Disclaimer: Naruto is still not mine.

The months dragged by slowly. Shiori began to feel like a tool rather than an actual person. Most of her time was spent being loaned to other pairs in the Akatsuki, particularly those whose missions involved interrogation. With Kakuzu's endorsement, she had become known for providing them with almost instantaneous answers to every query which normally would have taken countless hours of torture and coercion. Her days were filled with fear and uncertainty. She was surrounded by some of the deadliest criminals produced by the strongest shinobi countries and they more than enjoyed reminding her of that every chance they got. However their torments never went beyond death threats and being shouted at, a fact which made her grateful.

Everyone knew she was the Uchiha's ward. It had been blurted out and whispered harshly in moments when an Akatsuki member or their associates were about to lash out at her. The title had given her immunity, making her untouchable of sorts, much like Sasori's sleeper agents and Kakuzu's collectors. It didn't take Shiori long to figure out why. Despite his young age, Itachi was one of the organization's most feared member. He gained further notoriety when word got out that he had singlehandedly defeated the legendary Orochimaru. With that in mind, she realized that the deadlier the asset's handler was the better they faired. She doubted that she would have lasted as long as she did without the Uchiha's name to back her up.

She would jump around from one pair to the next but a month never passed by without her being handed back to Itachi. She refused to think that she looked forward to those days. In fact she had talked herself into thinking that this was the part she found the most troublesome. Hours before she was scheduled to meet him she would develop a hollow feeling in her stomach, like she was about to take a test that she didn't study on.

It didn't matter if they had not seen each other for days or weeks, whether she came back looking pristine or soaking wet with half of her body covered in mud. After receiving report from the one handing her over, the first thing he would do was look at her from head to foot with his Sharingan. It preceded any greeting or small talk. And then he asks for her version of how the mission went. More than once she had asked him why they had to do it, especially if the reports had been impeccable and detailed. And every time he would tell her the same thing.

"That was a different report. Now give me yours."

And so she did. In most instances her accounts held no information which the previous report by the Akatsuki didn't already mention. She knew it was just Itachi being the overly-thorough person that he was. But sometimes she would pretend that he did it for the sake of conversation. It shamed her to admit how much horror she was willing to forget to escape the loneliness of not having anyone to talk to for days.

That night was the first time she had seen the Uchiha in three weeks. It was Sasori who had handed her over and so she looked put-together and clean. As expected from the puppet master, the report was long and detailed. It covered all possible angles and left no stones unturned. When he finished, Sasori walked over to her, a small smirk playing on his lips. "We'll be seeing each other again, Shiori-chan."

Shiori bowed down in farewell. She watched him go before turning to Itachi who had activated his Sharingan and had begun his routine once-over. And as usual she avoided his gaze.

"So..." she started, trying to disperse the awkward tension between them. "Did you miss me?"

Itachi replied with his signature smirk. "Hn."

Shiori chuckled before following him wordlessly into the former temple-turned-headquarters.

"Come and join me for tea," he said, not bothering to look over his shoulder. She shrugged.

"Sure. Why not."

They walked over to the dining area. A ceramic kettle was perched in the middle of the dining table. Itachi motioned for her to have a seat while he took out two cups from the overhead cupboard. Shiori knelt silently as she observed him. She found herself staring at the muscles in his forearms. Every movement caused them to ripple underneath his smooth, alabaster skin. Even the simple act of reaching over showcased an almost feline grace about him.

'The word is attractive, Shiori. He looks attractive,' A voice popped in her head. She immediately pushed it out of her thoughts and trained her gaze on a spot in the tatami mat before Itachi could turn to face her. He set the cups in place and poured tea for the both of them.

"Thanks," she murmured, wrapping her cold fingers around the warm ceramic. "Shall I begin with the report?"

"Not tonight," he replied, sipping from his steaming cup.

Shiori looked at him, confused. If Itachi didn't want the report then she couldn't figure out why he bothered with tea.

"I want to talk about something else."

"Alright. What about?"

