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

"Did he give the Mizukage any detail?"

"None," I replied, staring at the first house I ever lived in in the ghost part of the village. We were in the old Yuki clan compound. "Anyway, let's get this over with."

The house was dilapidated, so I just walked over the broken wall next to the still standing door. Dad told sensei there was something, a weapon that belonged to my grandfather that I should take. He said it was in his and Mom's room.

I climbed up the stairs, careful not to go through it, Itachi behind me. I coughed at the dust when I opened the first door I saw. A bathroom.

I opened the next one and froze at the child room. It was Fubuki's. I entered it and looked around. Toys, old crayons and papers. I opened a drawer but closed it immediately. These were little boy's clothes. Mom and Dad only took the bare minimum and anything with an emotional value but the rest...it stayed here.

It stayed here to rot.

I left the room, going to the one next to it. I gulped at the nursery. The cradle was rotten but...the rest of the room was well conserved, better than Fubuki's room.

I looked at Itachi above my shoulder when I felt his hand running up and down my arm, his comforting presence in my back.

"I think I found it," he whispered to me.

"Okay." I followed him to another room and directly to a dresser. There were marks on the floor, indicating it had been moved several times.

Itachi pushed it on the side in a squeaking sound and I crouched in front of the wall.

A seal.

A blood seal.

I bit my thumb and put it at the center of the seal. A paper appeared. Itachi crouched next to me as I read the words.

"Stars are shining bright, The wind is on the rise," I read carefully.

"Whispering words of long lost lullabies," Itachi continued. I turned the paper around. Nothing apart from these words. "It's a lullaby."

"What makes you think that?" He cleared his throat.

"It's written Akane." I blinked.

"Right." I frowned and raised my hand above the paper, expelling a weak wave of chakra.

Black straight lines shone blue on the paper. Black straight lines, almost as if to tell us to write on them.

"There are several ways to activate a seal, right?" I nodded. "Maybe we need to write the rest of the lullaby."

"Maybe yeah." I pursed my lips. "It's possible my grandmother made this. If that's the case, then maybe it would be a lullaby from Uzushio?"

"Akiko-san should know." I nodded and stood up, like him, the sheet of paper in my hand.

"She should." I looked around us. "Let's get outta of here, there's nothing left for anyone." I left first. Itachi exited the house a few seconds after me.

We were leaving the next morning. Haku was supposed to come home in the afternoon, so we hurried home.

"You should put your stuff in the guest room." Itachi frowned at that. "I know, I know, but...it's better if no one knows, right? So…"

"I know, I know." He looked at me, annoyed. "So I'm sleeping in the guest room as well tonight?" I smiled sheepishly at him and raised a finger.

"One night." He rolled his eyes. "Just one night. It's nothing."

"Hn."

"Oh come on!" I yelled at him as he went in my room.

Of course, he didn't show he was pouting in front of Haku, so I could smother my cousin as much as I could. He didn't help Haku either.

He almost pretended I didn't exist.

The next morning, before we left, we, well I, said goodbye to our departure committee. Itachi wanted to ignore me?

Fineeeee.

"Senpai!" I whined, hugging Utakata-senpai. He narrowed his eyes at me.

"Get off me." I didn't and kept hugging him.

Dai did shoot Itachi a look.

"You're more insistent that usual," senpai noticed quietly.

"I knew you liked me!" I grinned at him.

He kicked me in the stomach.

"Hell no! You've been sexually harassing me since you were twelve!" He turned around and stomped away.

"Because you're the best senpai!"

"I think you should go," sensei told Itachi, who merely looked at me through his dark lashes.

"I think so as well."

I jumped on my feet and dusted myself.

"Take care everyone!" I ran up to Itachi to catch up with him. "You could at least wait for me."

"Hn."

"I still have the silent treatment? Were you that cold in bed last night?" Not a look or a word.

Did I push it too far by hugging senpai that long? Probably, I wouldn't like it if he randomly hugged Izumi right in front of me, even if I knew he was doing it on purpose.

I apologized when we were on the boat as we agreed on not teleporting. He ignored me.

It was only when we were half a day from Konoha that he grabbed my hands and pinned them against a tree bark, above my head. I had been eating quietly and he licked the grain of rice from the corner of my mouth.

"I know you don't have feelings for him Akane," he whispered huskily in my ear. I was stuck because he was on his knees between my legs, making sure his crotch was against mine. "Yet you thought acting this way with him was a good idea. You did that because I ignored you?"

