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: 22

Naruto, Sasuke: 16

Shisui: 25

Kakashi: 30

"All I am saying is that...as his older brother...you should take responsibilities for stuff like this."

"And as his master, you can't use that argument when it's something that happened during training," Itachi replied, unfazed. I scratched the burn mark on my wall. "Why would the wall of your bedroom be burned?"

"Because he practiced way past his bedtime, lacked sleep and messed his seal and it blew up in my hands?" I sighed, putting my cheek on my pillow. "Woke me up in the middle of the night before a diplomatic mission that little fucker." He smiled and imitated me, his face toward mine.

"I already told you not to sweet talk my brother." I smirked.

"Jealous I insult him and not you?"

"You can keep the insults."

It was morning, well close to noon. We were on our stomachs, naked under my bed covers and I was too sore and tired to get out of bed.

"How presumptuous of you to have condoms," I said again. "Like, you were so sure we'd sleep together!"

"We did though. Several times." He slipped an arm around my waist and leaned to me to kiss my shoulder.

"I could have said no."

"Well then you wouldn't have known I had condoms." I opened my mouth but nothing came to me. I opted to turn my head to look at my closet. He chuckled. "You don't act forty-six."

"Okay, stop with my age! I mean, for a long time I just stopped trying to remember it because it was so confusing…" He moved my hair away from my neck to kiss it. I turned my face back to him and he kissed my cheekbone. "You…" He blinked at me, a soft smile on his face.

"Hum?"

"You're just very affectionate," I mumbled quietly. He cocked an eyebrow.

"Too much for you?"

"Not for now, and this…" I showed us with my finger. "...is new, we need to find a dynamic." He shrugged.

"You know, once in Konoha we won't have this much freedom," he whispered. He turned around to be on his back and pulled me on his chest, an arm around my waist. His other hand had mine in it. "And I've been wanting this for years, you can't blame me now everything's coming out at once."

"Years?" I repeated. "Wait, was Naru right when he accused you of having a hidden reason for asking me to be your roommate? Oh god, was it all part of a big plan Uchiha?"

"No." He pursed his lips. "It really wasn't at first, but I'm not going to pretend I didn't take advantage of a few things." I raised my head to him. "I'm honestly surprised you never noticed me staring at you every morning."

"Pervert," I said with a deadpan. "I can lend you my books if you want."

"Considering you're naked on top of me I don't think I need them." I shrugged.

"I'm gonna keep reading them. Although, there's one you'll like, I don't know if you've read it." He raised a brow. "The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi, ever heard of it?" He shook his head. "I sealed it in that scroll. A new one, I sealed the one oji-chan gave me when I was a kid in Naruto's."

"Jiraya-sama wrote something other than...smut?"

"It didn't work that well," I replied, my cheek on his shoulder. "But you'll like it. So once in Konoha...we'll have to keep that we're a thing secret, right?" His arm tightened around my waist, pressing me more against his body.

"I don't like that, but you are Sasuke's fiancee, until then we'll publicly remain friends. When we're home though it will be okay."

"...we live in front of the hospital, people can see through the windows." He sighed.

"Don't worry about this."

"Okay. What about Sasuke, and Naruto, our parents, do we hide it from them as well?"

"For as long as possible."

"Huh."

"Akane."

"...I told Kakashi we slept together?" He took a deep breath and I put my hands on each side of his head, lifting my upper body to look at him. "I ran away to his place because I was freaking out, I am sorry okay but...when he stopped me I told him everything so…"

"It's okay." I blinked and he shook his head, running a hand on his face. "It's Kakashi-san, he'll keep it to himself. The worst he can do is looking superior because he knows and tries to use it to make us do his dirty work."

"...did he traumatize you when you were in AN…" He put his hand on my mouth.

"Some things must remain secret." His hand muffled my laugh. He rolled his eyes and I removed his hand.

"Poor thing, traumatized by your senpai. I feel you." I kissed him on the lips before resuming my previous position. "So we keep it a secret, but I doubt it will work for a long time. I mean...Sasuke's onto us already. Your mom too, and I have a feeling mine is as well."

"As long as it's not 'official' people, it should be okay."

"Shisui will figure it out too. Talking about him, did you have to punch him and accuse him of 'stealing what was yours'?" I gave him a pointed look. He stared at the ceiling with a blank expression. I sighed when I realized he wouldn't comment on it. "Don't...I don't want to ruin you guys' friendship Itachi."

