why would there be a used crib?

He did not like the guess he had in his head.

Sarada sleeping, Sasuke made tea for them, going through the kitchen with no problem. Itachi did not know how to feel about his brother clearly knowing where everything was in his girlfriend's home. Or was it ex-girlfriend?

Itachi silently gulped when the door opened, a familiar, yet slightly older, woman coming in.

"Oh you've arrived!" she greeted them cheerfully, grinning at them. She was happy, she really was happy. Her hair was longer than in the picture, under her breasts, and she was even more gorgeous than he remembered her to be. "Your room is ready." She went to the crib and smiled fondly at the sleeping baby in it. "Oh, she's adorable guys. It's too much babies for me in a day."

"That's your niece, she beats any other baby." Itachi smiled at that. Sasuke considered Akane as family, it was more than he thought would happen when he asked him the favor of bringing her to Konoha. Akane smirked at him.

"Talking about niece Sasuke..." His brother nodded and put one knee on the floor. Following his eyes, Itachi froze.

He had not noticed. He had not noticed the little girl with dark red braids and onyx eyes hiding between Akane's legs.

A used crib…

"Mommy," she started with an adorable shy voice, looking up at Akane, her mother, with curiosity, "is it Uncle Sasuke?"

"Himself, go say 'hi' honey," his love replied in a motherly tone he never heard before. He was dead, this display should not make him fall even deeper for her.

It was not supposed to happen. She was supposed to move on easily. She…

She was not supposed to be pregnant!

"Mother..." he started in a weak voice. Mikoto sighed.

"You didn't want to see her so...we thought we wouldn't tell you about them."

"Them?" he wondered.

"Twins, the boy is not here though," his father explained, careful of his reactions. If his heart was still beating, he probably would have had a cardiac arrest of shock.

"Shisui, why didn't you..." His best friend raised his finger.

"The boy is called Shisui," he told him, making him clench his jaw because of course Akane would name their son, their son, Shisui. "It's my duty to look over him in particular, you would have known one day anyway."

"But...children..." he found himself stuttering in disbelief, aware of other's staring at him. "She...the pregnancy she...she had to go through it alone and..."

"And had to be on bed rest for the end of it," Akiko informed him gently as she joined them. "However, I have to say that I'm infinitely thankful to your brother, he barely screamed when she crushed his hand during labor."

"Sasuke was there?" he asked quietly. Shisui laughed.

"He made her water broke! That's one way to bond!"

Then it was the reason he moved in with her. To help her taking care of her children.

Their children, their babies, their babies who were growing up without a father.

Did they even know Itachi was their father? They lived in Konoha, it would be risky for them and Akane would not put them in danger. She would not make them targets because of their father's name.

"Itachi-kun." Itachi looked at the Fourth Hokage, who smiled at him. "I'm guessing you know about the twins? Don't worry about your reputation. Kakashi and Naruto both made sure they would not suffer too much from it, and my son personally tried to restore your honor after the war."

"Yondaime-sama, what do you mean?" Minato laughed at him.

"Don't call me like that, we're pretty much family at this point, Akane was a daughter to me after all!"

"After the war, Naruto-kun told everyone that you helped stop the Edo Tensei," Mikoto told him. "He said you supported him, and nobody's challenged his word on the matter."

"But your love story turned into a one-night stand," Shisui clarified carefully.

He did not show anything, his eyes going back to the glass, where Akane was explaining that Naruto had just become a father and that Shisui stayed at the hospital with Kakashi-san. Akiko was in Sasuke's arm, her small arms around his neck, and was smiling at him.

A one-night stand.

He understood the explanation, but it was…it was so much more than that or just sex. How did she take that cover story?

How did she handle being a single mother of twins?

From this moment on, he watched his family more often, watching his daughter and son, who had the same eyes and hair color than his sister although his hair looked more like Obito's, grow up. His mother kept saying Aki looked like him and that Shisui had inherited his sweet tooth. He watched his son playing shōgi against Nara Shikamaru, watched his daughter develop a talent for drawing. He watched them being the oldest and Sasuke's and Naruto's children treating them as such with a girl named Sarutobi Mirai, who seemed to be their best friend.