"...yes…" He clicked his tongue.

"You should know better. What do you think you'll get from making me jealous on purpose?" I swallowed with difficulty.

"I didn't like sleeping alone either Itachi…"

"You have an odd way of showing it," he told me sternly, his face right in front of mine. His lips teased mine, grazing them but never touching them. "What do you want now?" One of his hand ran down my body toward my shorts. "Do you want me to take you like that? Against the tree to remind you I'm the only one allowed to touch you?"

"Yes…" I whispered, melting. God, I just told him to tell me his fantasies as they came and bam, his dirty talk game was on point.

He smirked.

"Too bad." He stood up.

...what?

"What the…"

"Don't flirt with other men Akane, seriously or not," he told me coldly. I pursed my lips and sighed.

"I know, I'm sorry." He went back to his spot and to his lunch.

We had not kissed or had sex since before we left Kiri. It had been more than a week. I was horny. I was used to do it at least once a day. Sure, it was a lot. There was a lot to make up for though.

However, on the way to Konoha, he would speak to me. Not much, but still.

I really didn't think it would piss him off that much. I kicked a rock, my eyes shooting glances at him here and there.

Mom was at the gates with Ganbaru. She grinned at me and I ran at her, straight into her opened arms.

"We'll talk about serious subjects later honey," she told me with a smile. "I'm glad you're okay."

"I'm glad too." I moved back and scratched the dog's ears. "Naru?"

"Brace yourself for quite the conversation. Just a warning, Sasuke told him what he knew." I blinked at Itachi stopped next to me. "Hello Itachi-kun."

"Good afternoon Akiko-san."

"Anyway, Naru knows why he tried to leave Konoha and why you took care of him." I pursed my lips.

"Thanks for the heads-up." She kissed my cheek.

"I'll head home now, I just wanted to see you with my own eyes." I made a 360° turn.

"Still in one piece." She grinned and left, telling Itachi his parents were not very happy about him sneaking out with Sasuke, to which he nodded blankly. "Let's go home."

"Hn." I sighed.

I was happy once we were home, but then I looked at my door, and Itachi's.

"Which ro…" He almost shut the door of his room to my face. I hit my head against the wall, sulking.

Wasn't it too much?

Seeing that as him still being mad and wanting to be alone, I went to my room. I was tired, so I changed and got into bed. My bed just seemed very big now.

I sighed and sat, ready to tell Itachi it was getting ridiculous when he opened my door. He looked annoyed.

"Seriously?" he asked me with a frown.

"You were mad, weren't you? Didn't you want to be alone?"

"After more than a week?" he mumbled, closing the door behind me. I laid back down as he joined me in bed, pulling me against his chest. I snuggled against him and smiled. "...better…" he said, his voice muffled by my hair. I raised my head and stole a kiss from him.

"Good night." He smiled and I buried my face in the crook of his neck.

The next morning we fully reconciled.

I shifted from a foot to another. Itachi was unfazed next to me. Tsunade was staring at him, her nails tapping on her desk.

"I received your report," she told me, her eyes not leaving Itachi. "And Naruto told me what Ushio told him. Overall...the mission is a success, even if you were the enemy for a while Akane." I nodded. "Now you, leaving the hospital before you were released with your medical history?" I shot Itachi a glance. Still a blank face. "Sasuke and Sakura already got punished, but you?" She stood up. "You?"

"I wouldn't have come back if it wasn't for him," I whispered. Tsunade turned her gaze to me.

"And that's the only reason I can't entirely blame him or his brother. However, no mission for a month. Fugaku has business he told me you and Sasuke could do, but other than that, I'm sure cleaning the hospital, or ANBU HQ, or any building where there is shinobi work in this village will be good for you." I bit my bottom lip to avoid laughing. "Now you go to the hospital and you to your parents', Fugaku wants a word with you."

"Fine," Itachi finally said.

"Akane, you stay here for a second." I nodded as Itachi left. "Itachi knows?"

"Yep."

"Okay, it should be a good thing. I might keep him in the village for a while." I frowned. "To work with Shikaku."

"Oh, yeah, makes sense, good idea. Big brains should work fine together."

"Yes. Jiraya is away to gather intel, but the Akatsuki is taking a different approach than in your notes." I looked down.

"I noticed too. I think by now, they would have gotten Gobi and Rokubi. They're...taking it slower almost?"

