Hello! I hope you'll like this chapter!

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: 21

Naruto, Sasuke: 15 / 16

Shisui: 24

Kakashi: 30

I wanted a bed.

I wanted food.

I wanted a freaking cold shower.

Yet, I bumped in Sasuke when he stopped walking. I rubbed my nose and looked above his shoulder. There, waiting at the entrance of the Hidden Sand, was Kakashi. My eyes barely locked with his that I felt some pressure off of my shoulders. I walked past Sasuke straight to Kakashi, who seemingly checked my state, and hugged him.

"Tired but nothing more?" he asked me quietly, hugging me back.

"No," I answered and raised curious eyes to him, "why are you hugging me back?" He shrugged.

"I felt like it." It was suspicious, but I didn't comment on it. I was exhausted and the heat…

"You need to cool down," Sasuke suddenly said behind us. I nodded and let go of Kakashi.

"Yeah."

"Naruto and Sakura are still with Gaara for now so I took the liberty to book two rooms for you."

"Isn't Gaara dead?" The Uchiha asked with a raised brow.

"He was, the Ichibi is not within him anymore. The Elder, Chiyo, used a forbidden jutsu and brought him back to life in exchange of hers." I gazed at the sand under my shoes. That old woman did that huh… "Anyway, expect to have a reunion tomorrow with the rest of the team. Especially Naruto, he couldn't believe it when I told him you were there Akane. The last time you saw each other still angers him." I rolled my eyes. It seemed about right.

Old Naruto, are you okay? I hoped he didn't blame himself about my death, although I knew he probably did.

As Kakashi walked us to the hotel, I couldn't help but notice his eye kept lingering on me. It was strange to say the least. I caught him in action but he averted his eye back to his book as if nothing had happened. I looked at Sasuke, who stared straight in front of him, his hands in his pockets. However, I noticed he was tensed.

Seeing that, I finally realized the air between Sasuke and Kakashi was actually quite tensed.

"Did something happen on the mission?" I asked once we were at the hotel with no tact whatsoever. "You guys are acting weird."

"Nothing worth mentioning. "

"Kakashi knows for my eyes," Sasuke said at the same time. I shot a look at Kakashi, who pinched the bridge of his nose.

"That explains why you checked me out."

"I didn't..." I waved him off.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Keep that as a secret thanks. See you tomorrow 'kashi."

Without any further ado, I crashed in my bed as soon as I had put the air conditioning on. Why would I let Sasori go like that? I could have fought him and beat him from his state. Although, why didn't he let himself being killed like old Sakura told me? Sure, Deidara died this time around, and pretty fast at that apparently, so the Akatsuki still lost a member but...Deidara was easier to deal with than Sasori and now he'd probably be paired up with Obito.

Fuck, wasn't it just even worst than before?

The next morning, once I was ready I went downstair. The closer I was getting to the dining-room of the hotel, the more I could hear voices. I froze in my steps once I reached the room. Sasuke was being hugged, his arms limp on his sides in defeat, by his teammates. I was pretty sure Sakura was sobbing on his shoulder from happiness.

"Aren't they just adorable?" Kakashi asked me from next to me.

"Wait for the drama of the love triangle," I mumbled. Naruto wasn't in love with Hinata yet.

Talking about him, he raised his head in a flash. He locked eyes with me and let go of his best friend to walk stiffly toward me.

"You grew up?" I said tentatively. He shook his head. "It's been a while?" He clenched his fists and I gulped loudly. "Na...Naruto, I know you're angry but..."

"Next time you're not left behind, even if you beg me to." I blinked and choked slightly when he hugged me tightly. I couldn't move in his painful embrace. "You're...you're a moron nee-chan," he sniffed. I smiled faintly and hugged him back.

"Sorry." He was barely shorter than me now with no heels on, and more muscular, more solid thanks to Jiraya-san's training. I pushed him back. "Let me take a look at you." He grinned and put his hands on his hips, almost posing.

