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: 23 / 22

Naruto, Sasuke: 17

Shisui: 26

Kakashi: 31

"Holy shit."

"And you said it was not important," Sasuke replied, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I didn't say it wasn't important, I said after what happened Akane should think about resting more than...whatever, it doesn't matter now."

"Can you guys read it?" I asked them. They both activated their Mangekyou.

"Partially, like the one in the shrine," Shisui said, his eyes going back to black. "But…"

"There's more on the one in Konoha," Sasuke finished for him, his eyes black once more too.

I walked to it and got papers out of a seal, as well as pencils. I shot the guys a look and they went to my side, helping me copying what was on the tablet.

"What are you going to do with that?"

"Compare it with yours." We finished it in silence.

We copied everything in silence and once it was done, we were quickly on our way back. I knew from Shisui's conflicted look that he was questioning most of the things he had been told since he was a kid.

Even the way back to the village was...silent and awkward. Tsunade-san didn't waste a second to whisk me away to the hospital and made me go through a lot of tests, including chakra testing.

"You appear to have more chakra than before." I frowned at her. "Or the flow of chakra in your body is just stronger, but it any case it's stronger and it's like...especially focused around your mark."

"Really?" She nodded.

"Before, when I'd test your chakra, it was...odd, which was explained by the Shinigami, but now...it's like making a defense around the mark where most of the Shinigami's energy is focused. And it no longer seems to be sucking the life out of you."

"Isn't each day sucking the life out of you technically?"

"Sure, but it was doing it more strongly, hence why you wouldn't have been able to carry a pregnancy full term."

"You know about that?" She shot me a pointed look.

"Do you think I wouldn't have noticed?" I shrugged. "Anyway, it would have sucked any vitality the fetus would have had and you'd have miscarried but here...with the grip on your own vitality less strong…"

"I could be pregnant and deliver a living, breathing child?" She nodded.

"I think so. Of course we'd need to make sure of it but…" She took a deep breath. I swallowed with difficulty.

I didn't really hesitate to sacrifice this part of me when I got the Claw...almost five years ago? But now, to hear that whatever happened with the Shinigami seemed to have removed this condition it…

I put my hand on my stomach. I mean, there was war and Itachi was not around at the moment but...did it mean we could have a baby together?

Yeah right, he was engaged right now Akane, let's focus on the present.

"You're free to go."

"Tsunade-san." She turned toward me, her hand already on the handle of the door. "Each time I am in direct contact with the Shinigami, my mind struggles to overcome it, and with what happened before...do you think it'd be possible to have a session with Inoichi-san? I used to go to therapy before with him and…"

"Your mother told me yes. I'll arrange a meeting."

"Thanks, I'd rather have that than going to the psychiatric ward again."

The one thing I had from the war was nightmares, but quite vivid one. Add to that my personal life and what I just did...I needed to prevent as much as possible the breakdown that would inevitably come.

"What do you mean she's in the hospital Sasuke?" His brother rolled his eyes, laying down on his bed.

"She's having a few tests, that's all."

"Where did you all go anyway?"

"Can't tell you that." Itachi pursed his lips.

God was he sick of this situation. Discovering Shisui was still in love with Akane was infuriating, especially knowing he could not even do anything about it. Then, he was called, like Akane, in front of the Elders. How satisfying it was to see his love putting them back in their place. He would have kissed her on the spot if he could but…

Yeah, she'd be a great Mizukage. He had no idea why she would hide this from him, if it was because of him or something else, but he'd get to the bottom of it later.

As he walked back to where he was staying at the moment, he smiled a little. Akane had been so nervous when they were outside, having slips of tongue all the time, it was adorable. He probably would have used a genjutsu on her already to have some time for themselves if she could handle it, but she could not, so he was stuck just watching her from a distance. He was glad when he saw her wearing the necklace though.

She had read his letter and it warmed up his heart. He really did pour his heart and soul into this once he had her necklace, needing to tell her that no matter what he would not take back his words. He said he was hers and it was true. Akane not being able to talk to him without almost saying she wanted him just made him want to pin her against the wall and make her moan his name loudly. He'd have vivid wet dreams about them more and more, he didn't know how long he could stay in this position. The wedding was on June 15th, anyway, so he had to be quick.

