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

Character age:

Akane, Itachi: 20

Naruto, Sasuke: 15

Shisui: 24

Kakashi: 29

"Sorry," Umi apologized deeply at me as I was still gazing into nothing. "I didn't find any opening and couldn't help you as I should have." I pet her on the head.

"It's okay, I'm not dead, Sasuke's not dead, and you got data out of this. Oki too." Umi's big black eyes were still filled with guilt. "The good point is, now I know it's any genjutsu coming from a doujutsu I can't handle, not just the Sharingan!" My two summons shared a look at my obvious fake cheeriness and left in a poof of smoke.

I sighed and leaned my head against the tree behind me. After a few minutes of thinking about this Nowaki and the little girl, Sasuke landed in front of me, Garuda disappearing in the sky.

"You're feeling better?" I groaned a little and got up, using the bark of the tree for stability.

"Kind of. I really hate genjutsu with a passion."

"If we see them again, at least you'll use that left eye of yours." I nodded and swallowed with difficulty because of my dry throat. I unsealed my canteen of water and emptied it in a couple of seconds. "Let's get an inn until we meet up with Killer B." After making sure I was following without tripping over my own foot, his pace went from slow to normal.

"You're...disturbed too." He didn't answer but I thought I saw a brief tension in his shoulders. "Sasuke?"

"Later, I need to send a message to my father." I furrowed my brows. If Sasuke wanted to send a message to Fugaku-san on his own free will...that girl must have told him something.

The walk to the inn was quiet, the both of us deep in our thoughts. Even once we were in our respective rooms, I personally was still quite disconnected from reality. Truth be told, old Sasuke showing me old Itachi's memories made me have a bad reaction to the Sharingan in general. However, I had never been put in a real genjutsu by the Sharingan. Sure, old Itachi used the Mangekyou on me, but I just passed out.

Kimou's genjutsu never made me this...weak afterward but hers was...something else.

How could old Kakashi keep up with old Itachi's Tsukuyomi was above me. If it had been me, even Tsunade-san wouldn't have been able to get me out of my coma.

I found sleep with difficulty and my night was plagued with nightmares. I could truly rest around four in the morning and I slept in without Sasuke waking me up. I was feeling better, still shaken up, but better. Once I was ready, I knocked on Sasuke's door.

There was no response. I tried to turn the door knob and it surprisingly did. I sneaked inside his room, entirely in the dark if it was not for the small spot of the window not hidden by the curtain. I walked over to the bed.

Sasuke was lying on his stomach, his arms under his pillow and his face in it. His under eyes had dark circles. My eyes shifted to the nightstand, on which there was a note. I grabbed it and went over it quickly. It was Fugaku-san's writing, I knew that. However, I had no idea who that Chinoike clan mentioned was. It was written here that during the Warring State Era, the Uchiha clan had been hired to exile them from the Land of Lightning and they ended up in the Land of Hot Water.

The only logical thing to me would be if the girl was affiliated to that clan and mentioned the Uchihas' part in this clan's exile. Although, it was a century ago if not more, so resent them...gosh I hate the shinobi system of hatred.

"Nee-san?" Sasuke mumbled, an opened eye looking at me through raven locks. I smiled gently at him.

"Go back to sleep, I'll find something to do."

"Hn...take a break." I blinked but he was already back asleep. A small chuckled escaped from my lips.

"Fine sir."

I was pacing furiously at the meeting spot, Sasuke sitting on a rock three times my height, a leg dangling in nothing and the other close to his chest, his elbow on his knee.

"Would you stop that? It's annoying," he told me from his spot, his cheek in his hand. I glared furiously at him.

"He's late! I'm not going to calm down with everything..."

"Sorry I'm late, I had the wrong date..." he started raping when he showed up. One glare from me made him shut up.

I really felt bad for Gyūki, having to handle his awful raps all the time…

"Anyway, how would the Raikage and your Daimyo feel about an island filled with illegal businesses from the underworld?" I had his full attention. "I checked, it's closer to your country than the Land of Water, it's under your jurisdiction. Now, would the Raikage accept to see me with these information I'm willing to share?" Sasuke jumped down and walked next to me, his hands in his pockets.