"I'm not a kid anymore and am way more attractive than the teme!" Said teme scoffed behind as Sakura didn't comment on it, letting Naruto and I have this moment.

"It's not the same kind of handsome. I like the new outfit, it's less gaudy." It was different from the pictures I had seen of old Naruto at sixteen. His pants were orange, but paler than the previous orange. There was one vertical black stripe along the sides of the pants, which ended above his ankles. His sandals were higher and black. His jacket was in the same orange as the pants, but the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, a short piece of orange fabric keeping the sleeves that way thanks to studs. Like for the pants, there was a vertical black strip along each sleeve, joining the black part of the jacket, so the collar right under his chin down to above his chest. He had black finger-less gloves too, with metal plates on the back of them. The fabric of his forehead protector was now black.

"Sooooooo?" I gave him two thumbs-up. "Yeah! You're pretty too nee-chan!"

"How come you've never said it before?" He paled in front of my pure, innocent smile.

"Wh...I've always thought it!" Sasuke scoffed once again and Naruto spun around. "You've got a problem!?"

They started to bicker, Sakura trying to stop them, in vain. I was vaguely aware of Team Gai coming our way, but I was more focus on them.

The new version of Team Seven I guess. Huh, it was not bad.

"Anyway, are you both going back with us? We leave this afternoon," Sakura told us with a smile.

"No, we are going to spend an extra few days here and join you later on. In two weeks maximum we're in Konoha." Naruto turned to me with sparkly eyes.

"How long are you going to stay?" I smirked and pressed a finger against my lips.

"That is for me to know and for you to discover dear cousin of mine." He pouted for a brief second.

"By the way, there's a girl squatting your room!" I blinked.

"Ho, Fū I guess? That's fine, it's better for her not to be alone to get used to Konoha at first."

"So...you met all of them?" he asked me more quietly. I nodded firmly.

"It wasn't easy everyday, but I did. We did. Oh, and we saw Shisui in the capital city too."

"Hee," Naruto whined, "Itachi-nii told me he was on a long-term mission and would not be back for another few weeks!" I raised a brow.

"Seriously? Well, it's an important mission. How's Itachi doing?" Sasuke appeared next to Kakashi.

"Fine...Sakura-chan, what was it you said?" She sighed.

"The surgery was a success and happened almost a year ago. So far there was no complication, he's not allowed to do much concerning training though. I can't tell you the rest."

"It's more than enough Sakura, thanks." She blushed at Sasuke's words. "I'm hungry."

"Let's eat!" my cousin exclaimed loudly, wrapping an arm around my shoulders to drag me along.

Although, having Gai-san and Lee in the morning screaming in my ears was not really enjoyable.

"How did I accept paying for ramen again?" I muttered as I watched the two teams from Konoha slowly disappearing in the desert.

"Naruto," Sasuke answered simply.

"You have a point."

We didn't do anything really interesting while in Suna. I had a spar with Temari, who's really good at wind jutsu. They were surprised how easy it was for me to use water jutsu in the desert and I ended up winning.

"So you'll come soon too?" I asked her when we were at the gates, ready to leave. I grinned when she nodded. "It will be interesting for sure!" My eyes found Gaara's. "There's nothing left. Nothing at all."

"I know, you've told me several times already Akane." I scratched my cheek.

"I want to be sure Gaara. Oh, thinking about it, should I call you Kazekage-sama?"

"There is no need for that." I nodded and we took off.

There was no trouble on the road. I had told Kakashi I followed Sasori until the Land of Rain, so it must have been in his report to the Hokage, so no need for me to tell her.

Oh right, Mom had a dog now!

As we were almost at Konoha gates, Sasuke working on his gloves and me watching the clouds, daydreaming, I heard a scream. I looked in front of me and saw a blur going past me. I looked behind and widened my eyes.

