Disclaimer: The characters are Masashi Kishimoto's property, I own the OCs.

Characters age:

Akane: 7 (40)

Itachi: 7 (23)

Shisui: 10

Naruto / Sasuke: 2

Kakashi: 15

We met up with the rest of the group the next day, the fifth since we had left Konoha. There was a shrine, abandoned, in the middle of the woods, vines growing on the red ceiling. They were around a campfire, talking quietly.

The next day, we entered the shrine, Kushina-san, Tsunade-san and me. It was a normal shrine on first sight. We quickly went through the whole thing.

"There's nothing here," Tsunade-san stated, leaving the place. Kushina-san watched her leave and sighed.

"We're not leaving empty-handed. We're going to have a lot of reading to do when we're home though." She started to leave.

I didn't move. I was staring at the corner of the room, drawn to it. I walked to it and knelt on the floor, touching the tatami. There was air between them. I was thrown back by it and sat up, watching in horror as a figure emerged from between the tatami. The figure turned into the Shinigami, their piercing, yellow eyes staring down at me. I started to shake, especially when I noticed the blue human figure held against them.

It was my soul.

They started to reach out their arm, the red beads floating around it. I raised my arms in front of me to defend myself, ready in scream. I couldn't move, I was petrified, totally and…

"Akane!" A hand on my shoulder brought me back to reality. I was on my knees, nowhere near the tatamis but staring at them, Kushina-san in front of me. She was worried.

"Wh…what happened?"

"You just fell and…I don't know, you weren't responding." I gulped and got up with her help. "Are you okay?"

"I…yes, I think."

"Let's get you out of here, a lot has happened in the past few days." She took me outside, but I glanced one last time at this corner of the room.

What had happened to me?

We left the next day, touching the continent at the end of the sixth day. We spent the night in a hotel with Tsunade-san and Shizune-san. The next day, we left for Konoha.

He reached their spot when the sun was rising in the horizon. Since he had taken the decision to graduate, he had split his time between training and Sasuke. It would not be difficult to find another occasion to show his skills. Teachers were not the most focused on them to be honest, they wanted to teach their class, have them graduate without getting killed immediately and that was it.

It was…not normal for teachers, because he remembered Sasuke's teacher, Umino Iruka, being careful and mindful of his students. But here, the war had ended two years and a half ago and they were still at war with Kumo officially, even if it had calmed down. The teachers had other things to worry about right now than the kids they were teaching, which was sad.

"Itachi?" He perked up at the voice and turned his head, Akane standing behind him.

"You've cut your hair," he replied with a disappointed look. She touched the tip of her hair, now a little bit above her shoulders.

"Yeah, it's too hot. Does it look bad?"

"Long hair suits you better, that's all," he said quietly as she sat down next to him. Her hair was mahogany, with the right lighting all of the red and burgundy reflects in her hair would show. It reminded him of fall when the sun would set or rise with the many copperish leaves around.

"I think everyone knows your preference for hair 'tachi," she replied with a teasing smirk. He shook his head and watched her take a bunch of letters from her bag.

"How did it go?"

"Huh…good." He frowned. "I…discovered things unrelated to our case but…pretty big nonetheless."

"Can I know this time?" She looked at him, vaguely irritated at the jab but it disappeared quickly.

"Apparently, my great-grandfather was…" She stopped herself, frowning. "I…guess it's okay to tell you that, just…don't repeat, right?"

"Promise." She looked and at him and showed him her pinky. He crossed his with hers without a word.

"He was the leader of the clan." Itachi raised a brow. "It's on my dad's side, so it means my grandmother was the heiress but still left, probably for my grandfather. The letters…they're from my grandmother to her father, I found them in the Compound." It was not what he was expecting, and neither was she from her face but…

"You didn't know," he whispered to her.

"I've learned more about myself here than in thirty-eight fucking years," she retorted bitterly. "My mom took everything to the grave with her and…" She breathed out shakily. He put his hand on her shoulder, her eyes meeting his.

"No matter what you learned about your family, it doesn't change anything about who you are Akane." She bit the inside of her cheek and nodded, looking down.

"Thank you, Itachi." She didn't have to shoulder any of this alone, and he was always more than happy to listen to her. He probably should remind her of this every once in a while. "What have you done while I was away?" He shrugged.

"I ran after Sasuke and Naruto." She laughed at that, making him smile. The discussion he had overheard between his mother and his father came back in his mind and he frowned. "And I have decided to graduate as soon as possible." She lost her smile.

"Did something happen?"