He swapped our places, now on top of me, a hand on my waist.

"You don't have to worry about Shisui and I, understood?" I pursed my lips and he shot me a pointed look. "Understood?" I rolled my eyes, giving in.

"Right, right." From the clouded look in his eyes, it was better to not pursue on that topic. "So the plan of attack is hide in public and be together when we're home once we're back in Konoha." He nodded. "There's an issue." We stared at each other for a few seconds.

"We don't know when we're going back," he told me.

"We don't know when we're going back," I agreed. "And you've been doing missions with your ex a lot." He smirked at me.

"So it was bothering you."

"Just...a little…" I mumbled, looking away. He chuckled.

"You have nothing to worry about on this side either." He kissed my forehead. "Point is, we should get the most out of the time we have in Kiri."

"Want a tour now it's not destroyed?"

"I'd actually appreciate that, you don't have the opportunity to visit another village very often."

"Suna?" He shrugged.

"Very quickly."

"Konoha is not allied with Iwa nor Kumo so...I enjoyed the three months I spent in Kumo with Sasuke though."

"The village or the Raikage's right-hand man?" he muttered with a scowl.

"I knew you were jealous back then!" He was saved by my stomach. "I'm starving."

"I heard that. I'll make breakfast." He looked at my clock. "Or lunch."

"Is there food?"

"I went grocery shopping yesterday, there should be enough." He got up and gathered his clothes. I watched him getting dressed. "Who's the pervert now?"

"As if you wouldn't watch me get dressed," I retorted, sitting up, the covers against my chest. "I was just thinking scars are sexier on guys than women."

"It all depends on the tastes." He left my room and I smiled like an idiot.

I remembered what old Itachi said. To be honest, if I had that discussion before seeing Shisui at the hideout, things might have been different. Because it was...the same people, having old Itachi telling me it was okay to have feelings for someone else than him was...freeing. Of course he was rooting for himself, and ultimately I was in love with Itachi but it...it was more mature in a way? I didn't know how to phrase it, but once in Konoha the bubble we had before, that we've had since yesterday wouldn't be there.

I felt very happy though. Of course, making love played a huge part in that, but...Itachi said he was mine and…

I grinned like an idiot behind my hand. I...he said he loved me, in spite of everything. It…

I grabbed his pillow and buried my face in it, inhaling his scent. Sorry Izumi, I don't even know you but I'm not letting you have him.

I opened my nightstand and pulled my vibrator out of it. This little guy had been loyal and satisfying for a long time now, but it was not the sa…

Someone cleared his throat at the door. I looked up and at the door. Itachi was leaning against it, staring at the object in my hand.

"If you're still not satisfied you could have said so," he said idly. I blushed.

"It's...I'm satisfied!"

"So Jiraya-sama's books…"

"Oh my god shut up!" I threw the pillow at him. He caught it easily and threw it back next to me. "What did you want?"

"Do you want to take a bath before or after eating?" I folded my arms.

"Whatever is ready first."

He left, giving the vibrator in my hand one last look. Once he was out, I looked at it.

"You still have a special place in my heart." I put it back in my nightstand and stood up. I struggled to put some clothes on, just underwear and a long shirt, because I was struggling to walk.

I went to the kitchen slowly. Itachi just smirked smugly when he saw me walking, distractedly stirring his dish.

"Oh fuck off," I mumbled, a blush dusting my cheeks as I sat down at the table.

"I mean, you asked for it last night."

"Your food's burning." He shot me an amused look from the corner of his eyes and I shook my head.

Itachi's always had too much fun teasing me, now I was just giving him one more thing to tease me for. I was also flattering his ego.

Damn it.

I needed to find a way to get back at him.

"The harbor is almost done, once it is we'll be able to filtrate the most important transactions for the country," I told Itachi as we were near the Academy.

"How much have you whispered ideas?" I shrugged.

"Here and there, I just...tried to make things faster. My own ideas were about reforming stuff, like psychological aftercare for shinobi and people trained especially to deal with shinobi. I know, I know, I didn't have...well, I know how to avoid it."

"You never told me you worked on that." I shrugged.

"I never told you that I have followed a strict etiquette and political, diplomatic education either." He raised a brow. "I'm still not sure why they would train me in that but you know, at the time it kept me away from actual training." I pursed my lips and a genin stopped me.