The blur had been Naruto, the scream Sakura punching him far away from her and now, his lips were on Sasuke's, who had not heard anything because he was too focused on his work. They both paled and poor Sasuke was dragged down with Naruto.

"Why is it always you moron!?" Sasuke screamed, coughing and spitting.

"You think I do it on purpose teme!?" I took a step back when he got up and turned around. I had my hands in the air in defense.

"Please don't welcome me the same way."

"Oh my God Sasuke-kun, I'm sorry!" Sakura apologized in panic as she joined us. "I didn't see you and..."

"I know, I know Sakura." He got up just as Kakashi appeared next to me.

"My, what a show you two!" The two boys blushed and glared at their sensei. "Aren't you two cute?" They glared harder and I snickered at them behind my hand.

"Nee-chan!" Naruto whined in betrayal as Sasuke was glaring daggers at me, muttering a 'traitor' under his breath.

"Sorry, sorry Naruto. If the kissing is done we really should go to the Hokage Sasuke." I dodged the rock he childishly threw at me. "Stop pouting."

"Fuck you." He stopped Naruto's punch with shock. "What now?" Naruto glowered at him.

"Talk better to her Sasuke." I beat Sasuke by a second to respond.

"Naruto, I talk to him the same way, it's okay." My cousin glared for a few more seconds and let it go.

His arm was then on my shoulders and he was dragging me to the Hokage tower, my feet struggling to keep up with his dynamic pace.

"Grandma!" Naruto yelled, opening the door without knocking. A pissed off Tsunade raised her head from her paperwork. The angry reply died on her lips when she saw me and Sasuke, between Kakashi and Sakura.

"Oh, you've arrived."

"Sorry for coming in the evening Tsunade-san," I told her with a small smile. She waved me off and pushed the papers away.

Huh.

Her eyes scanned us and, when they found nothing, showed a spark of satisfaction.

"I take everything went well?"

"Yeah. There were some troubles on the way but nothing too..." I felt Sasuke's heavy look on me. "we survived you know." She stared at me for a second longer with something I didn't understand in her eyes and nodded, looking away.

What was that?

"You must be tired, I won't keep you here any longer. I've already received Kiri report about you Sasuke, but I want a report about the past year in two days on my desk. The same goes for you Akane, and you'll come back tomorrow morning at nine. Kakashi will take you. Also, I want Team Kakashi on the Training Ground Three at nine thirty sharp tomorrow." I raised a brow. It was probably for some paperwork or stuff like that but I knew the way. "Go now. I still have work." We walked out of the building.

"It was shorter than expected." Naruto crossed his hands behind his head.

"She asked you to come back tomorrow morning nee-chan, and I bet she started drinking right when we walked out the door." I was half expecting Sakura to talk back but her face showed...pure resignation.

"Do you think Master asked us to go to the Training Ground so that we have a test? We did when you came back Naruto, so with Sasuke here now..." My cousin shrugged.

"Maybe, I'll kick his ass anyway." Sasuke scoffed.

"As if." Naruto barely made a step toward him that Kakashi stopped him.

"Come on now, he just got back. Keep that energy for tomorrow. Sasuke, you should go home. Walk Sakura back to her place."

They left. Sasuke had started walking and stopped a few meters in front of us to look at his teammate expectantly. Sakura started, realizing he was waiting for her, said goodbye to us and joined him.

"Let's go you two, Akiko-san probably wants to see her daughter." I nodded and took the lead.

"Yeah, come on you two!" I wanted to hug Mom and see her dog. Oh, and see how Fū was doing too. "Oh wait, I won't have a bed for tonight with Fū, will I? Doesn't matter, I'll put a futon in the study."

Needless to say, we hugged in the middle of the living-room for quite some time, and Naruto joined us quickly, her dog sniffing me to see if I was a threat.

"Thanks for walking me home Sasuke-kun, see you tomorrow." He nodded and watched her walk back in her house.

