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

Naruto, Sasuke: 17-18

Shisui: 26

Kakashi: 32

"How is it going?"

"Still alive," Sasuke replied, stabbing a White Zetsu. "You?" I shrugged.

"Same."

The night was slowly falling on us. I was pretty sure they had a break before but something happened and there was not much rest done. I did not have high hope for the coming night. Mifune-san had taken a group of samurais and a few shinobi to help the surprise attack team, in which was Kankuro. Earlier I also like a weird, faint pull at my seal. Minato told me it was from him, or more like from Kurama inside of him. It was weird, but if HQ didn't tell me anything, then I had to rely on the others to deal with whatever that was.

"And done here," Haku stated, the last White Zetsu in the area dead.

Shisui was deployed to the east, Fugaku-san to the west and I had told them I trusted them and their judgment on these fronts. Kou was still with me, his Byakugan probably overused by now.

"Still no news from Taka?" my cousin asked us. Sasuke shook his head.

"I'm sure they're fine Haku," I told him, detecting his worry immediately.

"I'm fine!" I looked back.

Fuu was fighting too, Tsunade-san didn't want to at first but after being almost killed and losing her birth village, she wanted to. Mom propped her up with seals to make up for what she had lost and had not gotten back yet, and she was put in my Division.

I walked up to her, my hands on my hips.

"Fuu." She looked away. "Let the medic take care of you or I'm sending you to their compound, got it?" She looked down.

"Okay…" She looked up at me. "Where's Naruto?"

"Not here."

"He'll be here eventually, you know?" I smirked at her.

"Maybe I'm counting on it."

"Captain!" I looked at the shinobi with the transmission device. "We've got news from HQ."

"Which are?"

"Uzumaki Naruto and Killer Bee both escaped to join the war." Fuu didn't hide her chuckle.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now. Contact the other units of the Division to see how it is on their side and then report to me." I looked behind me. "Sasuke, Kou, both of you get your eyes checked out once Aoki's done with Fuu." Sasuke opened his mouth. "I dare you to say one word Uchiha." He closed it. "That's what I thought." I walked to Haku, who still had Nuibari in a death grip. I put my hand on his shoulder. "Get some rest too."

"Once night is here, until then I'm good."

"Ha…"

"Please." We stared for a few seconds, and I sighed.

"Alright, you win but if I see you not resting once night has fallen, I'll make you." I let him be.

We had some time to rest a little. I stared at the clear sky and its stars, a little further away from the others. I needed some alone time to gather my thoughts. Day one was over. Killer Bee and Naru escaped and would meet with the Raikage and Tsunade-san soon, if not now. Obito appeared on the First Division front line with the Gedou Mazou. I wasn't sure what for. The Second and Third Divisions were still fighting until night fell, so now they were most likely resting. There was no news of the Fourth engaging in a fight.

I slid down my rock and leaned against it, my hands in my pockets. The night…White Zetsus were supposed to be sneaky bastards during the night. So far, there had been nothing thou…

I frowned at the man coming my way.

"Captain, can I have a word with you?" I nodded curtly, my mark itching. The one thing I would never doubt was the way it would react to things. There was always something deeper when I could feel it acting up. "I was thin…" When he was close enough, I gripped at his shoulder tightly.

He widened his eyes at the contact, and I glared at him. I could sense people's souls by using a tiny bit of senjutsu, but here nothing. This guy had no soul, didn't really have a shred of life in him.

"Taking others' appearances to kill us all now, are we Zetsu?" I asked him coldly. I activated the mark, not using the Claw yet and his skin turned white, his hair green.

"You…cursed Yuur…" I tightened my hold on him and he turned to dust, much life when a plant died and would be blown away by the wind.

"When you can, get one and try to use it as a medium," Tobirama said in my mind.

"Huh huh."

I was greeted by Sasuke's sword.

"She seems normal, but the last two did as well," Kou told him, Byakugan on. "It's…" I activated the Claw. "I don't think they can imitate that." Sasuke removed his blade, and I massaged my throat.

"So, I'm gonna take a wild guess and say someone that looked like a comrade tried to kill you?"

"It was not pleasant," the Uchiha retorted. "Haku got it quickly."

"Good. Where's the transmission guy?"

"With Haku and Fuu, he's important, we can't lose him and lose contact with HQ," Kou told me. He showed me the way.

"I'm going to let you handle who approaches for now guys, sorry." They nodded and I ran to my cousin. "Haku!"