"Uzumaki-san!" I blinked.

"Yeah?" The girl grinned at me.

"I want to grow up to be a kunoichi just like you and Mizukage-sama one day!" I smiled at her and nodded.

"I'm sure you'll manage." She nodded back and looked up at Itachi. She left with a blush. "Turning heads of every girl of every age."

"As if you didn't have your own fans among females."

"He…"

"UZU!" I turned around and was choked to death, the smell of lavender filling my nose.

I tasted cherry too.

Tasted?

Kimou was kissing me in the middle of the street, and was it her hand going lower and lower in my back? I was pulled back before her tongue was in my mouth and my back met a solid chest. A firm hand was on my shoulder.

"None of your business Uchiha!" she snarled at Itachi, taking my arm to yank me toward her. Itachi pulled me back toward him immediately.

"She's engaged to my brother, she's not available. Don't sexually harass her in the middle of the street."

"Engaged!?" she looked at me with wide eyes. "Is it true!? You're engaged to Sasuke!? I thought Mei-sama was joking!"

"It's a weird turn of event really…" I mumbled.

"So what, you're gonna move to Konoha for good after?"

"Still undecided…"

"They don't deserve you." She clenched her jaw. "Not after what that Uchiha did to all of us." Itachi tensed.

"Kimou, if we start to make a generality out of one person then we're no better than during the civil wars." She shot Itachi a glare and spun around, stumping away.

I sighed and looked up at Itachi. He was conflicted.

"Hey." He looked down at me. "Don't listen to her, okay? She's angry, that's all." I smiled at him. "Still hungry?" He shook his head. "Well I am, I haven't had sushis in a long time. Come on."

At first I wanted to eat in the restaurant but from Itachi's silence, I ordered takeout. Once we were home, I put the food on the table and pulled my...boyfriend down to my level to kiss him. He didn't respond to it.

"You know it's not true."

"I know." He frowned. "It's just that there's enough resentment toward the Uchihas in Konoha. I understand why there would be in Kiri as well but…" He sighed. "Did Sasuke…"

"Why do you think he was here?" He raised a brow. "He convinced Tsunade-san to pick him to go in Kiri, he gave political arguments. I mean, he already helped with the Resistance, more than all of you, and then Shisui came as well, but Sasuke was the element that would prove not all of your clan was the same, and that this man was...guilty because of who he was, not who he was related to. And it would also have an impact in how people view you in Konoha as well." I looked down. "There was...some distrust, but nothing too much."

"Hn." I pecked him on the lips and let him go.

"Don't let it bother you." He kept frowning. "Something else?"

"You taste like cherry."

"Kimou's lip balm."

"I don't like it."

"I'm sure you don't."

"She's sexually harassing you."

"I mean, I just never bothered stopping her before, but I will now. She took me by surprise earlier."

Oh.

He was pouting.

"Or maybe next time I'll ask her to kiss you." He deadpanned at me.

"No thanks." I giggled and sat down. He joined me.

Once we were done, he went to the couch to read Jiraya-san's book.

I wanted to see my father. Not today but...I had to do it anyway.

"I'm going out."

"Where?"

"The cemetery." He glanced at me but didn't say anything. "I'll probably visit Naoto too."

"Alright."

I first went to Mangetsu's grave. I apologized quietly. He made me promise to break my seal before dying right before he passed and I almost failed to keep it. If he were still there...he would have slapped me.

Like real hard. He probably would have chased me through the village with the first sword he would have gotten his hands on to 'teach me a lesson'. I chuckled to myself, alone in the cemetery.

"I miss you Mangetsu," I whispered, my fingers grazing the tombstone. "I'...I'm not alone or anything, but it's been three years. No one can replace you." I stood up and dusted my pants, heading for another tombstone.

Yagura's.

It was...aside from the others to avoid as much as possible damage done by still angry villagers. It worked for most of the time, but there were always one or two who succeeded in tagging it or some shit, in spite of sensei clearly stating anyone doing that would be punished and that the Fourth was manipulated.

I knelt in front of it.

"So...Dad's back in the village." I rubbed my neck. "I know you...you were friends, and you told me he saved your life more than once. Truth be told, looking back on it I know there's more to what happened years ago. Naruto talked to him and apparently he was deep in thoughts after that. I'm going to visit him too. I want to understand." I pursed my lips. "Maybe you knew things too but we never...we never really had time after all." I looked up. The tree branches were blown softly by the wind. "A lot has happened since you passed Yagura. The Akatsuki...has less and less members, but the ones remaining are the real issue. It's...not gonna be easy." I clasped my hands together in front of me. "Please watch over us Yondaime."