Now he had to go back his house, or basically had to walk through the whole compound, handle and ignore the looks his kinsmen would give him and have a reunion he dreaded. Not that he feared their reaction, it was just...their expectations.

As always after all. But now...when he left, he was confused about what he was doing and where he was going in his life as a shinobi. Now he had an idea of what he wanted to achieve, an idea that in no way involved his clan or even Konoha in a way. It was what he feared.

What would his father say if he knew his youngest did not have his clan as his utter and first priority?

Sasuke shook his head. It was his life, if he were going to stain his hands with blood it would be for his ideals and not someone else's. He would not, could not, let the part of him still wanting his father's approval dictate his path.

His train of thoughts was cut short by a scream.

"Thief!" a woman yelled as a man in his twenties was running toward him. Without thinking, Sasuke grabbed an Immobility Seal in his pouch and put it on the man's chest when he was running past him. The man fell backward. When he realized he could not move, he started making noise of panic. Without a word, Sasuke picked up the fallen purse next to him. "Oh my, thank you young man."

"Hn." He gave her her purse back and with no gentleness, pulled the man up so that he was sitting.

Sasuke grabbed the back of his collar and started dragging him to the police station, under the dumbstruck eyes of the villagers. He sighed to himself. One would dream of a better homecoming. Of course he wouldn't have a regular one.

"Can I see my father?" he asked the man at the front desk of the station, who was staring at him with wide eyes.

"Captain Fugaku is bu...of course you can!" Sasuke's slight furrowed brows worked perfectly.

His father's face, however, was priceless. Stopping a thief before reaching home might not have been such a bad thing after all.

"Your men can't do their job properly," Sasuke told him flatly, leaving the thief at his father's feet. "Seriously, they were not even in the area when it was quite a wealthy one."

"We are quite short on the number of people working here. We will take care of him." Once the man had been sent to a cell, his father got up and gauged him. "You seem to be fine."

"I am." Sasuke smirked bitterly in his mind. After three years of him being absent, his father and him still could not have a talk like two human beings.

"When did you arrive?"

"Less than an hour ago. I saw Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi at the gate, they went to the Hokage with us."

"From what I understood, you were with them during the Kazekage rescue mission." At this, Sasuke was taken back. His father knowing what happened during his missions was new.

"Yeah, I didn't do much though."

"I heard you killed a member of the Akatsuki. It is no easy feat." His father was freaking him out a little. He never asked so much about his missions before.

"He used his hands to fight and had lost both his arms when I faced him. It was not something I would call a fight."

"Hn, I see." There was a long, uncomfortable, silence. "Let's go home, your mother and brother will be happy to see you."

"Has Mother been on Itachi's back a lot?" His father scoffed as he left his office.

"I'll let him tell you."

They walked in silence through the compound, under people's stares and quiet chatters. Suddenly, Sasuke felt extremely self-aware. After the Revolution happened in Kiri, they had been wary and unsure of how to feel.

Now, he was very aware of the anger in some of his kinsmen. So aware he did not notice his father shooting him a look above his shoulder.

"I'm home!" his father yelled whereas Sasuke was the one in the lobby, standing still and making no move to take off his shoes.

"Welcome home dea..." His mother stopped abruptly at his sight.

Had she always been that...fragile looking? He was taller than her now. Seeing his mother pressing a shaking hand in front of her mouth and her eyes watering, he quickly took off his shoes and went to her.

"Mother, please don't..."

"They're happy tears Sasuke, don't worry," she reassured him with a smile before embracing him. "Welcome home honey, we missed you so much."

"...thanks..." He hugged her back and raised his eyes when he felt someone new. His brother was in front of him, leaning on the wall, his arms crossed and a smile on his face at the scene. "Shut up nii-san," he muttered under his breath, making said brother chuckle.

"It's nice to see you too after so long little brother."

"Still alive I see."

"I should be the one saying this. How was Kiri?" His mother let go of him and he nodded, thinking back at the time he spent there.