The Uchiha issues were bad, would get worst and she would hear about the villagers' opinions on them soon enough. He didn't want to tell her any of that. She had never seen the crest on his back before him and he wanted to keep it that way.

He wanted to keep Akane and their relationship as far away as possible from the toxicity of his clan. She was the Hokage's protegee, but an Uzumaki, so the Uchiha clan's opinion on them being friendship could really go both ways. His relationship with Akane had been the only thing that had ever truly be his, not his clan's, not his village's, but Itachi's. He didn't want it to change and if he told her, she'd want to help and get involved in ways he refused to have her involved.

The only way she'd be involved in the Uchiha clan would be because they were together, not because she could be a potential mean to an end.

"Itachi?"

"I'm bored at school. I feel useless right now, and even if being a genin is not much, it is at least an active job in the village." He looked at her. "But if you want to stay, then you should. I don't really see why you would enjoy school but…"

"It's the first time I'm going," she informed him as if it was obvious. He gazed at her, surprised. "I had tutors in Kiri, or my mom would teach me so…it's new." She looked at the letters on her lap. "What are genin missions here?"

"Helping people around and looking for a cat who hates its owner." She chuckled. "Are you going to read the letters?" She nodded. "Can I do something?" She handed him half of it.

He read his half. What he got from them was that Mamiko, Akane's grandmother, had been kicked out of the Uzumaki clan because she fell in love with a shinobi from the Hidden Mist and followed her heart and happiness instead of her duty to her clan and village. She had given birth to Akane's father, slipping a picture of him inside, and said that even if he didn't want him as his heir, he was his grandson, nonetheless. They both had been accepted back in Uzushio when they wanted to come, but not in the Uzumaki clan. The last letter he had was about how Mamiko was mad at her father not treating his grandson accordingly to her actions.

Itachi glanced at Akane from the corner of his eyes. He would have chosen someone over his clan and village too before, his brother was the most important to him. Then Akane landed in his life, literally as she had landed in front of him to try to kill Sasori, and he had felt different feelings appear. Yet, they slowly became more and more intense and strong, like his brother. If it came to it, would he leave Konoha and his clan too for these feelings? Her grandmother was the heiress too yet…the word 'pawn' had come back often. He sadly could understand that feeling.

"She was determined, I'll give her that," Akane ended up saying. He summed up what he had read, while she had read mostly angry letter of a daughter asking for her father's love and not her leader's forgiveness. "Hey, my grandmother was super brave!"

"Was she?" he replied in a whisper, making Akane frown, her eyes now serious. "I mean…I get that she was in love, but she had duties and responsibilities and let many people down by leaving. It asks a lot of courage to not pursue your own happiness so that others can have theirs." He had done just that. Everything that could have made him happy, he had given up on so that Sasuke could live, so that Konoha did not enter a civil war.

Akane remained quiet for a few seconds, then looked at the rock faces of the Hokage in the distance.

"Is it?" she asked him simply, unimpressed, sending an electroshock in his body. "Breaking out of being someone's pawn, not doing what you're told without thinking by yourself, acting on your thoughts and beliefs, is it brave or being a coward? How is hurting the people who love you by being a pawn is being brave? If choosing my family and the people I love over people I have a 'duty' to just because of my name or my village means I'm a villain, then I'll be a villain. At least I'm human and have a heart."

"It doesn't sound like it's about your grandparents anymore," he stated without emotion. She gulped.

"I guess it's not. I never thought loyalty was owed simply because of names or affiliations. It's earned. It's…" She grabbed his collar in her shaking hands, her eyes now sad and angry. "Do you know how it feels to hear villagers badmouth you, a dead man, when they had…" She didn't finish her sentence. "They didn't even know you!" Her whole body was shaking. He just stood there, not sure of what to do.

He just put his hands on hers without a word. He knew his reputation was ruined when he had left Konoha. However, when he wanted Akane to go to Konoha to be safe, he never thought hearing what people would say about him would wound her so much. She didn't have to be hurt on his behalf though, and yet…

"Sorry, I…we won't see eye-to-eye on this Itachi, so let's just…stop talking about this." She let go of him, smoothing his shirt before looking away.

"I'm sorry," he apologized so quietly he almost didn't hear himself. She sniffed and nodded but did not look at him. She didn't say anything either.

When they parted ways, she just gave him a stiff 'goodbye'. He watched her leave until she was out of sight before going home.