I visited Naoto. I told him I was planning on seeing Dad. He replied I needed to do that, yet he seemed concerned. After all, he actually had known my dad as a child and had been trained more than once by the guy.

Ultimately...nobody was keeping me to see him.

I knew telling people meant I couldn't go back on it but now everybody seemed to agree, I really couldn't go back on it.

"I'm home." It was almost dinner time already and it smelled like miso and grilled fish.

We were what, three days into that relationship and I was treated like a princess, I loved it. The good thing was we had been friends for years and lived together for months, there was no...dating phase where you'd get to know the other person. Although, I guess it was a good feeling that seduction game there was, but I felt more comfortable because we got to know each other without romance in mind.

Itachi came out of my room, bashful and with a flushed face. I raised a brow.

"You okay there?" I asked him, my shoes removed.

"Yeah, just…" He cleared his throat, pulling on his collar almost as if he needed more air to breath. I narrowed my eyes.

"Did you see something in my room or something?" He blushed harder and I walked past him.

There was a basket of clean laundry on my bed, but my closet was opened. The basket on its floor, with my...infiltration/seduction kits in it, had the cloth I used to cover it removed. I picked up the black lacy pair of panties on the floor, entirely see-through except for the crotch. The garter belt was laying on the floor as well.

I turned around, holding my panties in my hand and stared sternly at the flustered man at the door.

"Something to say maybe?"

"I just...wanted to put the laundry away and didn't know where to put it and…" He blushed, staring at the underwear in my hand.

"You found my lingerie stash and…" I looked above my shoulder. "...clearly got curious?" I looked back at him, who was slowly but surely dying of embarrassment. "It's for missions anyway."

Suddenly his red face went very pale.

"Relax, you know I didn't have sex before two months ago. It helps get in character and the further it went was having a tongue down my throat." He still frowned and I grinned, approaching him. "I've always been lucky on that front and never really had to go too far."

"Good." I showed him my panties.

"Did you get embarrassed because you saw these or because you want to see me in them?" He blushed again and I kissed his cheek, dropping the panties on my bed. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun." He groaned, annoyed and I left my room.

"You're not tidying?"

"Hey, you're the one who made a mess!"

"But…" he started and I laughed to myself at how shy he sounded. I turned around and tiptoed, leaning on his shoulders so that my mouth was next to his ear.

"You clean that up and I'll let you pick a few to bring back to Konoha." I saw his Addams apple moving slowly.

"The ones I want?" he replied in a husky voice.

"The ones you want 'tachi," I whispered in his ear with a sultry voice. He took a deep breath and started cleaning up.

I went to the kitchen, proud of myself.

Itachi was a great shinobi, serious, never showed his feelings to anyone he didn't feel close to and all that but...he was a man.

I was so using sex to get things. Of course he'd notice quickly but he would also stop me if I went too far.

He looked pretty happy with himself when we were eating.

"Had fun?" He smiled almost innocently and nodded. "By the way, it's not that I want to ruin the mood, but I'm visiting my father tomorrow." His smile disappeared.

"Are you ready for that?" I nodded.

"I mean, I think so. I have to do it anyway." I pursed my lips. "Will you come with me?"

"Of course," he accepted immediately. I smiled thankfully at him.

"Thanks. And if I suddenly try to run away, catch me?" He smirked.

"Sure."

Dad was in the cells in the underground part of the ANBU building. I had never seen so much people for one missing-nin. He had spent the first few days in a cage suspended above a reservoir of water, reminders of our old torture days, the same way I was imprisoned before the attack three years ago. Now he was in a regular cell, locked by a door in tempered steel. There were seals I recognized on them. There was a small opening at eye-level and one at the bottom to slide a tray and his meal.

"I'm going to wait here," Itachi stated quietly to me. I nodded.

"Sure, it's better if I'm alone with him anyway." It had been hard to make him go down here with me.

Well, he wasn't about to leave me alone anyway and I was influential.

The anbu guarding opened the door and shut it behind me. I looked around. Seals covered the walls, each backing up the previous one. There was a very small window, longer than it was big, at the top of the back wall. It would barely be out of the ground from the outside and it didn't let a lot of light through.