"Necessary, helpful and eye-opening I'd say." This got him a raised brow from Itachi. "Let's say a lot happened."

"It seems so," Itachi agreed quietly.

"How's Akane-chan doing? I hope you have been nice to her."

"Always." That was a lie. He knew it, his mother knew, everybody in the room knew it. "She's okay though."

Even if they asked him, especially his mother and Itachi, his father quietly listening and giving his input every now and then, what happened during his travels, where he went, he never brought up his Mangekyou.

He didn't want to deal with the 'how'.

He couldn't even explain how Akane 'survived' his Chidori.

They would have to figure out how to explain how they got Taiga's eye though, and if Shisui would be okay with only one eye transplant.

"Huh? Him?" Tsunade-san nodded.

"A problem with Kakashi being your jounin referent?"

"No but...whatever, it's not as if someone else could do it," I admitted, my chin between my fingers. "Can I go now?"

"Not yet, you're meeting with Inoichi first." I frowned, not liking where this was going. "It's a mandatory step to have a psychic evaluation before duty."

"I see."

The content of the evaluation was basically questions. They were pretty normal I'd say, so I didn't really know what they were looking for. Although, I was pretty sure sensei must have sent something about me being reckless but they didn't mention anything. Tsunade-san said it was a mandatory step anyway, so I didn't have a choice. I was better now anyway, so there was nothing to worry about.

When I left Inoichi, Kakashi was waiting for me with his trusty book.

"You read the last one? I really liked the ending." He shut his book brutally.

"Don't talk about the ending, it's the only reason I lost the bells to Sakura and Naruto." I raised a brow and we started walking toward the training field. "The Sharingan reads the lips, Naruto used that against me." I laughed loudly.

"He...he got you...be...because you're a pervert!" He calmly put his book away while I was crying of laughter. I eventually calmed down and wiped away my tears when Kakashi cracked his knuckles.

My head snapped to him and his eye smile while he was cracking his knuckles. I smiled nervously at him and stepped back when he stepped forward.

"Is there something wrong Akane?"

"Stay away from me."

"Why? I'm just so glad that you're back and for a year and a half."

He chased me.

His brother improved a lot. Naruto as well. Sakura as well.

As neither Kakashi or Akane were there, the Hokage had ordered Team Kakashi to spare. There was also Sai around, a boy who was in Kiri and sending explosives on the field.

Itachi did not have the chance to see any of them sparing in a while and it was interesting to say the least. His brother's fighting style was the same at its core, but now his sword was just an extension of his arm. Even if he was still using the Fire Style, he had developed the Lightning one a lot more in the past couple of years. He had incorporated fuinjutsu in his style to counter different kind of scenarios. The most impressive however was his use of the Sharingan, or more like the fact he had not started using it yet.

Itachi shot his parents a look. His mother seemed proud and his father seemed surprised by his youngest son. After all, the fighting style had involved but the general vibe Sasuke was giving was different as well. He was...grown, more mature and apparently knew where he was going now.

It was a nice change.

Now he wondered where the responsible of the change was. Sasuke had not really talked about her the night before and it was normal, but a part of him had wanted to ask about her.

"You're a bully!" a female voice screamed. Itachi looked up at the branches above him.

Two seconds later, a young woman landed in front of him, quickly followed by Kakashi.

"Nee-chan!" Naruto yelled as her and Kakashi ran between the teenagers.

"Someone stop him he's insane!" she shrieked from the top of her lungs, running in circles.

Ultimately, Sasuke got sick of it and grabbed her, easily carrying her under his arm. Far were the times were she'd lift him off the ground.

Itachi hid in amused smile behind his hand when his brother casually threw Akane straight into Kakashi, who caught her.

"How can you do that to Sasuke!? After everything I've done for you!?" He shrugged.

"I'll live with it."

