(...Present time)

Itachi knew he had to say something, and soon. However, he was still trying to absorb what the letter from the Hokage was saying to them.

"I have received word that a man who bears a remarkable resemblance to Shisui Uchiha, was sighted beyond the Land of Iron by our allies.

I request your presence at the Administration building at the soonest."

Had this letter not been about Shisui, Itachi would have reacted in an instant, but because it was about his long-thought-deceased best friend, it had taken him half a minute to act.

He moved towards Ino and placed his hands on her arms just below her shoulders, met his gaze with hers, and with a confident and comforting tone, he said "Ino…" because he knew if he called her by 'Darling' in this instant, the guilt would take over her, and if he was honest, it would take over him as well. "… I understand the rush of emotions you are currently feeling, but this letter doesn't confirm that it is Shisui…"

"It's him! I know it is!" she cried out in response, and her tears were still streaming to leave more profound marks on her cheeks. Itachi doesn't know how much the gods hate her. He doesn't know how cruel life can be to her.

What Itachi does know is that he needs to tread carefully, he nodded slightly, but then expressed, "I want to believe it too, I want him back no matter the cost, but I don't know if I can handle losing him all over again…" He feared to get his hopes up again, only to get them crushed later.

She looked up at him and comprehended what he was saying. Losing Shisui the first time was the most difficult thing they both had to endure. Had Itachi not been with her, had they not shared their suffering together, neither would have gotten through their grief.

She acquiesced to his plea, "You're right…" she whispered.

He laid a subtle kiss on her forehead. It was now safe for him to give her the affection she needed, then observed, "We could find out more details from the Hokage, the letter summons us to his office, so let's go see Obito-San and find out more information" she nodded again…

(… 4 years ago, [a year after Shisui had gone missing])

Itachi had found an ally in Ino Yamanaka.

For the past year since his best friend's disappearance, she had been helping him with convincing the Hokage to exhaust every mean the village had for his search.

They set up a task force using T&I resources and personnel to identify enemies, or anyone who sought vengeance against Shisui. Of course, there were many and they would have ended up with an exhaustive list of suspects, however, very few would have been able to take on Shunshin no Shisui, and that was T&I's role; to identify the enemies with the motive and potential to take on Shisui.

They narrowed down the list to three potential suspects, and the Godaime had dispatched two squads for each enemy.

Itachi led the original team Shisui; Ko, Hana and Fu, and Ino-Shika-Cho joined them as the second squad along with Asuma, to search Kumo, who had been notorious for Dojutsu theft.

Team Kakashi and Team 8 with Yamato as its leader, since Kurenai is pregnant, formed a second dispatch squad which headed to Suna. Naruto has some pull with the Kazekage, and they are great friends. If someone had sought revenge against Shisui, then Gara would help them in apprehending the suspects.

The final dispatch team consisted of team Obito, with Neji, Sai, and Tenten, as well as Team Gai, with Anko, Rin, and Torune. They headed to Kiri, which had the largest potential of being involved since that incident with the prison break. Shisui had proven himself to be a significant threat to their security.

When going after the top suspects had led them to a rut, they moved on to the next potential enemies, in Amegakure, Iwagakure, and the other small shinobi villages surrounding the elemental nations.

However, the year search produced no results and no leads to follow. Itachi and Ino had only gotten more persistent with pursuing the search, stating that they have narrowed down places where Shisui wasn't, and if they searched what was left, they'd find him.

Fugaku felt like he was losing his son, and Tsunade felt that they were doing both Itachi and Ino an unkindness by allowing them to continue with the search instead of accepting the inevitable. Tsunade also couldn't afford to allocate many of her strong shinobi and resources on a dead-end search. Therefore, they had declared Shisui to have been 'killed in action' and prepared a funeral for him, which all who knew him or admired him had attended.

The exception was Itachi and Ino, who refused to accept he was dead, as well as team Shisui.

But now, Hana was standing before Ino, and pleading, "We expended everything we have! Ko and Fu feel this way too. We want to mourn our captain and give him the commemoration he deserves. Look, if you and Itachi don't want to join, then we get it, but it just wouldn't be proper without you both. Blondie… it's time we accepted this and moved on. Shisui would not have wanted this for you nor Itachi, and you know it."