"The Uchiha clan is a big threat to take into account, I wouldn't say they're taking it slower, just taking more precautions. However…" She sighed. "Tobi is a problem. You need to tell Kakashi." I gulped.

"I know. Itachi said the same."

"Hopefully he'll handle it," she said quietly. I grabbed my left arm.

"I hope so, he needs to know before being in front of him anyway so…"

"Then new mission for you, talk to Kakashi."

"Does it really have to be me?" Her gaze was stern and firm. "Alright, alright, I get it."

"That's all, you can go. Actually, go see Naruto." I nodded and left.

Itachi was the top of the stairs outside, looking at the village.

"Shouldn't you be off to your parents'?" He shrugged. "You can't avoid it forever, and Sasuke would make you pay if you did."

"I know."

"Akane!" I blinked and turned around.

"Shisui?" I replied, watching him running up the stairs. He engulfed me in a tight hug. "Is everything okay?" He hugged me tighter and I patted his back confusedly.

"I was told what happened." He pulled me back with a scowl. "I knew you were weird when you came to see me in the hospital, and you just said it was nothing!" I smiled apologetically.

"Sorry, I didn't want anyone to destroy my determination." He sighed, his arms back at his side, and looked at Itachi. He...was watching us.

"Hey Itachi." He nodded in response. "I heard you were stabbed too?"

"I'm fine," he replied flatly. I curled my toes in cringe. It was...awkward. The tense air between them was awkward.

"Fugaku-sama is pissed though, he wants to talk to you."

"The Hokage told me already."

"Oh, good." Silence fell upon us.

You could cut the tension with a knife.

"I need to talk to Naruto, so see you later." Before any of them could utter a word, I teleported.

I breathed out deeply when I was at Mom's. Itachi said not to worry about them but...fuck, they were best friends yet for months it's been so distant, and Itachi clearly resented Shisui. I didn't want them to not be friends but at the same time...I really didn't want to stick my nose in their business.

"Nee-chan?" I stood up once I removed my shoes and blinked at Naru in the backyard. He was shirtless with orange shorts, thick gloves on his hands. He was sweating and dirt was on his cheek.

I waved at him and he entered the living-room, a finger pointed at me.

"You. Don't. Move." I nodded hastily when he ran upstairs. He came back down a few minutes later after washing up and hurled himself on me.

"Nar…" I choked on my words when his arms were around my neck. They were tightly around my neck.

"You're the biggest moron on this planet nee-chan, you stupid…" He sniffed and I hugged him back. My chin was on his shoulder as he was my height now. "Dad told me not to give you too much of a hard time either, and Sasuke told me everything regarding his clan and the coup and why he left and it makes so much more sense now why you were so focused on him at the hideout but...but damn, you should have told me earlier!" He pulled me back, his hands on my shoulders. "I get that you wanted to protect me and all that, that it was hard for you to say it but...you don't have to carry all of that alone."

"I know, forcing me out of active duty forced me to acknowledge that." He gulped.

"You're an idiot. It's...you were scared, I get it, but we're family and we accept each other no matter what!" I smiled softly at him and patted his hair.

"I love you Naru, thank you." He averted his eyes.

"Someone has to remind you!" I chuckled.

"Oh right, something else!" Naru raised a brow and I grinned. "Haku's awake and back home. He has to work a lot to get back to his previous level now he's alone but he's fine."

"Seriously?" I nodded and he grinned. "Yosh, it calls for celebration ramen!"

"Oh yes, it's been a while since I've had some!"

I liked to think Itachi and I were good at keeping secrets? I mean, he made me put seals in several places at home. I did, of course, Itachi was scary when upset, but it...was a lot?

Nobody knew though. Except my mom. She came one time and asked me to fetch her something, leaving her and Itachi alone. When I came back, she was giggling like a schoolgirl and saying embarrassing stuff about me when I was a kid.

Itachi just listened to her with a smile.

Jerk.

I went back to training Naru and Fū. All of the Hyuugas had seals now, as well as Ao-san. I did it before leaving Kiri. It was coming along well and Kurama seemed...not friendly, but a little bit less reticent when it came to lending Naru his chakra? He could get nine tails in Version One now. Not for long, it meant we could go to Version Two soon and start with the Bijuu Bomb. Fū still had a head start, but I think training with her gave Naru motivation to improve.