"Brother's pride will take a hit, he won't like it a bit! Fool ya fool!"

"But he'll do it?"

"He'll do it," B confirmed to Sasuke.

We exchanged the details and once we were back at our inn, I summoned Uma. I wrote a message to sensei and teleported him to my place.

The Hiraishin didn't take a toll nearly as big as it used to on me anymore.

"You're really going to take them on? All of them?"

"Yeah. Introducing myself with that club and as Yagura's apprentice should ignite some anger among the fighters."

"You're making yourself a target."

"I'm totally making myself a target," I agreed. "And you...will keep Kumo from the Coliseum until I'm done. Drop a clone in the audience."

"You want me to keep Kumo from the Coliseum?"

"Use that brain of yours Sasuke." He sighed in frustration.

"Nii-san's right, you are the worst. And reckless too, how you manage to survive each time is a mystery." I raised a brow at him.

"Itachi criticized my recklessness? Because now you know it's thoughtful and strategic recklessness!"

"Tell him that and he won't believe you. That thing you did after sealing the Sanbi really...disturbed him. I'm not saying that from a love point of view, it's just something I've noticed." I looked at the floor.

"He thinks I'm suicidal?"

"I'm pretty sure it crossed his mind. He doesn't know about your full Yurei condition and its impact on the mental, so...be careful about what you say around him please."

"To be fair, I'm more worried about Naruto. I promised him I wouldn't die to make him leave with Haku but almost did anyway."

"Oh he's pissed." Awesome.

Going back to the Coliseum was stressful. I was scared to meet these two again. Sasuke made a clone and left to meet up with Kumo as I entered the Coliseum. I went to give my own name as a fighter and watched the fights unfolding in front of me, waiting for my turn. The lights were blinding even from where I was standing above the sits and I could clearly see the despair most of them were fighting with.

"There are at least five different reasons for which the audience could be under arrest," Sasuke noted dully, leaning on the railing. I scoffed.

"You're being nice." I grabbed a marked kunai and twirled it around my finger.

One of the two opponents lost. We waited for a couple of minutes before the commentator came back, all of the lights on him.

"And now, all the way from Kirigakure, a kunoichi from two extinct clans will fight! She's the Fourth Mizukage's apprentice and slaughtered countless innocents for the Bloody Mist! She's now known as the Bijuu Tamer, please welcome, wearing Uchiha Sasuke's ID tag, Uzumaki Akane!" The lights stopped on me. I smirked disdainfully and threw my kunai in front of the guy in the arena before teleporting to it.

I was pretty sure Sasuke rolled his eyes at me, but I had to make people want to...acquire me. Although, I was pretty sure I would break a sweat.

"I will make something very clear," I started in a clear voice, "If you want your freedom back, then come and get it." My smirk grew as my eyes went over everyone. "I mean...you might want to be more than one." I worked, because others jumped in the arena, some on the orders of their owners who thought I was all talk, others on their own free will.

I avoided a guy who charged at me, covered in lightning, by grabbing my kunai in the floor and threw it in the air. I teleported to it and engulfed the area with the Hiding in the Mist Jutsu.

Using the Silent Killing Technique might be enough.

I landed silently among them, who had started to fight each other thinking it was me, and began to knock them out, one by one. I was sensing their chakra, throwing their unconscious bodies out of the arena. When only those able to fight back in the mist were remaining, I stopped the jutsu.

A dozen.

I avoided lava. Huh, it was not they were not good per say...just they clearly had not had the kind of training you could have in a Hidden Village. Even if some were better than others.

With just a few Water Jutsu and some taijutsu, eight more were out.

I made clones to take care of the others and barely avoided a lightning-filled blade. I stared at the broken pieces of the floor around it, the blade now deep in the concrete, and ducked the punch.

I frowned when I finally had a good look at that Nowaki.

"How dare you come here!?"

"Obviously," I replied, stopping his fist with my club and clenching my fist when I felt the blow in my whole body, "I'm not just a do-gooder." His face twisted in anger and he threw my club away, punching me right after.

I used the water on the floor, from my previous jutsu, to permute myself with a water clone.