He smiled when his daughter was first in class and when his son would get detention because he stopped a bully. He chuckled when Aki let a 'dattebane' slip, earning a scream of victory from Kushina, in front of everyone and that Sasuke threatened Naruto to make him stop 'tainting his niece's speech'. He was proud of them and loved them with everything he had, even if he was dead and that he could just watch them. Even if they would never know him. Even if he heard his son calling Kakashi-san 'dad' by mistake once.

He loved them more than anything.

Even when Shisui said he was nothing but a murderer who didn't care about anybody but himself on their seventh birthday, he loved them. He followed him running to the park, tears streaming down his face. He sat on a swing and stayed alone until Naruto and Sasuke came to talk to him.

Itachi felt guilty. He should have been the one to talk to him, he should have been there for them. There were things only a father could teach his son, and he couldn't. Like he would not walk his daughter to her husband on the day of her wedding.

Since he died, he had never wanted more to be alive. Seeing the three of them eating together kept reminding him he should have been sitting next to his son, in front of his daughter, quietly listening to his children's day while eating the meal the woman who would have, should have, been his wife cooked.

Instead he could just watch and listen to his brother and Naruto talking to Shisui.

"It's not easy for your mother Shi-chan," Naruto explained softly, crouched in front of him. "She's raising you on her own and is working a lot, it's..."

"I know that Naru-oji! I know that! It's because of that I don't want Aki to ask about him! If he really loved her, he'd be here with us today! Mom wouldn't...she cries at night sometimes." Itachi gulped at that. He never intruded on Akane's intimacy. "We both heard it. If he was here, Mom wouldn't have to work so much. Uncle Sasuke, you know she won't touch your parents' money, and we don't want her to. We don't have his last name. We're...we're nothing to the Uchiha clan!"

"You know it's not true Shisui," his brother denied calmly, crouching next to Naruto. The boy was crying.

"I just...I want Mom and Aki to be happy, and if they're not fully it's because he's not here. If he were here...I hate him because he's not here with us when he should be! I...I want my Dad!" He started sobbing, much like Akane when he left her, and it broke his heart. He was supposed to leave Akane, just her, not children too.

Naruto hugged him with a sad glint in his eyes. He shot a look at Sasuke, who had his hand in his nephew's hair.

"When you're older, I'll tell you about him. Everything." Shisui looked at him with watery eyes and Itachi's eyes widened a little. He did not want his children to know. He already had enough difficulty knowing Sasuke did not tell Akane, but showed her his memories and caused her to have a bad reaction to the Sharingan, he did not want him to tell his children too.

They kept growing up. Sasuke left his family for a long mission and asked for Akane's help sometimes. He watched his children graduating, he watched his love fighting with polished skills he was not aware of, but that made Yagura and the group from Kiri smile in pride. He couldn't help but chuckled when he saw her and Sasuke bickering like real siblings.

He watched her taking personally care of an old Bloody Mist shinobi who was causing trouble, and was impressed by her. Kakashi-san and Naruto had already said it, but there was no one that measured up to her skills and knowledge in fuinjutsu. She was the third youngest Seal Master in Konoha's records. Knowing she had stopped at her mother's death and started again when she moved in Konoha, she could have had the title at the age of twenty-two. Akane was powerful, there was no doubt about that.

Then, the twins signed up for the Chuunin Exams. The first part was in Konoha, the second one was the journey between Konoha and Kiri that they would have to figure out, and then the tournament in Kiri. He was more worried for her than his children. They would pass with flying colors, not just because of them, but also because their teammate was more than good and their teamwork was on point thanks to years of friendship.

He was worried for Akane because the twins' team and Naruto were escorting her to Kiri. She was going back to Kiri, to her birth village, and from the look on the faces of the group from Kiri on their side, they were not all that happy either. Actually, the two Karatachi, he heard Fubuki talking with the one he now knew as the Fourth Mizukage's son Naoto, were nervous.

He knew she was nervous when she went to the grave his brother made for him, deep in the woods of the old Uchiha compound. She left flowers and sat in front of it, caressing the letters of his name with the tip of her fingers.