"Your bloodline limit." Obsidian locked on gray. Again instinct kicked in and she looked away. A pang of annoyance erupted in his belly but he continued. "You see I'm beginning to feel like a hypocrite. I go around telling people that you're my ward and you are under my control. I make it look like I know everything there is to know about you but the truth is, my knowledge of how your ability works is just as limited as everyone else's."

Shiori wasn't sure what he meant. "What's left to know about? Even Kisame is aware of how it works and barks like mad when I get too near him. And you were aware that this is a bloodline limit before I did. I just thought this was an anomaly."

"Sendai Mako. Why did you kiss him?"

The question had been so random and so unexpected that it threw her off guard. She nearly choked on her piping hot drink. That wasn't even the silliest part. It was the way Itachi said it. The accusatory tone of his voice made the whole thing sound more scandalous that it was. Shiori couldn't help it. She burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Itachi asked, not bothering to hide his displeasure at her reaction. His ward had the audacity to laugh at him, something he had not experienced before. The last person who had a good laugh at his expense had been Shisui and that had been different. Shisui was ranked above him. She didn't.

"Forgive me, Uchiha-san," Shiori apologized. Even then her words shook with laughter. "It was the way you said it..." she trailed. Itachi's eyebrow had gone dangerously high. She piped down.

"Does kissing someone enhance your ability to read them?"

Shiori nodded. "Apparently it does."

"Apparently...Has it happened before?" Itachi didn't get a direct confirmation. He didn't have to. The blush that crept up her cheeks told him everything.

"A few years back," she replied after a long pause. "I thought it was a fluke, a one-time thing you know." She lied. Shiori thought it was a special connection she had shared with some boy but she didn't want to sound like a sap in front of the Uchiha. "Then it happened again with you. I'm not saying I kissed you or anything but it was a...compromising position. Even with the genjutsu I was aware enough to know that the reading was different, more detailed than it ought to have been considering...well, the um, contact lasted less than a second."

Across the table, Itachi watched with mild fascination as Shiori squirmed in her seat, flustered with the realization of what happened on their first meeting. When she was being like that he could read her like an open book. His male ego inflated when he realized that he was capable of bothering her without even lifting a finger. He cocked his head to one side and leaned forward, folding his arms and resting them on the table in front of him. "Go on."

"So by then I thought that if it could happen with a stranger I just met then it can't possibly be a fluke. I didn't need luck to read people better. I just needed to stick my mouth on them. I tried it with Mako-san and it worked."

She finished her tea with one long gulp and continued to stare down at the bottom of her cup. What happened with Itachi and Mako had added fuel to the fire which ate the fantasy that she had fooled herself to believe. Being able to read someone better didn't make him her soulmate. It only meant she had found a better way to use her ability.

The connection she had fought so hard for in the past was nothing but a delusion which had sent her into cloud nine once. When reality pulled her back to the ground and made her see that her soulmate wasn't willing to fight the stigma of having a relationship with the witch, it had hurt like Hell. It still did.

'Time to change the subject,' she thought to herself.

"Uchiha-san."

"Itachi."

Shiori looked at him questioningly. He clarified, "You sound like you're talking to my father. Call me Itachi." She had smiled then. A part of him was tempted to smile back.

"Itachi-san," she started again. "Be honest with me. You're still thinking about the reading aren't you? You're wondering if I know everything now."

"Not everything. You can't possibly watch my entire life unfold in less than a second," he replied. If she had to ask him about the medicine he was taking then it meant there were some things which had remained unknown to her.

"You're right. I didn't." She was about to sigh in relief, thinking she was off the hook.

"So what did you see?"

Shiori was reluctant. "But-"

"You went inside my head without my permission. I need to know what you saw. And please, don't go easy for my sake."

She sighed loudly, grabbing the ceramic kettle and pouring herself more tea.

"I know about the massacre, had glimpses of it. It was one of your strongest memories." She ran a shaking hand through her hair as the gory images of that night danced behind her eyelids. "I know about the deal you made with Danzo. You'll probably hate me for saying this but I'm so sorry. I'm sorry it happened to you, Itachi-san."