I would continue to train with the Claw in my free time, Sasuke still here. Fugaku-san gave him and Itachi any annoying task he had as Clan Head. He was annoyed by it of course. Itachi was as well, but it was more because he couldn't study the documents and books I gathered from Uzushio and the Eastern Continent as much as he could.

Don't get me started on the notes he was taking and the 'fascinating' and 'same here' or other comments he'd make. He had some Uchiha documents and books as well, some he wouldn't have been able to get if it wasn't for him being the next Clan Head. He'd compare them.

He didn't even notice Sasuke and I making comments behind him.

"Oh hello, it has been a good four years now," I told the Sandaime Hokage when he woke up after many, many hours of meditation and training.

"Akane-kun?" he replied weakly, getting up. I grinned at him and showed him his new place.

Remember when I said the souls could basically turn this place as they wished and keep information I came across safely tucked here? They did. It was basically a living-room with now a huge bookcase. It was filled with information, not just the ones I knew or gathered. Oji-chan, Hashirama and especially Tobirama made sure to fill it.

"Saru, it's been a while!" Hashirama greeted him with a grin, running in front of me. "You took your sweet time waking up!"

"Hashirama-sama? Tobirama-sensei?" He looked at Minato and slightly widened his eyes when the Fourth just waved. "Minato?"

"Do you mind explaining?" I asked them.

"No, go Akane. We have a lot to tell him anyway," Hashirama said and I smiled at him.

"Thanks!" I was back in front of Sasuke. Well more like his face was in front of mine, hiding the sun.

"So?"

"Sandaime is awake."

"Hn." Someone had some resentment toward Hiruzen it seemed.

I couldn't blame him though. Even if Danzou was more guilty to me, Hiruzen still let him do as he pleased for years, like Orochimaru.

"So you're trying to use it?" Sasuke asked me, eyeing my new toy.

I left Nuibari in Kiri. Now Haku no longer had Isobu to fight with him, he needed to work hard to get back on track. I wasn't worried about his determination, but he was one of the best shinobi in the village, jinchuriki or not. Nuibari...I was flattered, truly, to be chosen as one of the seven but let's be honest here, it didn't fit me at all.

It fit Haku perfectly though. His skill set, the way Zabuza-san trained him, it was perfect to wield Nuibari. I gave him a few pointers, warning him there was a marker on the sword, and officially gave it to him.

The three genin I had trained...all had one of the seven swords of the Mist.

Yaye for me.

I stood up and went to my new weapon.

"I have to try. I'm more comfortable with a regular katana anyway, even if this one is way longer than usual."

Mom finished the lullaby for me and like Itachi thought, it unsealed what was sealed. It was a nodachi. From what Mom told me, it was my grandpa's and was a weapon from the Yuki clan that worked only if you had an Ice Release.

Naru got minor frost bites when he tried to touch it.

The sheath was white, like the handle and tsuba. Small pale blue snowflakes decorated the handle. The blade was long, of course, and a pale, almost clear, blue. You could mistake the blade for ice, but it wasn't. If anything, I highly suspected there were some similarities between this sword's creation and the seven swords in Kiri. It was metal, and when I'd grab the sword, it would recognize the Ice Release in my chakra and some would flow in the blade, emanating coldness.

But it was big and heavy. Literally, the blade itself was ninety-centimeter long, the handle maybe twenty-centimeter long. Basically, the sword reached my rib cage.

Mom was shocked to see it and asked me if I could really use it and that my grandfather must have left it for Fubuki. I mean, I wasn't even conceived when he and grandma were executed and Dad couldn't use it.

It was weird though, to have it. It was the most beautiful weapon I had ever seen though. It was splendid but complicated to use.

"Well, Naru got frost bites and I almost got some because I hold it for too long without being careful enough. It's definitely the kind of weapon you cannot just wield, you need to master it."

"Kind of like Samehada?" I nodded.

"Kind of I guess. I handle the cold, it doesn't mean I can't die from it." I took the brown strap on the sheath. "But I understand why people were so scared of my clan now."

I would need or to seal it to transport it, or keep it in my hand. There was no way I could carry it on my back and be able to pull it out of the sheath.

"You bet, the ability to freeze water is scary if you think about it seriously, the human body is 70% water," he agreed, folding his arms on his chest. "And that sword, it emanates coldness with you just touching it."

"Maybe I can use it to do what I already do but with a lot less chakra?" I faced him, pulling the sword just a little from the sheath. "Like, I'm dramatically about to use it on the battlefield and then bam!" I pulled it back in, sending a wave of cold that made Sasuke shivered. "All frozen!"