Once I was out of the water, I was met with red eyes. I closed my right eye with a grin. Her face morphed into shock when her genjutsu proved itself useless and I grabbed her blond head, sealing her eyes. Before the guy could reach me, I teleported to my club and got up, glad my clones got rid of the other four.

"What did you do!?" the girl yelled in rage.

"What, you can't do anything without your eyes? It's sad." Would you look at that, my sass was back and freely pouring out from my mouth.

"Chino wait!" I widened my eyes at the speed her soap bubbles were coming at me.

"Hyōton: Freezing Technique!" I yelled, the first bubble a millimeter from my nose when it froze completely.

"Hyō...ton?" he repeated whereas I sent the bubbles back at them. They avoided them.

One by one, each individual of the island was being apprehended. Bartender, casinos' owners, prostitutes' pimps...all of them were being arrested by shinobi from Kumo. Sasuke watched, from his spot on the roof, Killer B catching a man in his fifties trying to run away in his tentacle. In front of him was a tall and imposing man, with pale blond hair pushed back and dark skin. The yellow hat tied around his neck indicated his rank.

The Fourth Raikage.

Sasuke activated his sharingans. In the blink of an eye, he dived to the side to avoid the Raikage.

"You're the Uchiha brat following the Uzumaki around?" Sasuke kept himself from baring his teeth at him. He was making it sound like he was a dog following its owner.

"So?" The Raikage scoffed at him.

"Oh? Talking back?" The Raikage looked around. "So, where's the Uzumaki? She's the one who orchestrated all of this."

"Boss, that arena seems oddly suspicious, don't you think?" Darui told him casually from the street. Sasuke tensed and gulped silently when the Raikage set his eyes on said arena.

Seeing Sasuke was not about to move, the Raikage made a step forward.

"I can't let you go just yet."

"And how, exactly, are you going to stop me?"

Picking a fight with the Raikage was definitely not on the program. Still, he stretched out his arm, his katana in his hand, in front of the man. Even though the blade was still inside its sheath, the act in itself said a lot about what could happen.

The burning Sharingan spinning in his eyes said a lot.

"Do you know what you're doing Konoha brat?"

"Unfortunately," Sasuke started, glancing at the lightning appearing around the man, "I do more than you think."

"You'll never wash off the blood from your hands," Nowaki told me blankly, his hands on Chino's shoulders. I managed to put a strong Immobility Seal on her. "That club you have...you're just spitting on all of the victims."

"No, carrying it makes me remember every single day what I've done under the Fourth's regime." My eyes hardened. "It reminds me of what was taken away from all of the victims. We have to move on from our bloody past, and the first step is assuming all of the mistakes that happened and finding solutions. We can't bring back the dead, we can't go back in time. The only thing we can do is making sure such an era does not happen again."

"Do you really think you are the right person to do this?" I shrugged.

"I'm not lea..." I didn't even finish my sentence that I teleported to a kunai which had fallen from the battle ground. I blinked and looked at my hands.

I didn't do that. The Raikage was now standing in my spot, I was alive from whatever he had tried to do, but...I...for a brief second…

"Oh."

"Oji-chan, was it you?"

"I think so, it was weird. We'll talk about it later."

"Uzumaki! What's the meaning of all this!?"

"You didn't want to receive me!" All around, shinobi from Kumo were arresting members of the audience. "You really thought I wasn't going to try something if I had Intel?"

"I wouldn't have thought you would use this kind of Intel." I snorted and crossed my arms.

"Raikage-sama, Intel is Intel and we both know it, no matter where it comes from." He gauged me with his eyes and I noticed his burned sleeve. "So, it's kinda humiliating to have so much illegal shit happening under your nose, isn't it? I mean...this island is in your national waters after all." He frowned.

"You should watch your mouth." I pursed my lips. "You've mastered the Yellow Flash's signature move." I nodded slowly.

"You've made quite a mess." I raised my brows and craned my neck back. Sensei was calmly walking toward us, her Mizukage hat resting on her head. She smiled politely at the Raikage. "Raikage-dono."

"Mizukage," he replied gruffly. "Your kunoichi went to my brother to have an audience with me." Sensei shot me a look that made me shiver from the corner of her eyes.

"She'll make sure to get what she wants. Will she have the chance the have an audience with you?" I took a deep breath and almost puffed my chest when he looked at me once again.