Hana was right. Shisui would have wanted those he loved to be happy and laughing. The problem was it just wasn't possible to be happy about losing someone like Shisui Uchiha. He was brighter than the sun, and more cheerful than a sunny day in the spring. Nevertheless, Ino would give him what he deserved, even if she had to force it.

"Alright, Hana, you're right. I'll be there and leave Itachi to me. I'll make sure he shows up as well." Ino could now see relief taking over the Inuzuka's features. "We will be at the bar; I booked our usual booth. I only invited team Shisui, you and hopefully Itachi as well." Hana informed, and Ino nodded to acknowledge the information she received.

She was pleased it was intimate; that would at least make it special.

She made her way to the Uchiha compound, and towards the clan leader's estate. Sasuke was the one to answer the door, when she knocked.

"He isn't here" he said nonchalantly.

"Can you tell me where I could find him?" she asked in a similar tone.

Usually Ino would be perky, even when dealing with Sasuke and his cold demeanour, but ever since her boyfriend had gone missing, she lost that flare she had.

It made him uncomfortable to deal with her when she was this grave. Sasuke was surrounded by clansmen who displayed a generally indifferent countenance, and he was used to it. So, to be freaked out by Ino displaying a similar characteristic, speaks loudly to him at how fucked up she got after losing her boyfriend.

That was one reason to why he felt uncomfortable around her, it's not like he knew how to console people, nor did she ask him for it either, but he felt the pressure of it all the same. However, the other reason was that her colouring made her indifference even more weird to him. She looked bright in every way, except in her gloomy expression, so it just didn't sit right at all.

Sasuke sighed and said, "Why don't you come inside, Naruto is here too. I'll go get Itachi"

"It's alright, I'll wait right here" she didn't have the energy to deal with Naruto's cheerfulness right now. She just wanted to wallow. She really wasn't herself at all, because if she had been, she would have welcomed his enthusiasm and perhaps even sought it out.

What she wanted was pointless though, because the blond she wanted to avoid had his head popped out from behind Sasuke now, "Ino! Guess you're here for Itachi. I'm so glad he has you, you know."

'Has me?' she thought, and wondered what Naruto meant by that. He must have picked up on her train of thought when he noticed her arched eyebrow, because he then elaborated, "He was really reserved and out of it, but since you've been hanging out with him more, he got better. Well… as good as Itachi can get, I mean he is generally way too reserved, but man he was so much worse when we first heard of Shisui's disappearance. You can cheer up anybody"

"Dumbass, she's having a hard time with this too, she's the one who needs cheering up" Sasuke scolded him, but Ino cut him off and said, "No, that actually helped. Thanks Naruto" and Sasuke wondered how the idiot did it so easily, how did he always know exactly what to say?

He reminded her of who she is. She was someone who would always be there for others. She dreaded what Shisui would think of her if he saw her in this state. Her father, who had shown nothing but understanding towards her, must have been disappointed at her losing herself.

Ino Yamanaka was going to try harder, and she was going to do what she does best. She would be there for Itachi, and make sure they both get through this.

For Shisui…

She smiled at Naruto. It was the first time she smiled in a very long time. It had sort of hurt her jaw a little, but it still felt good.

Sasuke was glad the discomfort he felt was gone, and he reiterated, "Come inside, I'll grab him quickly" and this time Ino accepted.

Itachi was on the cliff by Naka no River, where he and Shisui often hung out. That was where Sasuke would always find him whenever Itachi was nowhere in sight.

"Itachi, she's looking for you" was all he said. Itachi who had been staring into the chasm of the waterfall from the edge of the cliff, made no indication that he had heard his brother. However, Sasuke knew that he had.

The younger Uchiha did not fear that his brother would do something as stupid as end his own life. Itachi just wanted to be close to Shisui in anyway, at least that was what Sasuke discerned.

Moments later, Itachi turned and soon was walking ahead of Sasuke towards their home.

Ino had informed him that they were going to have a night to commemorate Shisui, and they were going to spend it celebrating as Shisui did.