"We're fine." I blinked at the dead White Zetsus at their feet. "Apparently, ex-jinchurikis' chakra doesn't do them good. It poisoned them or something."

"That's good to know." I contacted HQ quickly. "Inoichi-san?"

"I'm listening," he replied curtly.

"We've been attacked by White Zetsus who looked just like some on my men. The Byakugan can't differentiate them, neither can I by their chakra, they're perfect replicas. However, they didn't react well to Haku's and Fuu's chakra, and I can sense and destroy them. They probably infiltrated each Divisions who faced White Zetsus during the day by now."

"We have received a message from the Medic Camp already, Sakura-chan killed one of them who was killing the medics. I am transmitting everything to Shikaku right away, stay nearby for possible orders."

"Undersood." I made three shadow clones. One went to Mifune-san, one to Fugaku-san and the other to Shisui.

Let's hope we could stop this before it spread too much.

"He's not…controlled anymore." Dai and Itachi both looked at the child, who grinned at them.

"I'm Fubuki, nice to meet you!" He looked at Dai. "You're from Kiri." The medic merely nodded.

"There was a seal, don't ask questions," Kakashi said, waving his hand in front of him. "How is it looking here?"

"We've got casualties but since the night has fallen, the enemies have retreated," Itachi replied, shooting side glances at Fubuki. The boy noticed and grinned.

He had the same grin as Akane, it was disturbing to see.

"The wounded were taken to the Medic Camp. Sakura and a few other medics went there, but I kept some here to tend to those who are lightly wounded only. Dai's in charge of the medics there." Kakashi nodded.

"Good thinking Itachi. I'm going to check on as many as I can, I'm leaving Fubuki to you guys. Fubuki." He looked at up at Kakashi, who pointed at them. "Dai's Akane's teammate, Itachi's her boyfriend." On this note, the copy ninja left in the night.

Dai shot Itachi a quick look while the Uchiha was staring numbly at where Kakashi disappeared.

"I'm going to take a guess and say Itachi is you, Uchiha," Fubuki stated more seriously. He crossed his arms and circled him, looking at him up and down. "You seem strong, not bad looking…an Uchiha though, it can't be easy…if the Kiri one is her teammate, then somehow my sister went back to Kiri, willingly or not…"

"This doesn't concern me so I'm gonna…" Dai averted his eyes when Itachi glared his way and left.

"I never thought I would meet you one day Fubuki-san, it's…" Fubuki looked up at him with a stern look.

"Obviously, I died decades ago."

"You sound like her." This made him beam.

"Good, she needs to be able to talk back when people try to hurt her!" He sat down. "Sit Itachi-kun." The Uchiha did. "I know you, you know." He raised a brow. "Aunty Kushina, she would say that her best friend Mikoto had a son barely younger than Akane and that it would be hilarious if they ended up getting married or something. Obito-nii would usually freak out. It's so weird to think you are her boyfriend now." He furrowed his brows. "Did she grow up to be a good person?" Itachi smiled slightly.

"The best I know," he replied tenderly. "She's smart, funny, caring and I never felt more understood than when I'm with her. She didn't have an easy life, and I have had my fair share of struggles, and because of that we can be with each other in silence without it being awkward or spend the night talking about everything. She gets me like no one else and accepts me fully, she's…I want to build a life and a family with her. I don't picture my life without her in it. She's the strongest kunoichi I know too, be it skills or tactically…" Itachi stopped himself. He was saying too much. Fubuki was staring at him with big, curious gray eyes and blinked.

"Heh…you really are in love with my sister, oji-chan sounded like that when I asked him about Aunty Kushina." The child smiled at him. "It's good, I always thought I'd live long enough to at least scare her first crush away but well, talking to her future husband is better." Fubuki shot the night sky a quick look. "Do you have any sibling Itachi-kun?"

"A younger brother, ironically, he is also Akane's apprentice."

"She has an apprentice? She must be very strong then!"

"Strong enough to be the Sixth Mizukage yes." Fubuki stared at him blankly for a couple of second. Then, he tilted his head on the side.

"What?"

"You heard me right." He jumped to his feet, shocked. "You can be proud of her, you shaped her resolve to survive through her first years as a kunoichi."

"I…I see.." He smiled softly. "She used to grip at my shirt when she was being shy and tuck at it" Itachi almost told him she still did. "Anyway, you have a younger brother. It will make this easier." He sat down. "I died to protect her."