"So...hi I guess. If you are really watching from up there, then you know you didn't leave me alone." He knew and he wanted so much to apologize for leaving her alone for that. "I mean, it's hard, I cry sometimes at night because I feel like everything is crashing down on me, it's too much. I mean, genius twins, right? But...I don't know what I would have done without them, so thank you for that. That's not why I want to talk about though. I...I am sent to Kiri. My old sensei has been the Mizukage for a while now and I know it changed but...I still have nightmares of that place. I used to hate Yagura but he was controlled by Obito. I mean, does it mean he was just a witness of what he was doing? I...I guess a part of me has been longing to see the people I still have there, but there won't be Naoto-senpai, or Utakata-senpai, or Mangetsu, or Suigetsu and...I'm just a memory of the Bloody Mist Itachi, and I fear...people's reaction. I want you to be here with me and tell me what to do." He wanted to be with her too, had wanted it for ever. "Naruto will be here but...I miss you, I just miss you so much it keeps hurting. I tried to forget you, I really tried, I even went on a date with the Raikage when I was in Kumo but...but I can't bring a man in the twins' lives without him knowing the truth about you and...when I look in their eyes I see you, how do you want me to move on when I see you everyday in our children's gaze you jerk?" She was crying quietly now and he reached his hand by reflex, only to touch a flat surface.

He was not with her. He could not comfort her. He could just watch.

It was too painful to just watch when he knew he was needed.

They went to Kiri. She reunited with her teammate, good looking too and, even if he died years ago for them, he felt the old and familiar taste of jealousy when that Dai was too close to his taste. It was stupid, really, he was dead and wanted her to be happy, but was still jealous.

He looked at the group from Kiri when she met a kid named Kagura, who looked like Yagura. She bought flowers and went to the cemetery. She stared for a long time at the Mizukage's grave, and everyone she knew.

He had never realized it was that much.

When she was in front of Mangetsu's grave, she apologized for failing him. Itachi looked at said person, who had a closed face. Akane apologized, and Dai arrived with his sister, a bottle of sake in one hand and glasses in the other. Then, a man looking like Mangetsu appeared.

"I granted him a special permission," the Mizukage explained as Akane hugged him.

"It's good to come home every once in a while!"

"Team Unagi united!" They all deadpanned at the medic. "What, it's our name!"

"It sucks! It sucked back then, it sucks today!" his love reminding him, pointing an accusing finger at him.

The Exams happened. He was beaming in pride when Shisui used the Rasengan, then Aki the Chidori. His father was too actually, but Itachi beamed in pride the most when Shisui forfeited against his sister because fighting her was against what he believed in.

Konoha had changed too.

They left, and he knew Akane had needed that to close that chapter. She seemed in better spirits.

A part of him, the same that wished to be raising his children, wished he had been by her side.

A couple of years passed for them, and he was at what would be their final home when Shisui arrived with a panicked face.

"Come, now!" He followed him and was immediately alerted at the number of people watching. "It's...I mean...we're all seeing the same thing. Akane and Sasuke are with Shisui, Aki is hurt and..."

Shisui stopped there at Itachi's concerned face. He just said all the people he loved were in danger.

They were fighting. Sasuke was fighting and saying to Akane she was an idiot, her in front of a wounded Shisui.

"I spent my life running and hiding, it's time for me to do something useful." If it was still beating, his heart would have missed a beat. He did not like the way she was talking. He did not like how Sasuke looked heartbroken, powerless and resigned. "I love you and your sister so much, you're the best things that have happened to me. Remember that okay? Always remember that Shisui." No, he really did not like that.

"Minato, these seals Akane is making," Kushina whispered to her husband, holding her cousin's hand. Minato kept staring at the glass, not saying a word. "That's what you used to seal the Kyuubi." Akiko grabbed him by his collar, tears already running down her cheeks.

"Mom!"

"Why would you leave something like that behind! Why...you know how she is! She's supposed to come here once her time has come, not...not..."

"Fuinjutsu: Death Reaper Seal!" What was probably the Shinigami appeared behind her, her soul trapped against it.

Itachi refused to accept what he was seeing. Akane would die of old age and come here.

She killed the man and sealed the seal, before falling in Sasuke's arm. Shisui and Aki were by her sides in an instant, already knowing what was happening.

"What are we doing here Tobi?" They all turned toward the new voice. The Nidaime Hokage was here, next to a woman with red hair, and looked quickly at the glass.

"I'm guessing we're witnessing a new Yurei." Yurei?