He would understand it if Akane resented him. He only hoped he would be able to make it up to her and get her entire trust back. He focused on these thoughts, pushing those wondering if he would choose Akane over where his loyalty had always been in a corner of his mind.

He didn't want to know the answer.

After our tensed exchange with Itachi, we did not see each other until we were back in school. I had spent the end of my vacations reading Yuureis' diaries, with Kushina-san's help. So far, the common point between them was that they, indeed, did not come on their own. They had what they called a 'watching soul'. These souls would be stuck in what they called 'Limbo', a realm where their soul would go before joining the Shinigami in case of near-death experience. Typically, these people would be connected to the event that triggered the Yuurei, or were close to them…

Let's talk about the event by the way. The Kyuubi attack was when I was five, I didn't even have a clue she was a jinchuriki, so how could it be my biggest regret? Letting Shisui go only for him to be killed by Danzou when I felt like something was wrong? I could see that. I also could see being sent back just before Itachi left for the last time, but here?

It was weird. Just like the whole watching soul thing. If anything, it would be Itachi. The thing was, he was very much alive and not stuck in Limbo for some reasons. Him being my watching soul was the only reason he would have been pulled out of the Pure Land so…

Why was he alive? They said that the watching soul was linked to the Shinigami seal, and that if I didn't break it before dying, they would follow me into eternal damnation as well. It was not great; Itachi should not be subjected to my choices and their consequences and yet…

"Akane," Kushina-san told me on my last day of vacations. Naru was out with his dad right now, so it was just us.

"Yep?" She put the diary she was reading down.

"You don't have to shoulder this alone." I blinked at her. It seemed random. "I know this must be a lot, and I know Minato and I…without Akiko, it would have been us, or at least one of us, to die that night." I looked down. "And I know this must be part of the reason you have started calling us by our names but…you're always going to be our little niece, even at sixty or in a retirement home. Yes, we are cousins, but you are close family and we'll always be there for you." She took my hands and turned me toward her.

"They died and…"

"It's us Akane." I looked up at her. "We're the people you knew if they had not died. Don't…don't stop seeing us a family."

"…you knew?" She put her hand on my head.

"I am not blind, and neither is Minato. But…I do hope in time, you will realize we are still the same people from your childhood." She gave me a tight hug.

I did not reciprocate, still stunned that she had seen right through me.

Once back in school, my relationship with Itachi was back to normal. Izumi would come around more and stick around once she was here. I didn't like that. When I'd see Itachi at our meeting spot, I'd ask him how it was at home. He was surprised at first, but then went on about Sasuke, which was really cute. When I'd see him with Sasuke, I couldn't help but smile at them.

I knew I should have told him about his condition, like mine, but I didn't want to ruin this. I didn't want to ruin the second chance he had as a big brother because I knew if he knew, he would not waste a second to look for a solution.

I was currently staring at him, sitting down, my knees raised to my chest and my cheek on them. He cleared his throat and shot me a glance.

"You've been staring at me for five minutes; do I have something on my face?" he asked me, embarrassed by my staring.

"It's not nice to be stared at, huh?" I retorted and he rolled his eyes at me. It was nice to see him showing more emotions. He was allowed to feel like anyone else after all. "I was just thinking."

"What about?" I raised a brow and he shrugged. "You were staring at me; I have a right to know." I scoffed.

"As if." I straightened up and stretched out my arms above my head. It was early December. The first snow would be here soon. For now, the trees were bare, dead leaves on the cold, humid ground.

I put my gloved hands on the ground, leaned to Itachi and kissed his cheek. He put his hand on his cheek, red dusting them and his ears.

"I'm in love with you Itachi." He widened his eyes and I chuckled. "You can't be that surprised. I don't think I've ever stopped loving you; my feelings were just…dormant because you weren't around and…"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm pretty sure yes, it's just platonic right now because…child body but…" He tackled me to the ground. "Itachi?" His face was in the crook of my neck, well in my scarf.

"Thank you," he mumbled against me. I ignored the pang at my heart when he said 'thank you' instead of 'I love you'. It would…really helped with my insecurities but… "I was so scared you had moved on from me when I'm still…" His breathed out slowly and steadily. "I'll do better this time." I raised a brow and he turned on his other side, now laying in the dirt with me. He gazed at me softly and ran his finger on my cheekbone, then my cheek and my lips. "I can give you a nice future now Akane, and I promise I will."

I bit the inside of my cheek, the hurt of him not saying 'I love you' gone, because it was the same essentially, right? I smiled and nodded, letting him get closer to me, his forehead on mine as I had my head turned toward him.