"I know."

"I didn't even think about it, I just did. It's probably a feeling you can understand." Itachi nodded. "And I know I protected her, but I couldn't do it for a long time. You seem like a good person Itachi-kun, and you seem to understand my feelings, but can I trust you with my baby sister? I can't be here an…"

"You can," Itachi assured Fubuki. "I'll take care of her as long as I am breathing. I care about her more than words can express and she did too much for me and my family for me to let her down." Again, he thought bitterly. He would never make her feel like she wasn't a priority to him again.

"Will you promise it then?" He nodded.

"I promise."

"Good, then if you break it I'll find a way to come back here and end your life Itachi-kun," Fubuki promised him back with a beaming smile.

"…alright…"

"Now it's settled, what do you need me to do?"

"For now, we need to take turns in resting and keeping watch."

"We can talk then! What's your favorite food? And color? Best shinobi skill? The one you prefer? Th…"

Now he just looked and sounded like Naruto.

We had to clean out our Division as much as possible, so I sent out more clones before ordering those around to collect the bodies in scrolls. Right now, Sasuke was sleeping alongside Haku.

"Akane." I turned around to look at Kou. His Byakugan was no longer active but the dark circles under his eyes were prominent. "Go take a break too." I raised a brow and smirked.

"I'm the Cap…"

"Akane, precisely." My smirk fell. "You can be an Uzumaki and have incredible chakra reserves, sending out shadow clones like that to do so much…you know the backlash once they're dispelled will be hard." I sighed. "I can see your reserves are below their halves."

"I know but…" He frowned at me. With his white eyes, it was intimidating. "Alright, alright, you win." I still made a shadow clone. "Just to put my mind at ease!"

I felt gross anyway. I went to the small pound I had found earlier. I…did my business in a bush and then dived in the pound naked after checking if anyone was around. Feeling the cold water on my skin felt very good and I didn't waste time to scrub the dirt and blood from my body and hair as much as I could. The cut on my hand stung a little in the water, but it was fine. I didn't want to use a healing seal just for this anyway.

After a few minutes in the water, I was laying in the grass, clothed, staring at the stars. I wanted to know how Itachi was, how Kakashi was, how Naruto was, just everyone basically.

I would probably see them soon anyway. After all…it was during the second night that everything went down. Hopefully, right now…Naruto and Killer Bee were facing Tsunade-san and the Raikage…

I went back to camp to the others before I fell asleep.

"I'm taking a nap," I told Kou. He looked between Sasuke and Haku.

"Wake Haku up."

"Who's giving orders now?" I muttered, shaking my cousin. He opened his eyes immediately and we exchanged places. I left my clone though while I received the memories of the one with Shisui.

It didn't take long for me to fall asleep. It was a dreamless sleep, and I was woken up too soon, Sasuke shaking me. Fuu was sleeping where Sasuke used to be, a frown on her tired face. Now all of my shadow clones gone, I knew Shisui and Fugaku-san had things pretty much handled on their side.

The sun was slowly rising. I barely had the time to eat a piece of energy bar that new reanimated shinobis were in front of us with White Zetsus.

It was long. I took a small squad with me, Kou and the communication guy with us alongside Fuu, to rescue a group of my division. We found them easily, their shelter made of the ground slowly coming down because of the Edo Tensei soldiers.

I grabbed a marker and threw it above. I made ice where it went so that it had a surface and used it to make a storage seal that released markers. I then used the Hiraishin to seal the reanimations, Kou and Fuu creating a diversion for those who did not have a marker close-by.

I had to catch my breath once this was done. I shot Kou a look, who was glancing around. Once he nodded, I knocked on the shelter with my club.

"Hey, it's safe now." It crumbled to pieces to reveal a medic from Iwa healing a shinobi from Kumo who sported a bad gash on the abdomen. I recognized Izumi, who had a bleeding shoulder, whispering to someone from Suna.

I walked up to her, put a healing seal on her wound and released it. She raised her head to me and blinked, not recognizing me immediately.

"Akane?" I nodded.

"Which Division are you from?"

"The second, we were ambushed and were stranded from the rest." I pursed my lips.

"I see." I went to the medic and looked at the wounded one. I used a prognostic seal on him and bit the inside of my cheek at the result. "Hey, look." The medic blinked and did, widening his eyes in shock.

The poor shinobi was dead. I got up as the medic was injecting him with anesthesia, putting an end to his suffering without actually telling him.