"Welcome home Itachi-kun!" He nodded at Izumi.

Akane would kill him if she knew but…

Asking Izumi to be his temporary fiancee was not okay, he knew that. He felt awful using her feelings for him that way but...he had to break his clan from decaying traditions that would send them to their destruction. He explained it to Izumi, who agreed, and now they were engaged. Just remembering how Akane congratulated him on his future family made him want to go find her and beg for her forgiveness. If anything, Akane was his future family, nobody else.

But Izumi agreed and now he was staying on the couch of her one-bedroom apartment in the Uchiha Compound. It was far from ideal but...it was what it was. The Elders wanted them to…share a place anyway. They just didn't know he was sleeping on the couch.

He really wouldn't let Akane see the light of day for a few days once they'd both be home, maybe not even let her leave the bed. They had way too much time to make up.

Once he was ready for bed, in the evening, he was quietly reading when he heard Izumi in the room. He didn't raise his eyes to her until she stopped next to him.

"Do you need something?" he asked her, maybe a little bit coldly. She nibbled on her bottom lip and opened her robe.

Itachi just blinked at her naked body and looked up at her face. Without a word, she kicked the book out of his hands and straddled him. She pressed her breasts against him as he looked away.

"Itachi-kun...come on…" she whispered huskily, her arms around his neck.

"Get off Izumi, I'm serious."

"You need to admit we're great together, and who knows if you succeed, maybe we should think about the child conceiving part of the…" He pushed her aside quickly, picked her robe and threw it at her, his back to her.

"Just get dressed."

"Bu…"

"Izumi, I told you already months ago I was not interested."

"So why asking me to marry you?"

"You know why."

"But why me?" He looked at her once she was dressed and sighed.

"I know I am not fair to you, and you should hate me for what I am putting you through, but we will never get back together." She looked down.

"What's so great about Akane exactly? I don't get it. I just...don't get it." Itachi sighed.

"I won't talk about it with you." She looked up at him in anger.

"Oh really!? Who's going to be there once you two break up for good huh!?"

"Why would we break up for good?" She smirked bitterly.

"Come on Itachi-kun, she won't be in Konoha forever, and you're going to lead the clan, at some point you both will realize that this little affair you have will end and…"

"Why would it end if we're living in different places?" Izumi raised a brow at him. "I don't need to be married to lead the clan, and I am not planning on not being with her ever. I love her, I'm in love with her and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. The situation we're in right now...if it's what needs to be done for it to happen, then so be it, but it's not just a fling." Izumi just stared at him, stunned.

"You're really serious about this?" He nodded.

"I don't care whatever the clan has to say about it, or how hard it is, I'll be with her again." Itachi furrowed her brows at Izumi's wet eyes.

"You never sounded so passionate or confident when you told me you loved me. You never said you were in love with me either."

"Izumi…"

"Were you ever in love with me Itachi-kun? Because from the sound of it, your feelings for her are far from new, so how long have you been in love with her?"

"It's better if you don…"

"Just tell me how long!"

"I had a crush on her when we met at the age of five and then later it...turned into something more serious so...maybe since I was fifteen." Izumi gasped.

"We started dating at that time!" Itachi looked at her in shame. "Has our whole relationship been a lie!?"

"I did like you Izu…"

"But you didn't love me. You never did." A tear slipped from her eye. "It's always been her, and you kept saying you were just friends…

"I'm sor…"

"Keep your apology to yourself, I don't want to hear it! Once this...this big joke is over, I'm done with you! You've done nothing but pretend!" She slammed the door of her bedroom.

Well...she was not wrong.

The next morning, he woke up before her and left without a sound. Izumi needed some time, even if they had broken up more than four years ago. If her feelings for him could die for good...it would only be in her best interest.