"Oh damn, I thought I'd be the last," the woman groaned next to him. "Oh...her watching soul must be around! Do you think it's an Uchiha? It would be soo ironic next to you and me."

"Nidaime-sama? What are you talking about?" Minato asked. The Nidaime noticed him.

"Yondaime? You have used that jutsu yourself but do not know the real use of it?"

"Real use?" Umiko facepalmed.

"That's what happens when a regular chakra summons stronger than them."

Itachi went to check the gate. Akane said she would join him once she was dead. He knew what he saw, he knew what it meant but…

But he still wanted to see her arrive through the gates.

There was nothing.

She was not there. She...she was supposed to rest by his sides once she died, not…

"Come with me youngster!" He was dragged by a man with red hair and old, very old clothing. Quickly back with the others, he went to Shisui's side. "Oh! Umiko, Tobirama! I see, Shishi sent the previous couple to break the news!"

"For now Tobi has been scolding his successor, nothing more Tensui-san."

"Wait...Tensui?" Kushina wondered out loud. She exchanged a look with Akiko. "Doesn't it sound familiar?"

"Yeah..."

"Oh, more Uzumakis! Awesome!"

"They're dead," the Nidaime stated flatly. Tensui clapped his hands together.

"So what, there's no separation anymore! Haven't you seen Madara and his brothers!? Or you and your brothers!? Anyway..."

"What's a Yurei?" Itachi asked coldly

"Well, you know, you Uchiha, have that Curse of Hatred, your sharingan develops through pain? Well the Uzumakis have a lot of regret and basically, by summoning the Shinigami and promising your soul, only if you're an Uzumaki though, you can be thrown back to a moment in your life where you, later on, felt the most regrets. Of course, if a random guy uses it he just ends up in Shishi's stomach." A lot of eyes turned to Minato, who blushed in shame.

"You used a technique you knew almost nothing of to save the village?" Fugaku asked him sternly. Kushina pointed an angry finger.

"Hey! It happened long ago, leave my husband alone Fugaku! And you!" She turned to Tensui. "Tell us where my adorable and lovely niece's soul is going, now!" However, Tensui stared at her with wide eyes.

"Hey, is your hair really doing that?"

"Where is my daughter!?"

"Hey, calm down! I'm the founder of the Uzumaki clan, show some respect for your elders!" He sighed under the two Uzumaki's glare and went to the glass. When he placed his hand on it, the image, now displaying funerals with Naruto and Kakashi in front of everyone else as the previous and current Kage, disappeared. "Okay, here...her soul is traveling back...ten years...fifteen...twenty wow...twenty-three...oh, twenty-four!" A much younger Akane appeared on the glass. She was running.

"Will you stop!?"

Everybody turned to Shisui, including Itachi. Shisui was at a loss of words, gaping at the glass.

"That...that was me?"

"Shut up fake, shut up!" Akane was running between trees, Shisui behind her. A Shisui no different than the one with them.

"I'm not fake! I know it was a long time ago, but I swear I'm Uchiha Shisui Aka-chan!"

"Did you answer your question?" Itachi asked him dryly. What was that stupid nickname?

Akane's biggest regret was Shisui?

"That's the mission I was sent on to get her out of Kiri."

"It's the last time you've seen each other too." Shisui looked at Akiko with raised brows. "She told me you looked concerned about Konoha, Danzou had tried to get her into his Foundation and she was just out of the Bloody Mist. It would not be surprising she imagined the worst and that the truth she learned when she was an adult was not that far off. She probably felt guilty for letting you go."

"Oh," he said quietly.

"Well, now, every people who died after him," Umiko started, pointing at Shisui, "have a chance at living. She's creating a world parallel to the one you died in."

"He's her watching soul then," the Nidaime told them.

"Yep, because the first person concerned by the regrets of the Yurei becomes their watching soul. Basically, you're doing the same thing than here, but in the new world and you watch the Yurei struggles seeing dead people alive again, including you, and your soul is linked to one another. If they don't break the seal before they die, you and them go to Shishi's stomach for eternity." Shisui nodded solemnly. "However...I get it's troubling when you arrive, but why does she seem so confused?"