Tsunade cleared her throat and Kakashi dropped Akane, who rubbed her behind. While the Hokage was talking, Itachi looked at Akane up and down. Her hair was long, she looked a lot healthier and her clothes fitted her figure. From where he was, even with sight issues, he could see the way her feminine waist was visible and the roundness of her bottom.

She became more gorgeous than before and he almost groaned at his thoughts. It took him less than five minutes to start having them.

"What's that around your neck nee-chan?" Itachi got up and walked closer to them.

"Hum? Ha, I'll stick around for a while."

"Sasuke was an honorary shinobi in Kiri, however it is an exchange. Akane will serve in Konoha as a jounin for a year and a half with Kakashi as her referent jounin." Akane flashed her cousin a toothy grin. Naruto was quick to hug her and lifted her from the ground.

"Yeah dattebayo!"

"So embarrassing," Sasuke muttered while Sakura was smiling sympathetically at Akane, who was being shaken by her happy cousin.

"Naruto I am not done!" He grudgingly put Akane down. "Sai, come here! Yamato as well!"

I thought I was going to puke my breakfast.

"Anyway, Naruto, Sakura, you both already know Sai. He'll be the new member on your team while Yamato replaces Kakashi."

"Kakashi-sensei doesn't need to be replaced," Sakura pointed out.

"Actually, he does. As he is Akane's referent jounin, they'll be a team from now on." He ignored my stupid grin. "Also, as Sasuke hasn't been in Konoha for a long time, he'll stuck with these two at first."

"Hn," Sasuke replied. He was kind of on probation but it was to be expected.

"It's not fair!" Naruto complained. I put an arm around his shoulders.

"Sorry, but Sasuke can't just go back to missions like before." He puffed his cheeks like a kid.

"Anyway, Sasuke I want you in my office at one o'clock sharp." Tsunade-san left. Naruto stepped away from me to bicker with Sasuke, who ignored him. While Team Kakashi was busy with these two, someone tapped me on the shoulder.

I turned around and was trapped in a motherly embrace.

"I'm so glad to see you Akane-chan!" I chuckled and returned her embrace.

"Thank you Mikoto-san." She stepped back, keeping her hands on my shoulders.

"I hope Sasuke wasn't too much trouble these past couple of years."

"He had his bratty, arrogant moments." Somehow, he heard this particular thing and shot me a glare.

Mikoto chuckled.

"You're coming over for dinner tonight." I blinked.

"What? I wouldn't want to op..."

"Accept, she won't drop the subject." I looked next to me. Itachi smiled at me.

"Alright then."

Fugaku-san told me he had something to ask me and they left. Team Kakashi was busy with their new members and the one they finally had back.

It was just Itachi and I.

"So, how are you doing?"

"I'm still alive."

"You don't feel too alone?" His smile fell.

"I'm keeping myself busy as much as I can. Shisui said he needed to breath, I couldn't ask him to stay." I smiled faintly.

"That's what he told me." He raised a brow. "I saw him in the capital city earlier this year. He has a girlfriend now."

"You're fine with it?"

"Yeah. I mean," I said, walking away from the teenagers and their mentors, Itachi next to me. "I'm not dating him or ever dated him so you know, it's none of my business."

"Hn." I smirked at him.

"What, we haven't seen each other in two years and a half and it's the only thing I get? I'm hurt." He smirked and poked me in the forehead.

"Happy now?" I rubbed my forehead with a frown, which made him laugh.

Without notice, he pulled me in his arms. I stood there in shock for a second and slowly, hugged him back.

"I missed you Akane," he whispered in my ear. I sighed softly.

"Same here." He must have felt lonely after all, and this Itachi wasn't used to it.

However, I couldn't help but feel something was different in him. I couldn't pinpoint what it was, but it was different.

I wasn't sure if I liked it or not.

Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought of this chapter! Thanks to sal and garneauyoann for the reviews! Also, Team 7 outfits are from a video on youtube. It's the ending 12 of Naruto that you'll find if you enter 'naruto ending ', it's the first video.

Bye!