However, as his morning went on, his mind kept going back to the strange dream he had the night before. Akane was there, as well as another woman...and then he was in the house Akane lived in with his other self. Akane was napping and he was looking at her as he was reading the first book Jiraya-sama had ever written, sometimes putting back rebellious locks of her hair.

It was not something he had seen in her memories at all.

"I'm telling you nee-san, you could pass for a schoolgirl in the capital. Only God knows how much more advanced they are compared to us."

"Yeah, phones barely started to make an appearance here. I'd like to be able to phone you guys when I'm in Kiri. But a schoolgirl though?" Itachi looked up. Sasuke and Akane were in front of him, in front of a hair salon.

"Yeah, put on a mini-skirt, high socks and a blouse and you're a schoolgirl."

Akane turned around, her hands on her hips but her eyes on Sasuke. Itachi blinked. She now had curtain bangs perfectly framing her face and blending in the rest of her hair, now back to its beautiful auburn color. Her bangs were laying against the frame of her glasses, which looked good on her.

She was cute, and sexy, and beautiful and…

"Nii-san?" Itachi cursed in his mind. He should have left the moment he saw them.

"Good morning." Akane nodded at him as a form of greeting.

They kissed to say 'good morning' to each other. Nodding was cold, and impersonal, everything he didn't want between them.

He really wanted to kiss her.

"You don't seem to have slept well last night." Itachi hummed at his brother.

When did Akane change her kunoichi outfit? He liked the old one. Now she had black tight shorts, fishnet tights beneath them. Her sandals reached the middle of her legs, still with a short heel. Then she had a sleeveless black top that reached her butt. It was fitted at her waist and then looser at the bottom. There were four stripes going from the fabric above her chest to her neck, where it joined her collar. Then she had simple finger-less gloves that reached her elbows.

Her elbow?

Itachi narrowed his eyes at her left arm. He knew her body by heart, any flaw it may have, any beauty mark, scar, he knew them by heart.

So where was the Claw she wanted to hide so badly? There was nothing on the skin of her left arm, but it was from her fingertips to her shoulder, her left breast and reached the seal so…

Where…

"Itachi?" Akane called him, confused.

"What did you do?" he whispered harshly, more harshly than he should have, to her. She raised a brow and widened her eyes as she realized what he was staring at.

"Sasuke, let's go train!" She grabbed his brother by the wrist and ran away.

Was it what they did? Did she temper with the Shinigami again? She seemed fine but…

He took a deep breath, looking at the cloudy sky above. He couldn't focus on that for now.

Even if he wanted to.

"Well, that's nice." Tobirama was in front of me, not melting or anything in my ice clone, Minato next to him.

He flexed his fingers, moved around a bit and made a shadow clone, dispelling it immediately.

"It is a weird sensation, but it seems I can fight properly."

"I think that before, you could summon me in a stable way only because the other half of the Kyuubi is here too, so it was making a strong connection. Whatever happened to your mark, now it has a connection strong enough between here and us to summon us in a stable way," oji-chan explained smoothly. I nodded.

"It would make sense."

"How do you feel regarding your chakra?" Tobirama asked me.

"Well, I definitely feel that it used some of it, but nothing that would be detrimental to me."

"Good to hear," Sasuke intervened. He had been training on his own so far. "Shouldn't you start with senjutsu training now?"

"Right."

"Wouldn't Naruto be better than me? Senjutsu is not really my forte and he mastered it so…"

"I'll ask him if you fail to teach me. It's just...it's a testament of Jiraya-san's teaching, I don't want to take that away from him. I mean, learning the Hiraishin was weird enough. And now I have a moniker inspired by yours."

"The Frozen Flash of the Mist is a pretty cool one I think," Sasuke pipped in, practicing some kata with his sword.

"And flashy." Oji-chan just smiled apologetically at me.

I tried, I really tried to follow oji-chan's instructions but there was nothing. Hashirama tried to join in, but five minutes of his explanations gave me a headache. When I went home, I knocked on Naru's door immediately.

"Who's that?"

"My depressed ass," I replied.

"Come in depressed ass!" I rolled my eyes and did, closing the door behind myself.