"That's on me actually," Umiko confessed with a grave face. "When Uzushio was founded, as I was the current Yurei, I made them bury anything and everything related to that jutsu. It had brought more pain than anything, especially to us, Yurei. But I mean, if she knows that technique, the..."

"Uzushio was destroyed years ago, I witnessed it," Akiko cut her off sharply. Umiko's mouth formed an 'o'.

"Poor kid. But, on the bright side, she succeeded in using a kinjutsu to its full potential, well almost, without even knowing it!"

"Hey, I know Uzu has a gift to survive any kind of situations she gets herself in," Mangetsu said to Naoto, "but I mean, is she serious?"

"In any case children!" Tensui-san cried out, clapping his hands to have their attention. "Now, she will carry the weight of what should have happened on her shoulders. For everything changed, the universe will find a compensation. And...the universe has a funny way to do that. Alright, that's it, Shisui, come with me. You'll be surrounded by luxury!"

"Tensui-san, if the Yurei found herself so far back in the past, then the war with Madara will happen again?" The Uzumaki founder nodded as if it was nothing. "She'll be his direct target."

"Why?" Itachi asked him directly. The Nidaime shot him a disdainful look but Umiko pushed his face with her hands.

"That's because the whole villages system, Konoha and things? That's a little bit because of me. Tobi was supposed to die against Izuna because his Hiraishin wasn't ready yet, and when I got back in the past he won and Izuna died." There was regret still lingering in her voice. "Let's just say Madara ended up discovering it. I broke my seal before, but...he kind of killed me when he left Konoha."

"Because you're an idiot," the Senju next to her hissed. He got a glare in return.

"Is that over? I have stuff to do!" Tensui exclaimed, gesturing to Shisui to come. He made a step forward but his arm was grabbed.

"Itachi?"

"I'll go," Itachi decided. "It must be possible, right?"

"Well, your friend is the one she..." Under Itachi's glare, Tensui's eyes became deadly serious. "That's not how it works."

"Then make it work."

"Itachi..." his mother started, but Fugaku stopped her, shaking his head 'no'.

"Itachi, that's okay, I...I owe her now if..." Itachi shot him a dark glare that made him shut his mouth. Tensui sighed deeply.

"I hate tragic love story with a passion, it never makes it easy. However, it may work. Your chakra is good and there was a deep bond between you two...technically, she also had you in mind too so...fine, I'll take you instead." He nodded and turned to his parents.

"Look over the twins for me please."

"Of course," his father agreed.

The glass turned black for an instant, before showing a building with the kanji 'water' on it.

"Okay, that's Kiri, I remember that building," Fubuki stated. A woman with long and thick brown hair was showed behind a desk. Fubuki blushed. "That's...that's Mei-san! She's the Mizukage too!"

"What's this?" Tobirama wondered as Umiko looked offended.

"Hey, why would they have a preview!?" Tensui stared into nothing for a moment.

"Urgh...from what I understand...because these two, Sasuke and Naruto, kicked Kaguya's ass, the old man gave you a gift. Something about her influencing them." Then, quietly, he added. "I can't believe him, he screams at me for disrupting the balance of life and death by making a pact with the Shinigami and now he's offering a gift? Old geezer."

"So sensei, now the Daimyos have signed a treaty too? I mean, he already let us borrow money to put Kiri back on track after the fight and Konoha and Kiri signed an alliance three months after, but still."

"I was surprised too, his daughter convinced him. Apparently, that a woman now leads the village awakened a sense of feminism in her."

"The brat? Geez, that's why she was not a pain last time I went to the Daimyo for business." Akane's voice grumbled. Then, a very different version of her appeared. She had a Kiri hitai-ate tied around her neck, her hair reached her breasts, her left eye was lighter than the right one and two sharp teeth grazed her bottom lip. She was wearing a burgundy kimono top that reached under her bottom, with long, loose sleeves. She had a black slinky top that hide her cleavage underneath it. Her left hand had a black glove on unlike the right one. Her black shorts were thick and tight, ending a few centimeters under her top. Then, she had thigh-boot sandals, black too, with small thick hills. She was staring attentively at the string of her weapon.

"Damn she's a Swordsman!" Naoto exclaimed with wide eyes.

"It was almost a year and a half ago that we won Kiri back, right sensei?"