"I guess, if she went to so much troubles to have my attention it must be something important."

"It is," she confirmed. Then, she turned to me. "So, these people…?"

"Oh, the unconscious ones, the two still conscious left that place a while ago I think."

"You knew?"

"Not really, I just guessed from your presence here and the anger." Shinobi from my village went to the people on the ground, under the Raikage's scrutinizing gaze. He scoffed and smirked wryly.

"So we just have the culprits then." He started to leave. "Darui will take you to Kumo." He walked away, far enough to be out of hearing range.

"Akane, go outside and find Sasuke. After, we will have a talk about this stupid plan."

She was mad. I didn't know why, but she was mad.

Still I made my way outside. Sasuke was sitting against a wall, Dai healing the bruises on his body. He was conscious though.

"Who did you fight with?" I asked him when I was next to them. They both looked at me.

"You look like shit," the Uchiha replied.

"Really?" He barely touched my knee that I fell on my ass. I blinked in confusion at my shaking legs. Dai looked at me up and down with a frown, completely in medical mode.

"Karin, Haku, take care of her." I closed my eyes when I felt Karin's healing chakra on my head.

"A burn on the arm, many bruises and an opened lip," Haku listed sternly.

Oh, I had not realized I had been hurt that much.

"Bite," Karin ordered me, her hand in front of my mouth. I turned my head away. "Uzu-nee, bite my hand now!"

"N...humph!" Haku turned my head and forced my teeth in Karin's hand. I made a face at the weird taste in my mouth, but relaxed when my strength started to come back. I...was exhausted from the fight. I pulled back after a few seconds. Karin gave me a look but let it slide.

"What were you thinking Sasuke?" Dai asked him as the green chakra disappeared. "You fought the Raikage!"

"I didn't die, it's not that bad." He wasn't wrong there, so why did Dai look upset?

My teammate shot me a look and glared at my confusion.

"Seriously Uzu, you don't see any problem with him fighting the Raikage?" I opened my mouth, realizing C was not far with a blond woman with a big chest, his mind clearly still somewhere else.

"I mean...politically or…?" He groaned in frustration.

"For fuck sake! You really don't see it!? Do I have to snitch to his brother to make you understand!?" He was bringing Itachi into the mix?

"Why are you getting angry?" I murmured under my breath. Haku hugged me from behind, his arms around my neck, and pushed me against his chest.

"They're both exhausted Dai-san, please just let it go for now." Dai looked at him, then at me.

"You shouldn't have taken this mission, it's too much for you, even if Sasuke is here," he told me more calmly. He rose from his spot and walked away.

"He's been worried since you left the village," Karin explained to me, "he snapped when he saw Sasuke's state."

"Worried?"

"Yes, because at least before you always came back to Kiri to relax and get things out of your chest to more than one person. Your…your judgment can get clouded too easily Uzu-nee," Haku whispered to me.

There was not a sound for a couple of minutes until sensei arrived. She grabbed my arm, pulled me on my feet and took me aside, away from unwanted ears. I almost hunched under her gaze.

"Do you know why Dai and I are mad at you?" I shook my head. "You really don't see?"

"Sasuke and the Raikage."

"Yes. Sasuke shouldn't have been alone against the Raikage, let alone fight him. He's lucky to still be alive."

"I didn't tell him to fight him." For a second, I thought she was going to slap me. "What, he's old enough to know what to do as a shinobi!"

"He's still a child."

"Wh...he's almost sixteen!"

"Akane, sixteen is still being a child, no matter how you see it. He has known you for most of his life and went through some rough times a few years ago." She grabbed my shoulders. "You were the first one to say he was easily-influenced without acknowledging you have a lot of influence on him, whether you want it or not."

"But..."

"No matter what he says, he is far from being the grown-up man you once knew. There are situations he can't handle just yet, situations you can't and you're not supposed to let him handle alone. He's used to see you acting recklessly in missions. Yes, you know what you do, but you have way more experience than he does. If you influence him in a bad way, he might get himself killed, no matter if he survived before or not." As the words were leaving her mouth, my eyes kept growing wider and wider.

"I'm a bad influence?"