"Gosh, do you ever clean your room?" Dirty laundry on the floor, his desk a mess…

"Meh, as long as I can find my stuff," he said, putting his magazine down. "Did you need something?"

"Yeah, I have a favor to ask you." He sat, interested. "I...I need your help to get into Sage Mode, to learn how to use senjutsu or whatever." We stared at each other and a mocking grin appeared on his lips.

"I refuse."

"I need it!"

"I'm sure, but you didn't say the magic word nee-chan." I sighed.

"Naruto, would you be kind and generous enough to help my humble self to use senjutsu please?" He bit his lips, holding in his laughter. Ultimately, he gave in and laughed for long, long seconds where I felt very alone.

"Of course nee-chan! You should see your face!" He laughed again, holding his stomach. I went to him and pushed him off his bed. "Hey, don't hurt your teacher!"

Naruto was more efficient. I mean, he was screaming and taking a lot of pleasure in it, probably channeling any frustration he had from when I'd train him as a jinchuriki. But I activated the Claw, the marks I had come to know spreading from the new mark straight to my seal on my stomach. When I stopped, everything went back in the new mark.

However, I could feel like something was blocked. We were on our third day of training when a toad appeared next to Naru.

"Yo, Grandpa Fukasaku!" The toad nodded and looked at me.

"Are you the Yuurei?" I nodded slowly. "Good, follow me."

"I can't just leave the village like that to...Mount Myobokou I guess?" I stood up. "I need to get the authorization from the Hokage, she'll cover me."

"Nee-chan is engaged so she has...meetings with the in-laws," Naru explained. The toad jumped on his shoulder.

"Let's go then."

Tsunade-san agreed very easily, a little bit too easily. The angry look in her eyes when I mentioned the Uchihas was enough for me. They'd be angry and she was quite happy about it. Before leaving I asked her if sensei had sent anything, to which she said 'no'.

It was..reassuring in a sense.

But I was quickly in a very different setting. Mount Myobokou was very colorful, plants you wouldn't see anywhere else were growing freely here, and there were lots, and lots of toads.

"We can't let you train with senjutsu on your own," Fukasaku told me. "It's too dangerous."

"Yeah, I almost turned into a toad!" Naru suddenly exclaimed. I knew that already but… "Please nee-chan, mess up and start turning into a toad!"

"...I won't Naruto."

"Heh?"

"Her senjutsu and yours are from two different natural energy. She won't turn into a toad. If anything, she already went through what was required to get there." I stuck my tongue at Naru when he pouted. "But, meditation is still required."

"Wait, how do you know about Yuureis?" Naru asked him.

"We know all about it. It's natural energy and it has been around for centuries, of course we know about it." The more time went by, the more I discovered many people knew about Yuureis...just not anyone though.

"Will you help me then?" He nodded.

"The Toad Sage asked for it. It is unprecedented what you have accomplished and we need to make sure it will not go wild on the environment around you." I nodded.

"Thank you."

I spent two weeks there, with Naru. It was useful, but I did not anticipate the food. I mean, I brought oji-chan out, Naru was happy to see him but they both were grinning way too hard before my first meal.

I also had a talk with the Toad Sage while Naru received the key to his seal by...swallowing a toad. Basically, I was told in spite of my presence the children of the prophecy were still here and will play a key role in all of this but...that maybe the conclusion would happen differently. It was pretty vague but he wouldn't say anything else.

"Oh God!" I said on our last day there.

"Heh...your eyes look weird." I ran to the fountain and looked at my reflection in it.

"I really didn't want the eye shadow."

My pupils were yellow, the white of my eyes now black like an Edo Tensei reanimated person, or like the Shinigami. I had eye-shadow-like marking around my eyes, purple, and from the corner of my eyes two wings went up, maybe as a reminder of the horns the Shinigami had. They went to my temples and my hairline.

"It is a look," my cousin said, himself in Sage Mode.

"Too bad Sasuke no longer has Orochimaru's mark, it would have been an awesome gang," I muttered under my breath. Naruto heard it and laughed at it.