"Yes. Your name as my successor has been circulating for a year." Itachi blinked. Mizukage?

Akane groaned in annoyance.

"I don't want to be the Rokudaime, if anything I was down to be Mangetsu's adviser but he passed away just before the big fight. Hum...I should be glad he had three more years just because Shisui's alive and not feel guilty, right?"

"Yes, just like you should be glad you gave Konoha and Kiri a way to form an alliance over Madara."

"I can't wait for the moment where we'll call him by his real name. I've been going through everything related to Isobu and Rin, but except speculations there is no real proof. Anyway, sensei, next time someone calls me the 'Hero of Kiri' because I took down Yagura, I'm punching them. You can't keep me from doing so. I just broke his genjutsu anyway."

"She couldn't have..." Obito, who so far had been quietly watching, whispered. Umiko mused in awe.

"She got the Claw, she managed to get the Claw!"

"Come in!" A pretty girl, or boy, with long dark brown hair entered the room with a baby in their arms. Behind them was...Sasuke wearing Kiri hitai-ate? "My baby!" Mei walked over them to take the baby and kiss him on the head.

"I didn't come here to babysit," Sasuke grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. He was wearing a typical shinobi attire from Kiri, except for the red armband on his right arm with Konoha symbol on it. "Nee-san, when it's your turn to be an honorary shinobi in Konoha, I laugh if you babysit." She raised a brow.

"Remind me who is still a genin? If you're not careful enough, I'm sending you back to Mikoto-san and Fugaku-san in multiple boxes."

"Uzu-nee, you've received a letter from Akiko-san." Akane's face brightened. The image stopped and the glass became clear once again.

Without leaving them the chance to say anything, Tensui grabbed Itachi and left. They were about to cross the gate when Mangetsu stopped them.

"What now?" Tensui whined.

"I have a word to say to Itachi sir."

"Fine, five more miutes," the Uzumaki agreed with a roll of the eyes. "I swear, youngsters!"

"Alright...look, Uzu's clearly back in Kiri for some reasons, so let me warn you. She's not made to be a kunoichi and has breakdowns as a way to keep going. I have a feeling it will be worst with her special case, so don't be surprised if you...see her much darker than what you're used to." Itachi nodded. The concern in his eyes was enough to him.

"Who are you to her?" Mangetsu raised his brows.

"Her best friend." A small smile appeared on the Uchiha's lips.

"Understood."

He followed Tensui and found himself in a different place. It was a forest, dark with only dead trees. Everything was in shades of gray, like an apocalyptic scenery.

"There is a place at which you have a glass to watch her evolve too. Usually, it's the reproduction of a place that meant a lot to you two. I guess you'll find it on your own, bye!"

The Uzumaki left, leaving Itachi alone. He did not care though and started to go home. There was only one place he could think of.

When he was at the reproduction of Akane's old place, he entered it and sat in the couch. There was a glass indeed, and as soon he sat down, it started to display her new life.

He would watch over her. She was the mother of his children and it was his job to be watching over her when her recklessness was too much to handle.

However, watching a different version of him, younger and still in Konoha, was strange.

Then, Akane avoided this new Itachi, then befriended him. He saw them become close friends instead of lovers, and Itachi and Izumi started dating.

He watched, with no surprise, the young Shisui fall in love with his love the same way he had in the past. He saw the young Itachi shutting his own feelings up to let him be happy.

He smiled sadly at her determination about staying away from love, especially regarding the young Itachi.

Then Kiri, and he fully understood what Mangetsu had meant.

Her father had taken his place in the Akatsuki, and the universe had indeed a cruel way to compensate things.

As he kept watching over her and her evolution, he could not help but being proud, so proud, of her strength and resolve. He fell in love long, long ago, but the Akane he first fell in love with would have laughed at the Akane he was seeing now.

He only wished he could be here to talk to her and hug her all these times she thought she could not handle the pressure anymore.

He knew she would make it though.

He had faith in her.

And if one day, she were to find herself in a death like state serious enough to find herself in front of him, he would make sure to send her back down there.

He was dead.

She was not, and he would be damned if he let her die without trying to save her.

Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to NguyetMieu for the review. I agree, it was a mood killer and I erased it, I don't know why I had left it, I'm not the brightest sometimes x).

Bye!