Contrary to what many people were led to believe, Itachi wasn't the catalyst of the massacre. There were so many factors that came to play and he was the thirteen-year old boy who was stuck in the middle of it all. He was pushed against a corner and was forced to take a side. In the end he chose what he thought was for the best of the majority of people, and mostly, for the best of his otouto Sasuke, even if it was at the expense of his honor.

"What else did you see?" His voice was eerily quiet. Both his hands had gone white-knuckled from being curled into tight fists.

"Your cat mask," she replied. Why he wore a mask with his jounin outfit, she'd rather not know. "I didn't see the day you were born but I know your birthday. I didn't see Sasuke-kun until he was a few months old. The next time I saw him, he was old enough to talk. I saw you at school. You hated it," she smiled. "Although if I had been in your position, with as much knowledge about the world as you did at that time, I probably would've hated it too. I saw you train with Shisui. I know you looked up to him. You still do. I saw your first kiss with a pretty girl named Izumi. Anyone can tell that she loved you very much." Even then, Itachi had too much baggage to surpass that love but he tried to make up for it the best way he knew how. Shiori admired him for it.

She never got to find out what happened to Shisui and Izumi. But considering they were part of the cursed clan, she'd rather play dumb and stay ignorant to their final fates.

Shiori took his cup and poured him another drink. "I know it disgusted you when you had to do that to your hitai-ate." She nodded at his forehead protector, which had a jagged line that ran through Konoha's symbol.

Itachi ran a finger through its damage for the nth time. "You saw that huh."

"Your Sharingan has another form. Whenever you use that form for too long, it sends your entire body into fits of pain." With the way Itachi's face darkened, she could tell it was a secret he preferred to have kept to himself. She countered it with a lighter fact. "Remember what Hidan said from last time?"

The only sign of Itachi's mortification was the way his eyes rounded for a split second. Everything else was stock still.

"His advise was too little too late."

"What are you talking about?" he deadpanned.

Shiori gaped at him. "Do I need to spell it out? Geez. You've been getting some since your fifteenth birday. Juzo made sure of it. Don't worry. I won't judge you." It wasn't like she was in a position to judge.

"There are worse things to judge me with other than premarital sex." To make his point, he stuck his tongue to his cheek. There was already a long and growing list of things that Itachi regretted. He flat out refused to put this particular act in it.

"Touche."

On and on their conversation went. Most of it was about random, unrelated facts that Shiori's quick reading had provided. Some were harmless. A few were vital enough to compromise an entire village's safety. He decided not to tell her this in the hopes that she would one day forget about them.

Before they knew it, time had flown. Itachi was surprised when the wallclock behind her indicated that it was well into the wee hours of morning. Shiori was just as surprised. She didn't think Itachi was the type who could stand long conversations. Most people were lucky to get a "Hn" out of him. She also realized that spending time with the enigmatic shinobi wasn't as horrifying as she first made it out to be. Despite his aloof attitude he had made her laugh more than once with his dry humor and quick remarks. She thought that had she met him under different circumstances, perhaps they could have become fast friends.

"What are you thinking about?" His deep voice brought her out of her musings. He had walked with Shiori into the vast labyrinth of the ancient building and they were now standing by the door leading to her room.

"What ifs. What ifs are always more interesting than reality, don't you think?"

"I disagree. Reality is interesting enough for me at the moment."

She smiled. He smirked.

Shiori ducked before the heat on her face could turn her cheeks pink.

"Goodnight, Itachi-san."

.

Conversations really are the best after three am. The heavier the eyelids, the sincerer the words and silence is not awkward, it's shared

- Dau Voire

Author's Notes: Nothing much is going on in this chapter so I'm sorry if that bored you. Pretty much stuck with the title, "Talk". I just wanted to capture an instance of the two behaving like normal humans for once, which is tricky if their topic of choice is about their respective kekkei genkai. Plus, I want to balance the whole thing and not make it too dark and depressing. Again, thanks for those who have reviewed. If you're still with me in this chapter and have yet to press the review button, do leave a review. I want to know your thoughts you guys. The more detailed, the better because I want to find out how to improve this piece. There's always room for improvement.