"Is it just the four of you?" I asked the two kunoichi. Izumi nodded.

"The others…they didn't make it."

"Al…"

"Captain, they want to talk to you!"

"Okay. Kou, Fuu, stay alert." I went to the communication guy and put my hand on his head, ignoring the ripped giant scroll on the ground. The Suna kunoichi was from the Sealing Team then…Mom was in charge of them. "Uzumaki Akane speaking."

"What do you know about the Second Mizukage?" I raised a brow at Shikaku-san. "The Fourth Division is currently facing reanimated Kages. The Fourth Kazekage was dealt with by Gaara already." There were better father-son reunions…Temari was in the Fourth Division as well if I remembered well. "Right now, there are the Third Raikage, Second Tsuchikage and Second Mizukage remaining."

"Wow, the Second Mizukage and Tsuchikage are working together? That's unexpected."

"Apparently so. It seems no one from Kiri in Gaara's division know about the Mizukage though, one of them said if anyone should know it would be you."

"Kiri's secretive, lucky for you I do know most of its secrets. Well, here it's mainly because I've known his great grandnephews for years. Anyway, Houzuki Gengetsu, Second Mizukage. He's very good in genjutsu, he had a clam summon that would cast a mirage on the area to hide where the real Gengetsu was. You find the real clam, destroy it with a lot of strength and here goes his genjutsu. If there are Uchihas or Hyuugas in the Division, send them on a detection mission. Now, Gengetsu was the Mizukage, it was not for nothing. He's great in taijutsu and ninjutsu as well. His clan is known for its liquefication technique, he can liquefy his body at will, so Gaara's sand might struggle against this. He has his water guns…oh, the oil!"

"The oil?" Shikaku-san repeated. I nodded to myself.

"Yeah, the oil. He took his hidden jutsu to the next level and created a unique…substance. He doesn't liquefy to just water, there is oil. He can create a clone of himself full of water, but with a layer of oil around it. The clone moves, the oil heats up, it heats up the water inside, which turns to steam and expand the clone. When there is too much pressure, it blows up, the vapor cools down in the air, there's hail and the clone is reformed, and it goes on and on. They need to find a way to keep the clone cool." I frowned. "Do you want me to go?"

"No, they'll handle it on their own. Thanks for the information." The communication was ended. I looked back at the four shinobi. Well, three now.

"Alright, follow me." I summoned an empty scroll and threw it at the medic, who sealed the body in it. "Kou, stay ahead to check for enemies."

"Got it." We reached the camp without issues. I looked at the three of them and sent the medic and Suna kunoichi to medics. I gestured at Izumi to follow me.

"Okay, try to remember your original location," I told her, a map between us. She blinked and nodded.

"We were close to the border between the Land of Frost and Land of Lightning," she started, pointing at the spot I knew the Second Division was deployed on the map. "Then, last night we were patrolling in groups but one of us attacked the rest and…these white things appeared and ambushed us. We ran without knowing where we were going."

"If you were separated from the main division, then you don't know…well, we found you, it's what matters. Go to the medic and get some rest, I'll report this to the higher-ups." I barely stood up, Izumi following me quietly, that Sasuke appeared right in front of me. "Yeah?"

"I'm back," a voice stated behind Sasuke. I leaned on the side and blinked at Karin. "We found him." I saw Juugo getting closer in the distance.

"Okay, tell me something only you would know." She raised a brow. "Sorry Karin, stuff happened, I can't take any risk.

"You got scolded by Mizukage-sama when you brought me back to the Resistance HQ?" I pursed my lips.

"Yep, it's you." A few minutes later, I was checking Juugo's seal. Mom came up with one to keep his murderous urges in check. "Okay, it's really you."

"Is it about those white beings who take people's appearances?" I looked up at his face and nodded. "The animals saw a lot of people dying. I tried to help a few on my way back but…" I sighed.

"We can't save everyone, sadly. Suigetsu?"

"Still around the area."

"Alright. Sasuke." I turned to him. "Find Shisui, get rid of Kabuto then join us if you can. Karin, can you show them the way?" I saw it in her eyes she wanted to say "no", but she nodded. "Thank you."

"Yeah, you're welcome," she muttered, and I smiled awkwardly at her. I then put my hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Give him hell." He nodded firmly and him and Karin left.

I was back with a communication guy, telling them about Izumi's unit.

"Also, Kabuto was located, Uchiha Sasuke is on his way to Uchiha Shisui as we are speaking. They're going to deal with him."