When we went home, as I said after two weeks there, I almost begged Mom to cook dinner for us.

"Do I want to kill myself? The chances are higher than they should be, that's for sure," I told Kakashi as we were reaching the Hokage's office.

"Is it a side effect or just because it's three days until Itachi's engagement party?"

"Both. I mean...that's one hell of a birthday party he's gonna have. And Izumi's been glaring at me each time I see her when we meet with Mikoto-san. Even her doesn't know what's going on with her."

"You have other things to worry about."

"I'm not worried, I'm fed up. Two very different things." I knocked on the door, Tsunade-san telling us to come in."

I was taken back by the two Iwa shinobi I interacted with during the war. Kurotsuchi and Kazuyuki were there, surrounded by a dozen of ANBU, one of them clearly being Sasuke. Shikaku was there as well, on Tsunade-san's right.

"Thanks for coming on such short notice." We nodded. "Now, Akane, did you ask for the Tsuchikage to apologize to us in person for the war?"

"Oh that? Yeah. Financial compensation is not really possible at the moment, the least Iwa can do is make sure their actions stop bleeding their whole country dry."

"Well, you're not wrong. Punishing civilians who didn't ask for conflicts would only get us backlash later. Kurotsuchi, is it?" She nodded. "You and I will have a word. Shikaku, Kakashi, I want your there. You all," Tsunade-san ordered, looking at the ANBU, "keep guards around the place." They all nodded and disappeared. "Akane." I looked at her. "Keep company with this young man until we're done. I'll send Kakashi to get you."

"Understood," I replied, bowing. "Kayuzuki." He was startled a little and went before me when I gestured at the door with my head.

I closed the door quietly behind me. Once we were in the streets, I turned around to look at him.

"Is there something you want? Like food or something?"

"Huh...sure?"

I opted to stop at a traditional tea shop. We stayed outside, enjoying the sun, with some tea and snacks.

"Hum...Uzumaki-san?" I raised a brow. That was oddly polite.

"Yeah?" I retorted, putting a takoyaki in my mouth.

"Can we talk about fuinjutsu?" Not expecting this, I hurt my gum with the toothpick. I immediately removed it and checked.

"I'm not bleeding, that's good…" I mumbled under my breath. "You want to talk about fuinjutsu? You seem pretty good at it."

"It's nothing compared to you! It was very complicated to modify your seal already, and then you made that seal in the Land of Earth, it was brilliant! You're brilliant!" He stopped himself and blushed a little. "I'm sorry, I get overwhelmed easily when I talk about this, it's…" I sighed dramatically.

"Finally someone who gets it!" I grinned at him. "Alright then!"

We talked about it for what seemed to be a second, both him and I getting too passionate about it and even cracking some very bad jokes about seals. It was cut short when someone cleared their throat. I looked up toward the person hiding the sun from us, finding an apparently not very happy Itachi from the way he was looking at Kayuzuki from head to toe.

"What's going on?" he asked me, not tearing his eyes away from the poor guy, who was obviously intimidated by Itachi.

"Tsunade-san asked me to stay with him while she talks with the Tsuchikage's granddaughter."

"Hn." He pushed the tray away and plopped down between us.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm sure the Hokage wouldn't mind one more person keep him company," Itachi droned at me, shooting me a glance from the corner of his eyes.

"Huh...sure but…"

He wasn't jealous now, was he?

"Unless you don't want me to bother you on your date Akane." Yeah, he was jealous and being passive-aggressive. I narrowed my eyes at him and he smirked faintly. "I'm kidding."

"Of course, nii-sama." The cold glare I received was kind of satisfying.

I resumed our previous conversation, Itachi staying between us so I just leaned forward to see Kayuzuki. I could see Itachi growing more frustrated and...more jealous too I guess as I talked and laughed with another man right in front of him.

The glares he'd give me were pretty obvious. But you know what? His jealousy was not my fucking problem.