"Are you sure you're not going to leave?" I asked before I could think about it. He gazed at me in the eyes, his eyes unwavering.

"I'm not leaving you again Akane. It's…the last thing I want." I sniffed, not letting my tears get to my eyes.

"Good to know." I turned toward him to and put my hand on his cheek. "Don't leave me again Itachi," I asked, almost begged him under my breath.

He kissed my forehead softly as a response.

Their camping trip was set the first week of January. Like the year before, he was teamed up with Akane and Kou. It had been almost a month since Akane had told him she was in love with him, and he was finding it complicated to get off his cloud when he was around her.

It was as if by saying these three words, she had taken a huge weight out of his shoulders. His fear of her not returning his feelings was gone, his worry of her having moved on from him, from them and their love was gone. She still loved him.

His sun was shining brighter than it had in a long time. Even Shisui had told him it was disturbing to see him like that, not mentioning how most of his attention would be on his love when the three of them would be together. He had her favorite snacks ready, and water and he was all too happy to correct her posture or give her tips for her shurikenjutsu.

She would kiss his cheek randomly when no one was looking, making him blush. He would return it, making her blush and she'd chuckle as he would smile, melting in her warm embrace. Living this as children was only reminding him that despite his past or hers, their feelings for each other were deep, strong and pure.

"It's so cold," Kou complained, blowing in his hands. They were forbidden to wear proper winter clothes, instead having winter shinobi cloak with hoods. He shot Akane a quick look. She wasn't bothered at all.

"There is worse than Konoha's winters somewhere I'm sure," she told the Hyuuga boy, taking the map from his hands. Him and Akane had agreed to let Kou do as much as possible as none of them would struggle to complete the treasure hunt.

On the second day, they both let Kou go on his own, the boy assuring them he would find them with his Byakugan. The second he was gone, Akane started to remove her cloak. She already had a green sweater on.

"What's with all the green clothes?" he asked her. He didn't remember her fancying this color that much before.

"See…" she droned, turning resigned eyes to him. "I think Kushina-san secretly wants to turn me in a Christmas tree or something." He put his hand to his mouth and chuckled, picturing her with Christmas lights all over her. "Haha, very funny." She threw her cloak at him. "Here princess." He didn't even react at the nickname. "I was right you know; you do look a little girlish until you hit puberty." He deadpanned at her. "Not so funny anymore, is it?" She kicked in the fresh white snow, turning it into a sharp blade at the tip of her foot. "That's a killer kick."

He knew she had awakened her Hyouton when her mother died, but she had gotten a good control over it in so little time.

"You know, in my clan, making something out of ice with your Hyouton is an old tradition for someone special."

"How special?" She put her finger on her lips as she looked at him, amused.

"Special as in 'would-you-be-my-partner-for-life' special." He raised a brow. "Ice sculptures were a big thing apparently, and hard to do. It takes time and dedication; you don't do it just for anyone." He truly hoped he would get something made of ice then.

Akane kissed him on the cheek, snickering at his surprised face and red cheeks. He was blushing too much around her, she was enjoying it too much.

"It's the cold," he heard himself explain without too much conviction.

"My element then!" She turned around and walked in front of him.

As he watched her walking before him, he couldn't help but thinking that it really was in her element. She was obvious in the pure white snow but seemed like she belonged. Itachi knew it was too much to ask, but he wanted them to remain like this forever, peaceful and not fighting, just enjoying what the world had to offer them together.

"Gotta pee," I stated, getting up. Itachi and Kou didn't say much at this, busy eating and I left for the bathroom.

I did my business, washed my hands and left the girls bathroom. I barely had my foot on the first step of the stairs that I heard people talking and one whimpering. I thought about ignoring it, because it was none of my business and, no matter how heartless I would sound, I couldn't care less about a kid I didn't know being bullied.

However, I heard the name 'Uchiha'. At that I sighed and want straight to the scene. There was a kid I recognized from class, against the wall, his hands in front of him to defend himself and three other guys around him. I cracked my knuckles and ran to them. The guy closest to me had the time to turn around and widened his eyes almost comically that I had punched him square in the stomach. He spat and I threw him aside. The second guy tried to attack me, but I grabbed him hand, slipped behind him, his arm now in an armlock and I kicked him behind the knee. He fell and I glanced at the last guy. He was standing there, his fists shaking in front of him. I narrowed my eyes.

"Scram." Before he could make a move, I pointed at his friends. "Infirmary." I watched him leave, carrying them. I looked down at the Uchiha, who was staring at them with wide, shocked eyes. He then looked at me as I crouched in front of him. "You okay there?"