Itachi wanted to skip the whole thing, and thought it ridiculous, but Ino guilted him by saying, "This past year, we did things our way. Maybe it's time we did it his way too… his team needs this as well, if it isn't for us, then let's just show up and do this for team Shisui. He would want that from us"

He couldn't argue with that. She knew him just as well as he had.

He never thought he would ever find himself getting along with her. What's more is that he enjoyed her company… She was a lot like Shisui. It's probably why his best friend was so infatuated with her.

It annoyed him greatly when all they would ever speak about for the longest time, was Ino Yamanaka. Now, he sort of gets it. Ino was a good person, and like him, she loved Shisui truly. He wished he had realized this sooner.

They arrived at the pub and found that everyone else had already been seated at the usual booth.

Hana waved them over.

Fu was seated next to her, so Itachi and Ino took their place next to Ko just opposite of them.

Hana offered them a subtle smile to indicate she was glad they made it, then went on to explain what she had in mind for Shisui's commemoration, "We share stories, but only the lewd or funny ones, and drink to each of those memories"

Fu snickered, "That should be easy enough. Smut was all that ever came out of that asshole's mouth" then stared into particularly nothing with an endearing expression on his face. A moment later he said, "Alright, I'll go first if that's ok" and Hana distributed the shots to everyone seated to signal him to begin.

"We were on this mission in Kumo, we were 15 at the time, and I had the biggest crush on Hana" he placed his arm around her and pulled her closer.

Fu and Hana only got together a few months before Shisui disappeared. She knew about his crush from when they were younger, but she didn't feel the same way then and he hadn't done anything about it. However, when Fu returned after his long mission that led to Ino becoming his temporary replacement, he was different somehow. Hana started flirting with him more, and he felt encouraged enough to ask her out.

"We were running away from this Kumo-nin who discovered us, and eventually we reached this cliff overlooking the sea. Hana suggested we make a swim for it, and so we did."

Ko was snickering, clearly remembering the story Fu was sharing now, "Oh this is a good one" he remarked, and Fu nodded with a smirk on his face and continued, "So we all jumped off the cliff and into the sea, and we swam for the longest time until Ko said it was safe to resurface. Yours truly had the bright idea to take advantage of the situation, so I feigned fatigue and made it seem like I swallowed too much water so that our medic here could give me some lip action."

Hana was already cracking up, and Fu struggled a little to continue between chuckles, but rallied through telling the story anyway, "But Shisui knew what I was doing all along, so he signalled for Hana to stay quiet, and he proceeded to give me mouth-to-mouth." Hana's laugh turned into a guffaw, and Ko had tears streaming down his face.

"I refused to wake up, thinking I'm finally kissing Hana here, but then that bastard starts flicking his tongue down my throat, and I start to get really excited…"

Ino deadpanned, and then burst into a hearty laughter of her own, "No way!" she chimed. "It doesn't end there… I start kissing him back and it wasn't until moments later when I finally opened my eyes that I learn it was him all along. So, I push him off me and yell 'what the fuck, Uchiha!' and that bastard says to me…"

Hana, Ko, and Fu all chime in together "Who knew saving you could be so 'hard'"

When the laughter died down, Ko raised his shot glass and toasted, "To Shisui giving Fu his first kiss and a boner" even Itachi couldn't help but release a muffled chuckle. They downed their shots and went on to the next story.

Ko was next, he was already rubbing a palm down his face at the recollection, "Alright, so this was when we first made genin and taking on a lot of D-ranks. We were helping out this old lady with weeding her garden" and Ino remarked, "that seems harmless enough, what could go wrong with an old lady", and Hana responded, "Oh no situation can be left harmless when Shisui was involved" Ino could have sworn she saw a hint of a smile on Itachi's lips…

"So, we were weeding the garden, but you see this garden shared a fence with a hot spring…"

Everyone guessed where that story was going, because smiles were already plastered on their faces and waiting for the ball to drop.

"… Somehow he managed to convince me to use my Byakugan to confirm that he had heard right that a woman was indeed in trouble and drowning… the old lady caught me, and suffice it to say, I was labelled a pervert and forbidden from going anywhere near a hot spring for a year!"