"You're a real package! I mean, you're smart, funny and pretty all in one!" I froze and Itachi slowly turned his head to the poor Iwa shinobi, who was slowly realizing what he had just said. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't…"

"You shouldn't, indeed," Itachi told him in an icy tone, his eyes glaring holes in the poor man.

"It's okay, I'm flattered." Itachi shot me a scandalized look and I ignored him. "But I am engaged to his brother and he can get a little too protective."

"Oh, I see. I didn't want to...overstep my boundaries."

Kakashi appeared out of sudden, raising a brow at the fulminating Uchiha with me.

"Can you take him back to the Hokage. I have a word to tell him."

"...yeah, right. Follow me." Once they were gone, I pushed Itachi away from me so there was some distance between us.

"Really?" He wouldn't meet my gaze, staring at a spot in a tree. Right, he was under surveillance. "It was Hokage's order."

"Hn." He got up and left.

"You fucking jackass!" I yelled at him. He stopped and glared at me above his shoulder before disappearing.

I was having a good day before he appeared!

God damn Uchiha Itachi.

"It brings memories back."

"It better not be good one."

"Why would I have good memories of officially getting engaged to your dumb face?" Sasuke looked too smug to my liking.

"Well, we have a plan, don't we?" I nodded firmly.

Make an appearance, stay a little then I would feel bad, Sasuke as the good fiancé he was would take me home but we'd examine the stone tablet instead. The Uchiha Compound was pretty much empty for the most part at the moment, it was the perfect moment.

"How do I look?" Sasuke looked at me up and down and nodded.

I was wearing a satin black dress. It reached my ankles and was split up to my knee on the right side. I had spaghetti straps and a cleavage that went down to between my breasts. Then, I had simple black opened-heels, makeup with a red lip, my necklace and my hair was tied in a pony tail and in loose curls. I opted for contacts instead of my glasses.

Sasuke's suit was a mix between a traditional kimono and a more modern suit and tie, all in black and white.

"It's nice you're taller than me otherwise it would have been very weird."

"Try humiliating," he corrected me, offering me his arm. I took it and we went in.

Good, we weren't the only ones with more modern clothes. I didn't miss the looks of contempt from the Elders at our choice of clothing as they were all wearing very traditional ones.

"And welcome back to hell," Sasuke whispered in my ear. I chuckled at that.

"Hey!" Naru said, him and Sakura walked toward us.

"It's even worse than yours was," Sakura commented. I nodded.

"You don't say." They all shared a look before looking at me. "I'm fine. I'm more worried for what's going to happen on Sunday than tonight."

"Oh right, the wedding." Sakura pursed her lips.

"Yeah, the…" I took a deep breath. "That yeah."

"You want to hear something even more disgusting than us getting married?" Naru nodded, Sakura raised a brow. "Keiko-sama met with us to tell us what position was better to produce a child on the night of the wedding." I shuddered in disgust. "And to have a boy, of course. God forbid if there were to be a girl as clan leader one day."

"Well, deeper penetration is better for the sperm to reach the egg faster but as for the sex of the baby...you can't really decide. The whole process is already complex enough as it is." We all stared at Sakura, who raised her brows. "What? It's scientifically proven!"

"I don't need to hear 'penetration' and 'deeper' when we're talking about them Sakura-chan!" She blinked at looked at us. "Nee-chan, don't pass out!"

"I just...puked a little in my mouth," I muttered in a hoarse voice, my throat dry. "I…" I met Sasuke's gaze and felt bile coming up. He must have felt the same because he had disgust written all over his face. "I'm just going...yeah, better," I whispered, my arm now crossed with Naru's.

"There are details you should keep to yourself Sakura, we all know where children come from," Sasuke muttered as Sakura rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed.

"Sorry, sorry, I forgot."

Izumi and Itachi were quickly at the center of all attention, the process being more exuberant than before. I was...relatively fine, knowing it was not real real until Itachi slipped the engagement ring on Izumi's finger. My heart sank at this moment.

Even if it was for whatever he was planning...he was still engaged to another woman and…

Sasuke grabbed me by the waist when Itachi started to move his head to kiss her. The second their lips met, I took a deep breath. I wanted to look away, but somehow my eyes were glued to the scene, almost as if I had to see it to be sure it was real.