"Honestly, for this one, yes. It was a bad decision to leave him stop the Raikage on his own to begin with."

"And Dai and you are mad because he could have..."

"Yes. Akane, you're the adult, you're clearly the adult here. You need to act like it with him." She sighed at my horrified expression.

I wanted to vomit.

"Look, I'm not saying he can't handle his fair share of responsibilities and such, just...don't dump too much on him at once, even if he assures you he can take it. You know him more than me, but I'm more used to growing shinobi than you."

"I...yes." What could I retort to that?

On the Eastern Continent, I said so myself, there was a chance I would lean too much on Sasuke.

I wasn't a genius like Itachi, and even he before completely wrecked his brother. I...I couldn't possibly do the same, right?

He fought the Raikage.

He fought the Akatsuki even before Naruto or Konoha properly do.

"Akane..."

"I'll do better," I told her, my fists clenched. "I..."

"If you don't feel like you can, Dai can replace you for that time in Konoha." I widened my eyes.

"No, I have to..."

"I know, but or you handle it properly, or you come back. You'll be a dead weight if not worst if you can't keep your head on your shoulders."

"I will do better sensei." She pursed her lips.

"We know how to deal with you when you're in a breakdown," she whispered to me, "just...make sure there is at least one person in Konoha who can too."

"...yes..."

I hated it. I was fully aware I was not made to be a shinobi, how it fucked me up in more ways than possible. Still, I had a way to deal with it. It wasn't a healthy way to cope with my job, but it was a way.

I hated how they were so careful of my mental health, even more so since I was a Yurei. I understood where sensei, Dai and Mangetsu when he was still with us came from, but it made me feel like a child in need of constant protection.

But being a Yurei really made everything worst.

"Mom is in Konoha," I reminded sensei.

"I know, who do you think is looking for someone to look over you when Dai and I won't be here?" She smiled slightly at me. "I've been in contact with her, what do you think?"

"Sorry for being so problematic." She pressed me against her by hugging me around the shoulders with one arm.

"It's nothing, I love you just the way you are." I hugged her back, enjoying her warmth. "Don't forget the mind takes more time to heal than the body, and that it is more fragile."

"Yes sensei."

"Be careful of Sasuke and yourself." I nodded. "I'll take care of the people you 'won'."

"Okay." I took a deep breath. "Thank you sensei."

I wish I could have had more time with Haku and Karin. Dai left with us not being on really good terms and my cousins were clearly worried, but they all left with the previously slaves. They would be given a choice to go on their own way or stay in Kiri, as a civilian or shinobi, it was their choices. Sensei would handle this matter perfectly.

It was a day ago. Now we were back on the mainland, following Darui quietly. My eyes would sometimes go to Sasuke's left arm, actually broken in three different spots and now wrapped in a splint.

At first, when I joined him after my talk with sensei, he talked to me. I replied in a monosyllabic way like he does it so often, and he stopped trying.

For now, he would try later, I knew it.

"I will leave you at an inn next to the Raikage building and will pick you up tomorrow to meet with the Boss. Until then, you are forbidden to leave your room."

"Understood Darui-san," I replied, some greenery slowly being more and more present on the borders of the road. I looked in nostalgia at the buildings built in the around the mountains.

I stared at the inn, the one I remembered staying at during my Chuunin Exams, with a deadpanned expression.

"Seriously?" I muttered. Darui shrugged.

"Orders Uzumaki." He left when we were in our room, two single beds on each side of the room. I threw my bag on one, under the window, and plopped myself down on the bed, flat on my stomach. I sunk my face in my pillow.

On the side, I heard Sasuke putting his stuff away and sit on his bed.

Now he was staring at me.

I huffed and pulled my face out of the pillow after a few minutes of heavy silence.

"What?"

"Don't keep me aside." I frowned without looking at him. "It's not because of you I decided to take on the Raikage." I sighed and sat crossed-legged in front of him, the pillow in my arms.

"It's not just that Sasuke."

"Then what is it? If you're angry at me…"

"I'm not," I contradicted him immediately. "I'm angry at myself. I'm disappointed in myself. I..." I rubbed my forehead in front of his obvious confusion. "I'm the adult, I'm more than an adult Sasuke. You're not."