There was Dad, sitting on the bed, his back against the wall. He had a stubble and brown prisoner clothes, his hair a greasy mess. He was staring at me.

"Daughter," he greeted me in a raspy voice.

"Dad," I greeted back, shooting his tray a quick look. "You're fed correctly?" He shrugged.

"It's not luxury food but it does its job." He looked at me up and down. "I heard from the Mizukage you had spent some time at the hospital."

"Sensei visited you?" He raised his arms and gestured at himself.

"Your dad's a big deal in Kiri Akane. I'm flattered I'm still remembered."

"You're remembered as a coward who ran away and left the village between the hands of a tyrant," I replied coldly. He smirked.

"Were you fed that story too?"

"When I arrived, Yagura ordered everyone to keep any piece of information about you to themselves. Mom...Mom told me why you left Kiri after Yagura died." I gulped. "I would have become a jinchuriki." I unlocked the connection, knowing oji-chan would want to know. "The village publicly executed your parents because your dad spoke out against the Sandaime and his decision and your mom tried to help him." His face remained blank. "Then Fubuki and his exam when he was three. It was the last straw and you decided to leave."

"Akiko told you after Yagura died?" I nodded. "You didn't know before?"

"She took her secrets to her grave when I was a teenager." He looked down. "Grave the very organization you joined sent her to."

"It doesn't make sense," Dad muttered to himself.

"I'm sure that anything you know about the Akatsuki, sensei will be very glad to hear it. I'm not here for that, not today."

"What do you want then?"

"I know Naruto came to talk to you." He leaned his head back against the wall. I noticed how his hands were immobilized, like his feet. "I want to understand."

"Thinking your old man turned crazy is no longer enough for you?"

"Indeed." I crossed my arms on my chest. "You saw us coming Dad, I know that. You could have dodged Naruto's rasengan but you chose not to. Why?"

"He does have a way with words, I have to give him that. He must have gotten it from Minato."

"His speech?"

"It brought back memories I had long forgotten." He sighed and looked back at me. "When we left Kiri, it was war outside but I had absolutely no faith anymore in that place, or country for that matter. It destroyed Uzushio, slaughtered people I cared about before killing my parents, the clan I was a part of here. We settled in the Land of Hot Water because it was close but unfortunately, it was also between Kumo and Konoha, so a lot of conflicts happened there." He pursed his lips. "I saw a lot of bloodshed when I'd leave to get money. Minato...he kept saying there would be peace one day, and I believed him. I mean, we weren't from the same village but...if you have the same goal, it shouldn't matter."

Agree.

I agreed on that.

"But that very same man lost his students, one by one. I mean, of course he was an important jounin and could be useful, was useful, on the front line but...for someone hailed for his speed, he ironically always was too late. Rin kidnapped, Kakashi lost an eye and Obito was crushed by a boulder to save him. Then Rin was taken by Kiri and turned into a ticking bomb and threw herself on Kakashi's chidori." I gulped, kicking an invisible rock. "It became kind of...complicated to believe in what he was saying. In parallel, we couldn't find Tsuna and Fubuki's health was not getting better. War...even if it ended, there were consequences and of course other conflicts would appear one day. That was when I remembered what I had found in the Uzumakis' library when I was younger."

"The library is under water now, I went there once but...a lot is unreadable."

"On purpose." I raised a brow. "Human beings tend to...forget their own history if it's convenient. You should see if you can look into the Uchihas' history too Akane, because the Senjus' documents were lost and the Uzumakis' as well."

"Why...Dad, what do you know?"

"The beautiful legend of the rabbit goddess?" I gulped. "There were documents written by an Uzumaki Tensui, but it was mentioned his birth name was 'Ōtsutsuki' and that his relatives changed their names too, that his great-grand-father was the one and onl…" I raised my hand.

"I'm familiar with the story as well." He smirked.

"Of course, from Tensui's point of view things may have been slightly different from what happened, but I know that this goddess was...how do I put it, had killer tendencies? Anyway, she became a danger after eating a fruit and was slayed by Rikudo Sennin."

Well...it wasn't entirely wrong.

"What I remembered though was that it was because she had eaten that fruit she got chakra and then gave it to her sons and it continued. Hence why we have powerful chakra, like the Senjus. Like the Uchihas." He narrowed his eyes. "But you know that already." I nodded. "The Eien Hansen was...to absorb all chakra as well and then turned into a powerful energy blast aimed at space."