The way my guts were twisting was pretty real to me. Or the way my heart was beating wildly in my chest. Or my throat that was burning more and more at each passing second, or the burning in my eyes or the struggle to breathe and…

"I need to go to the bathroom," I told them quietly.

"I'll come with you." I headed to the lady's room with Sakura.

Once in there, I leaned against the sink, taking deep breaths.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked me worriedly.

"Yeah, I just don't want to...have a panic attack or something like that in front of everyone. I'm...I'm fine."

"You're not." I furrowed my brows, looking at her in the mirror. "Naruto said the exact same thing after Jiraya-sama died but he was not fine."

We talked about it. He cried, asking me if I knew, if he knew, to which I said 'yes'. He cried more and I hugged him, letting him cry.

"If anyone knows how it feels to see someone you love getting engaged to someone else, it's me."

"Yeah...sorry about that." She shrugged.

"Sasuke-kun calling you 'nee-san' since we were kids makes the situation more bearable. It's not as if...you dated for a couple of years." I sighed.

"Yeah."

"Especially knowing they live toge…" She put her hand on her mouth as I looked at her with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" She shot the door a look and I went in front of him with a nervous smile. "What did you just say?"

"Sasuke-kun told me not to tell you or Naruto, damn it…" she cursed herself under her breath.

"Itachi lives with her?" She nodded guiltily. I averted my eyes to the bathroom stall next to me. "Oh."

I felt even worst.

And he dared be jealous? What a joke.

"Isn't it wonderful?" Sakura and I exchanged a look and we went in a bathroom stall. I locked the door behind me and raised a brow at her squatting on the toilet seat, her shoes in one hand as she was leaning against the wall.

She glared, not wanting me to comment on it.

"I mean, don't you think that this union will finally bring us to our rightful place?" The door got opened, then closed. There were at least two of them.

"Well, they go well together. Izumi is a real lady now, she's perfect to take over Mikoto-sama's job once Itachi-sama is the head of the clan." Huh. "They are childhood sweethearts; it was obvious they would find their way back to each other one day." Sakura shot me quick look as I stared numbly at my toes.

"She sure is more suited for the role than Sasuke-sama's fiancée." Here we go. "Really, I know they were not aware she was a foreigner when the engagement was signed but come on, she's lacking in everything!" I bit my bottom lip.

"Well, she is a good kunoichi, there is no doubt about this. Did you hear about her prowess during the war, and even before? She knows how to fight. The Bloody Mist though? I'm not sure if it's the best for the clan."

"The Elders think the fact she's an Uzumaki makes up for being a savage." Sakura grabbed my arm and I started to smile like a maniac. "You just have to see her teeth!"

"I'm disgusted just by looking at them."

"She's marked forever, it's unfit of our clan!"

"How dare they…" Oji-chan growled in my mind.

"Can you imagine if she was engaged to Itachi-sama and not Sasuke-sama? I mean, the young one did defect and spend a long time in Kiri, he's got some of that savagery in him I bet." I grabbed Sakura's arm to keep her where she was.

"I did hear some rumors about them though. They lived together for a while so…"

"It was time for him to wake up. This Akane is not suited or good enough for him. He needs a proper lady to suit him in his leadership role, no one would respect a foreigner like her. He doesn't need a soldier, but a proper, respectful wife."

"Well, if they messed around together, she's more of a whore than anything anyway."

"And who knows if she doesn't have someone in Kiri? I heard she was quite friendly with the Raikage's man when they were here last year."

"And you're surprised? Don't you remember the Fourth's wife? Kushina?" Don't go there, don't go there. "They said they were together since they were genin but who knows who she slept with during the war." I could feel Minato's fury. "That's an Uzumaki thing, they can't be trusted. This clan was destroyed and it's a good riddance I say. Something like that would never happen to us!"

"As if," Sakura muttered in anger through gritted teeth.

Oh it would have happened, with a lot less survivors.