"That is good to hear," Tsunade-san replied. "Naruto and Killer Bee are on their way as well. We have talked among ourselves; you have to find them as quickly as possible."

"Wait, really?"

"They're the targets, Tobi will look for them. You've faced him before, and our Sensorial Division sensed previous jinchurikis on the battlefield."

"Yagura and Utakata in them I presume?"

"You defeated the Fourth Mizukage," she replied simply. "Wait, Shikaku wants a word with you."

"Akane, I need you to tell me something."

"Yeah?"

"The previous generation of Swordsmen of the Mist appeared against Kakashi's Division. By now, there's only one remaining."

"Mangetsu, isn't it? You want to know how to defeat him?"

"Exactly."

"Sorry to disappoint, but even under mind control, he won't be sealed that easily and the only way to keep him in place is with an Ice Release."

"How about hot temperatures? If an Ice Release can keep him solid, wouldn't a powerful Fire Release like an Uchiha's weaken him?" I pursed my lips.

"Probably, it's not something we ever put to the test."

"Then why did Itachi ask for help?" I frowned.

"He did?" Did Kakashi talk about his mind control-breaking seal to Itachi? Or was it deeper than this? "What did he say?"

"That Houzuki Mangetsu wouldn't go down and that White Zetsus kept getting in the way." Now, Itachi could deal with them quickly if he wanted to.

However, it was a war, not a simple fight, so he was probably keeping his strengths as much as possible. If there were too many people on the battlefield, he wouldn't be able to fight freely anyway.

Still, it was odd of him to…

Or maybe he thought I should be the one to deal with Mangetsu, and if that was the case…

"Would it be okay if I were the one to take care of Mangetsu?" This caught Haku's attention.

"I don't think it is possible."

"If I play my cards right, instead of sealing Mangetsu I might be able to make him regain control of his body and mind, so make him fight with us. Naruto has one of my markers anyway."

"And? You weren't chosen as a Division Captain so that you could wander around."

"Of course, not Raikage-sama," I replied, recognizing his voice. "But you also placed Mifune-san in my Division so that I could potentially use the Hiraishin and move around freely if necessary." I could almost see the Raikage's frown from where I was. "Raikage-sama, I wouldn't ask for this if I didn't have something in mind."

"Why would I grant you this? You're needed where you are Uzumaki."

"You're allowed to think what I'm about to say is disrespectful, but my reason might be similar to the one you have for wanting to go deal with the Third Raikage since you've known he was brought back." It was silent for a few seconds.

"Fine, but make it quick."

"Thank you."

"We're going to contact Mifune, just go."

"Got it." I went to Kou and Haku. "Hey, I'm leaving."

"Where?" Haku asked me immediately.

"I'm dealing with Mangetsu, then I'm off to join Naruto and Bee-san. I don't think I'm gonna give any orders anymore now, Mifune-san's in charge. He's being informed as we speak."

"Good luck," Kou told me firmly. I nodded.

"You too, don't die here." On this, I was off toward the Land of Hot Water.

We were in the Land of Frost, closer to the Land of Lightning than the Land of Hot Water, so I'd need to run before using my Hiraishin to save chakra but…I should get there soon.

"Sasuke?" Shisui greeted him in surprise.

"It's time," Sasuke stated, Karin panting behind him. Shisui understood immediately. "We're on our own for the strategy."

"It should work fine. Let's g…"

"Wait a second." They turned around, finding Fugaku walking toward them. The Uchiha leader stopped in front of his son, Shisui and Karin moving aside to give them some privacy.

Fugaku put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder and looked at him up and down, his son not knowing what to do except standing still. The way his father was behaving was weird. The war probably played a role in it but…

And there had been this weird moment the day before. He had found himself alone with his father for a short while, where Fugaku told him he was sorry he wasn't a better father to him.

"Don't die before your time son," his father ended up saying firmly with a strict yet nervous voice.

"Yeah, I know Father." "Don't die either," was on his tongue but didn't leave his mouth.

Yet, his father must have understood what he wanted to say. After so many years struggling to properly communicate, Fugaku managed to understand the meaning behind his behavior after all.

"We should go," Shisui pipped in. "Sorry to interrupt of course but…"

"Yeah, you're right," the youngest Uchiha agreed immediately. He nodded awkwardly at his father and left.

He'd see him once everything was over anyway.

Right?

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Bye!