"You…you…but they…" I took a booklet out of my back pocket and unsealed the first-aid kit Kushina-san had given me.

I disinfected his bloody lip and put a band-aid on the cut. I grabbed his hand to pull him back on his feet.

"Are you going to be okay?" He nodded without a word. "What's your name?"

"Yasuo." He licked his dry lips. "Uchiha Yasuo." He had short dark brown hair and black eyes.

He had what I would call the typical Uchiha look, with the high collar for his gray shirt.

"Watch out in the future Yasuo." I was about to leave when I caught a glimpse of a box on the floor. It was his bento, his lunch spilled everywhere. "Actually, do you want to eat with us?" He blinked, taken back and nodded.

"I don't ha…" I waved him off.

"I haven't touched my bento yet, we can share."

"But it's yours!" I shrugged.

"I can steal from the guys." Itachi wouldn't mind and I was quicker than Kou.

They both were surprised when I came back with Yasuo. As Kushina-san was wary of me breaking my chopsticks, I had another pair and I put my bento between Yasuo and me.

"What's going on?" Kou asked us, intrigued as Itachi was quietly analyzing the situation.

"He was bullied, and he lost his lunch, so I'm sharing mine." Before I could dig in, my bento was snatched away. I blinked. "Itachi!"

"I'm making it more practical," he replied simply, putting a third of my bento in his bento box with the rest of his lunch. He handed my box to Yasuo and gave me his. "Here." I shot him a knowing look and he frowned a little at me.

Was he really jealous of a seven-year-old? Come on. Thinking back on it, I didn't like how Izumi was crushing on him so…but she had a crush, I barely knew Yasuo.

"Thank you, Itachi-sama." I twitched at that, and Kou almost choked on his food. Itachi slapped him on the back.

"I forget sometimes you're the heir," I stated before shaking my head.

"There is no need for such formalities, Yasuo-san." Did Itachi slip back into Uchiha heir automatically when he didn't know people?

Why would I wonder that, of course he would. He was polite with everyone, to the point where it would get on my nerves sometimes.

Just like that, Yasuo would be with me when I'd go join the boys for lunch. I couldn't help but feel like I knew him from somewhere though.

He didn't think.

Akane had told him she had 'dealt' with Yasuo's bullies, implying she had beaten them up. They were older and came back for revenge, Hokage's connection or not. He was in the vicinity as she wanted to enjoy having him around still to use the shooting range.

He saw Akane surrounded by three Academy students and one genin, Akane looking more than unimpressed, and he frowned. When the genin raised his fist and started its descent on Akane, he ran and got between them. He stopped the wrist, leaned on it and kicked the genin in the cheek, knocking him out. The Academy students ran away as Akane clapped in his back.

He glanced sternly at her, and she shrugged.

"Itachi-kun, have you…" His teacher was there, a shocked Yasuo with him.

"Sorry sensei, it seems Itachi dealt with them quicker than you," Akane told him as if it was nothing. "Come on, practice now!" She grabbed his hand and ran off.

Once at their destination, she let go of him.

"Do you think it will be enough to graduate?"

"I don't know. Are you okay?"

"'tachi', you've seen the phenomenon? I'm good." He chuckled a little. "Hey…"

"Yes?"

"You won't forget me once you graduate, right?" He frowned and she looked away. "You're going to go on missions and all of that…we won't see each other as much so…please don't forget I exist?"

"I don't think I could forget you exist even if I wanted to." She narrowed her eyes at him, not knowing how to take it. "But rest assured, I won't." She sighed in relief.

"It's good to hear. And if you need, ask me for help." He tilted his head. "You can't do everything on your own Itachi, so if you need to, I can help you. Even if it is dangerous, it doesn't scare me." It scared him to put her in a dangerous situation. Not that he would tell her though. "I don't want to lose you again, you know?" He poked her on the forehead in response.

"I'm not going anywhere this time," he replied as she rubbed her forehead. "Thank you Akane."

"Huh, you don't have to act like your brother to thank me."

"What?"

"Sasuke, he would poke me the same way." He wasn't expecting this.

Sasuke and Akane must have been very close if his brother had been doing this. He wondered how him, and Naruto coped with Akane dying. Yet, selfishly, he stopped wondering about this because even if she wasn't with them anymore, she was with him.

He would be lying if he said he would want to change it.

Thanks for reading. I hope you have liked it, please do let me know in reviews!

Bye!