"Yeah, you're related to Naruto, no doubt about that," he muttered, walking past me. I ran after him.

"It would be cool though!" He rolled his eyes.

"Stupid pun."

"What pun?" I asked, confused. He sighed.

"'Cool', you use ice...see where I'm going with this?"

"Oh, it wasn't on purpose." I stretched out. "I have to meet up with Naruto in front of the Academy."

"I know." I raised a brow.

"You know what this is about?" He nodded. "Care to tell me?"

"No."

"So after collecting bets on my love life, you don't even tell me that?" He merely closed his eyes with a smug smirk. "God I hate you sometimes."

"As if."

We went our different ways once back in the village, him heading toward the Uchiha compound while I went to the Academy. Naru and Mom were in front of it, but Iruka as well.

"Nee-chan you're on time!" I raised a brow at the camera and the man behind it.

"What the…" Naru ran to me.

"You said you were sad you were not on my graduation picture, right?" I nodded, confused. "Well I asked Iruka-sensei and he said he'd get the photograph to come so we can take a new one." I tilted my head on my shoulder with a smile.

"Really?" He nodded and I looked down at myself. "I'm not really…"

"You're fine nee-chan!" He took my hand and ran back to Mom, staying between us.

He put an arm on each of us and flashed a toothy grin at the camera. Mom had an arm around his waist and grinned at the camera too. I lowered my shoulders in resignation and put my arm around Naru's waist, leaning my head on shoulder with a smile for the camera.

The photographer took several pictures before calling it a day, telling us it would be ready in the week. I thought about going home, but decided otherwise.

"Naru, Kakashi's on a mission?"

"Huh? I don't think so."

"Good, I need to talk to him. See you."

He was at his place. I came inside without waiting to be invited and removed my shoes.

"Please, come in," he told me sarcastically, his book in his hand.

"I need to talk to you." He frowned and shut his door.

"About?"

"The masked man, the Mizukage." He showed me his couch and I sat down as he did the same in the armchair.

"You know who he is?"

"Yes." I sighed. "And so do you." He sighed. "Kakashi?"

"I've been thinking about it a lot. Did you know Minato-sensei used to brag about your potential and what you'd be able to do one day if you were properly trained? It's...funny how the Fourth Mizukage just knew how to train you as well." I looked down.

"I'll tell you. From the beginning."

She loved her village. She loved their strong mentality, how they were taught not to give in to hate, no matter how hard it was. The shinobi world was cruel, it was easy to get lost. Yet the biggest principle of her village was to not give in, to stand their ground.

Their wills were made of stone, like the very element they lived with.

Kurotsuchi loved her village. She loved her comrades. She loved her grandfather.

Yet, as she was listening to her grandfather and her father, who just came back from a meeting with Ame, she couldn't help but feel the crawling anxiety settling in her stomach. Yes, she loved her village and wanted it to be the strongest. Kumo, in spite of losing a jinchuriki, still was the strongest individual village, while the alliance between Suna, Konoha and Kiri was an obvious threat if they were to launch an attack.

Ame though? That village completely shut off from the rest of the world? That village where the Akatsuki was from?

Nothing good could come out of this place.

But here they were.

"So Hanzo wants to make an alliance to destroy the alliance between Konoha, Kiri and Suna?" Oonoki said, reading the scroll.

"It appears so," Kitsuchi, her dad, replied grimly. "I'm not sure how to feel about this."

"This does not come from Hanzo, that is for sure." Oonoki looked at his son. "But something good can come out of this."

"How so?"

"We are given the opportunity to beat this annoying alliance at our borders and get rid of these insects of the Akatsuki."

"You're considering it then." The Tsuchikage grinned with a nod. "You're considering working with Ame to wage war on them."

"Yes." Kurotsuchi looked outside, the night sky sinking the village in darkness.

In the back of her mind, she could almost see it as a symbol about the conversation happening behind her.

She loved her village, she loved her comrades. She loved her father and her grandfather.

Yet, she couldn't help the small voice in her head telling her it was wrong, that teaming up with the Akatsuki, no matter the reason, would only bring their doom.

She gritted her teeth, begging for the voice to shut up.

Her grandfather knew what he was doing.

She knew it.

She hoped he did.

She truly hoped he knew what he was doing and not waging war just based of old beliefs.

Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought of this chapter!

Bye!