"So what, you want to take people's chakra away and killed them all by chakra exhaustion?"

"Don't be silly, humans lived without chakra before, the way it was designed would have activate something around us allowing people to use natural energy." I shook my head and he frowned. "What?"

"I think it was aimed at the moon, not just space, and...shit." I swallowed with difficulty. "Does a particular Akatsuki member knows about...this?" He narrowed his eyes.

"You're not talking about Tobi, are you?" I shook my head and used my hand to separate my face. "I knew he was weird, he flinched when I talked about Ōtsutsuki." I clicked my tongue. "Care to enlighten me?"

"Depends, even if I broke the Eien Hansen with the Claw, I don't want you to go around trying to 'save humanity' again. Because that was the ultimate goal, wasn't it?" He looked down. "Seeing so much conflicts pushed you to think one sacrifice would be for the greater good, because you had lost faith in human kind." He slowly nodded and I breathed out, leaning against the wall. "Shit Dad."

Oji-chan did say my father replacing Itachi in the Akatsuki had more meanings that you could think of.

"I'm not telling you anything." He puffed his cheeks like a kid. "It's...Tsunade-san will tell you if she wants to, but I'm not. However, I think that precious weapon of yours would have doomed human kind if you had succeeded the first time around. I think."

Old Sasuke told me the statue in which bijuus were sealed was the empty shell of the Ten-Tails. How did the Akatsuki get it?

"So, why did you lose?"

"Naruto has a way with words," he repeated. He looked at the wall on his right. "I used to be hopeful and wanted to change the world when I was young, but I lost hope. Naruto...I think he can. Hell, he told me he would when he visited me, saying that he would deal with the Kyuubi's anger and then the world's." I smiled faintly. "It's a big claim for one shinobi. But...looking at the bigger picture, maybe he can succeed."

"Why would you think that?"

"There seems to be quite a solid alliance between three out of five of the big nations, and Naruto somehow is connected to key people from these places. I might as well leave it in the hands of the young generation. And…" He pointed a finger at me like he could. "There's you who's...doing your own thing. You have almost a blind faith in Naruto, so my guess is he did it once." I bit the inside of my cheek.

"I have my answers, I'll go now."

"Akane." I froze, facing the door. "My soul is yours." I looked at him above my shoulder, puzzled. "I've decided that a long time ago. I won't fight back either."

"...thanks…"

"And remember the absence of conflicts doesn't mean it's peace, especially in our world. The peace of one village is the despair of another, and the despair from a whole population will create conflicts."

"I know." I left the room and breathed out once the door shut behind me. I blinked at the man with Itachi. "Tsurugi-san." He nodded at me.

"Did he show hostility?"

"None."

"Do you think he could try anything?"

He said his soul was mine.

"I...I don't think so, but keeping a close eye on him is still better. I'll talk to the Mizukage about it as well."

"Alright." He shot Itachi a quick look. "You should go now, unless if you wanted something else Uzumaki."

"No, have good day." Tsurugi kept a stern look.

"So do you." Itachi and I left.

Tsurugi was the head of the hunter-nin. I had never been a part of that section of ANBU, but Dai was and I had come to know the guy.

Once we were home, the door was barely closed that I leaned my forehead against Itachi's back.

"That much?" he asked me softly. I whined quietly in response and he turned around, his arms around my waist. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not right now," I replied. I raised my head with furrowed brows. "And Dad told me things that...kind of make me doubt the Uzumakis. Everything I wrote about Kaguya and stuff is in your brain?"

"I don't think I'd be able to forget even if I wanted to." I pursed my lips.

"Sorry to put that on your shoulders but your brain will be useful."

"I know." He was not bragging, there wasn't an ounce of pride in his voice. The situation...it was not the time to be modest.

I broke our embrace.

"I'm gonna make dinner, it's almost the evening already."

"I can if yo…" I deadpanned at Itachi, at the entrance of my kitchen.

"I know you're okay with doing all that and I'm just out of the hospital and stuff, but one you cut out your healing time after your own surgery and was stabbed in the chest, and two I can cook dinner for two." He smiled sheepishly.

"Of course."

Itachi didn't push me to talk.

It was nice.

Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought of this chapter! Thanks to Masaya Daiji for the lovely reviews!

Bye!