"I'm a..."

"No, you're not. You're a teenager, no matter what you're not supposed to handle...so much. I've put too much on your shoulders and started seeing you as the Sasuke I once knew, who was an adult with everything that goes with it. I shouldn't have forgotten I, myself, could be an influence for you and that my behavior as a shinobi was not...ideal." My eyes softened at the hidden worry in his eyes. "I'm not planning on keeping you out, but I've put too much on your shoulders too fast, asking you to keep the Raikage back was the...call to order I needed. The Raikage is way out of your league." I ran a frustrated hand in my hair. "I'm sorry for fucking up, you could have died. He had not before, but you can and I forgot that. It's...I fucked up and I'm sorry." He stared at me for a couple more seconds and averted his eyes to the window behind me.

"You've been weird since Sora-Ku." That again? "And the genjutsu made it worst. It must have played a part in clouding your judgment."

"Huh, maybe. In any case, I'll do better. I just need some time to...figure some things out." He pursed his lips. "I won't keep you in the dark, you're still the best ally I can have in this."

"Oh." He didn't seem that convinced, and I was pretty sure that for the first time, he forgot to hide how scary the situation actually was. "Nii-san and Shisui, even Kakashi would be good too, right?"

"I don't need overprotective morons." I blinked, taken back by my own harshness. "It sounded less mean in my head. They're not stupid but I don't want people who would limit my moves by worrying over nothing."

"Do you want me to leave you alone for a while?" I nodded slowly.

"It...I think I need it."

I couldn't risk Dai going to Konoha in my place.

As promised, the next day Darui came to take us to the Raikage. The entrance of the building was actually in another mountain than the one with the Raikage's office. We walked through many large hallways, all of them having huge windows overlooking the village, and the clouds thanks to the height of the building.

I couldn't lie, Kumo was...pretty. It was also the coldest out of the five villages and I found that particularly enjoyable.

Hum...I wasn't going to say I'd like to live here but...I liked that place.

"Boss, they're here." The Raikage opened an eye once we were in front of him. He was sitting in a blue couch, his arms spread out on the back of the couch.

"Raikage-sama, thanks for receiving us," I said professionally with a bow. Sasuke imitated me.

"With that mess you both caused, you were hard to ignore." I didn't reply. I had to give him that letter, it was all that mattered. I wouldn't let him taunt me. "So? What is so important you want to meet me in person?"

I rummaged through one of my back pouch and pulled out the scroll from it. I walked to the Raikage and stretched out my hand. After a quick look at the blue scroll he took it. I bowed in thanks and went back next to Sasuke.

For the following minute, the only sound we could hear was the ticking of the clock on the wall. My heart started racing painfully in my heat, its beating echoing in my ears. Finally, the Raikage folded the scroll back.

"From what B told me, I assume you have already talked with him about this." I nodded. "Seal Masters are independent from Hidden Villages, but how can I be sure you will not report what happens here to your Kage?"

"Get one of your fuinjutsu people to make a confidentiality seal or whatever." He scoffed.

"Why wouldn't I just get one of my men to do this job?" I shrugged.

"My last name and the implications that come with it, me getting the title of Seal Master before Namikaze Minato or Jiraya-san."

"You don't seem to even care."

"I apologize Raikage-sama, but finding a way to be here in front of you today was a lot. I thought it would speak for itself." He frowned. "That you accepted to read the letter is already a lot in itself, the Tsuchikage just torn it apart. Just for this, thank you."

"If that old man had read this, it would have made him rethink his habit to hire the Akatsuki to do his dirty work." He stood up. "I will think about the proposition in that letter. For the time being, you two will stay in the village. You got yourself a job Uzumaki." I bowed once again.

"I am very thankful Raikage-sama."

The Raikage respected strength, hopefully my display at the Coliseum just played in my favor.

Although…I really hated how numb I was since Sensei...told me those things.

I...I needed to think calmly about everything. Now I could see how my plan had been flawed, how I was lucky B-san believed me.

I probably needed a break too, so that my next plan didn't include sending Sasuke to a certain death.

Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought of this chapter! Thanks to mikan26, nevvy and realfan16 for the reviews!

Bye!