"And didn't the Uzumaki gain weight?" I widened my eyes and put my arms around my stomach. "You're supposed to be real skinny after a war. It's the best diet ever!" I exchanged a dumbfounded look with Sakura.

Were they comparing the war with a fucking diet?

"You're right, I think she did. Really, the blessing would be if she could disappear from the clan's life and never be a part of it. She's not worthy, she can keep her dog name." They giggled and left.

We left the bathroom stall and Sakura glared at the door as she put her shoes back on.

"I was that close to punch them into oblivion. Who do they think they...Akane, you're not fat!" I was looking at my reflection in the mirror at every angle possible.

"But I did gain weight…"

"You can still fight, it's the most important. If anything, it's better than being super skinny, believe me. It's...none of what they said was true!"

"I really wanted to punch them too when they mentioned Aunty Kushina," I muttered. "But the rest is nothing I have not thought of myself before…" I sighed. "Dang it, way to make all of my insecurities go back to the surface."

Didn't I know already I would never be good enough for the Uchiha side of the man I loved? I never cared about that about him, I always did my best to see people for who they were themselves and not what they were attached to but…

It was a real reality check.

Itachi was the heir to the Uchiha clan, and an elite shinobi of the Leaf. I didn't fit in all of that.

Where did a kunoichi of the Mist and Mizukage fit in a life like his?

"Oh." We looked at the door, Izumi was there.

She was very beautiful in her purple dress, showing all her curves and…

I didn't have anything on her at all. She was more beautiful and fit in the role of Itachi's wife perfectly. She just…

"We were leaving Izumi-san," Sakura told her, taking my hand to leave the room.

I immediately felt like suffocating when we were back in the main room. We were a little away from the crowd but still, it was hot and my lungs seemed to need more oxygen than usual.

"I'll go find the guys, don't move," Sakura told me sternly, her finger pointed at me. I nodded meekly.

While she was away, I was given a flute of champagne. I stared at the bubbles, uninterested until Izumi came back and went to Itachi, who slipped his arm around her waist. He said in his letter that it would be...but still, seeing it…

I drunk the glass in one go. The bubbles made me shiver for a second. The world started to spin in a second too, which was weird because...I hold my liquor better than that. A simple glass of champagne shouldn't…

"Shit," I cursed under my breath, leaving the room, doing my best to walk straight.

I found myself in an empty hallway, near the kitchens. I leaned against the wall, staring at the ceiling, hoping it would stop spinning but it was useless.

Did they drug me again?

"Akane?" I turned my head, only to put my hand on it when everything spun around even more.

"Itachi?" He rushed to my side when I leaned dangerously to the right.

"Are you drunk?" he asked me immediately with a frown.

"I...no I...I had one glass of champagne, it takes more for me to get drunk…" He slipped his arm around my waist and helped me to sit down.

"Were you drugged then?" I hummed.

"...getting used to it…"

"What do you mean?" I didn't respond. "Aka…" I pushed him away from me. He fell on his butt with a stunned expression his face.

"Lea...leave me alone you asshole!" I ignored the pained glint in his eyes and took my head in my hands. I raised my knees against my chest and weakly banged my head against them.

"You need to go home, where's Sasuke?"

"There she is!" I looked up. Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto were there. "Nee-chan!" I stretched out my arm to Naru, who picked me up easily. "Are you okay?"

"Sakura...me drugged…" My head feel on Naru's shoulder. I shook my glass at her. "In...it…"

"We're going to the hospital," she stated firmly in her doctor voice. "Naruto, come with me. Sasuke-kun…"

"Do what you need to do, I'll join you quickly. Make the results double. You'll need it, won't you?"

"I certainly will," Itachi replied. I could feel his eyes boring holes in the back of my head, but I didn't care.

"Sleepy…"

"Hang on in there. Naruto, let's go!" He nodded firmly and we left.

What a shitty night.

Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought of this chapter! Thanks to Mikan26 and Guest for the reviews! Yes, it is one messy chapter once more, but it all comes to the end in the next one!

Bye!