Hana had been right, the laughing had indeed been remedial and everyone, including Ino and Itachi were feeling better and somehow closer to Shisui. Hana had shared a few stories of her own, and so did Ino. Itachi preferred to just listen to them rather than share any of his own stories.

He wanted to keep his Shisui to himself.

Yes, this recollection of stories had been healing them somehow, yet as the night progressed and they became more intoxicated, the healing factor stopped for Ino and Itachi as they realized they might never make more memories with Shisui again. It made them increasingly aware of the emptiness that was left with him being gone.

That was when Ino decided she had enough with the drinking. She suggested to Itachi that they leave early and go grab a coffee, to which he readily agreed.

They sat in the shop across from each other, taking a few sips of their coffees as they cooled. After a while she gained most of her senses back, and the emptiness she had been feeling was starting to rescind. Itachi was careful not to drink too much, so he was looking better than she did.

The silence between them was turning uncomfortable, regardless of her being used to this with Itachi. The reason it was feeling so awkward was because she was on a mission of her own now. She was going to help them both get through their grief, so she kick-started the conversation, "It must have been difficult for you… hearing all those stories about him"

"I can't imagine it being easier for you." He remarked sympathetically, and she smiled.

Silence had taken over between them once more for what lasted perhaps just moments, but felt longer to them both.

"You're a lot like him…" he remarked with a voice forsaken, and with a whisper "It's sort of comforting" he admitted. He was going to try as well, and this time he would accept Ino's friendship as he should have done before.

It had taken her aback.

She didn't think Itachi viewed her kindly.

"That's the last thing I ever expected you to say. You always seemed so distant with me. If the boundaries you placed could be seen, I suspect the walls would be too many and too thick to penetrate" She said too honestly, which he had appreciated as he said, "Shisui said something similar to me once, yet he succeeded in penetrating every wall I put up" a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

She didn't realize Itachi could smile so openly, well… as openly as Itachi could. 'He looks… handsome when he smiles' she mused, but quickly pushed the thought out of her head and remarked on his claim, "you say I'm very similar to him, but I tried to get closer to you and failed. I guess we weren't as similar as you believed us to be"

Itachi was pensive. After a long moment he spoke again.

"I was jealous… Shisui was the only one in this world who understood me, and I felt like I was losing him. I was foolish, and now it seems I had indeed lost him, and so have you" he sent her an empathetic look.

He was opening up to her… perhaps Naruto was right, and she had been a positive influence on him. Maybe Itachi was right as well, and she was somehow like Shisui. That thought was comforting to her.

Ino nodded and approached Itachi slowly as she announced.

"I'm going to put my arms around you now and pull you into a hug. You don't get to protest, Itachi. You need this just as much as I do." He did look hesitant when she first mentioned the hug, but then he resigned when she had mentioned she needed this.

When she pulled him into an embrace, that warm touch helped ease much of the sorrow he carried. It was… comforting. It felt similar to how he did when Shisui was around.

She really was a lot like him. She exuded warmth…

moments after letting the awkwardness sink in, Itachi eventually reciprocated the embrace. She felt her grief ease just a little. With a heavy sigh of momentous relief, Ino let go of Itachi.

Their eyes met for a brief second, and she smiled at him comfortingly. "See, it's not much but it's a little better."

His lips barely curled at the corners as he slightly nodded once in agreement.

It was the most he had expressed with anyone other than Shisui.

"You haven't shared any stories at the commemoration" she stated matter-of-factly.

"No, I haven't" he confessed, "I'm not really the expressive type"

"I noticed" she said light-heartedly, "Would you be willing to share one with me anyway?"

Itachi nodded then said, "Sure, but first I want to show you a place"

Ino wondered at it, but readily agreed.

Itachi had led Ino towards the Uchiha compound, and later through the Naka Forest. Ino wondered if this was where he often went when she would come looking for him at the estate, so she asked, "Is this where you spend most of your time?" and he answered, "sort of, we're almost there"

Soon enough they emerged from between the shrubs, and Ino was marvelled at the sight of the waterfall beyond the cliff, she hadn't realized such a place had existed in Konohagakure. "Where are we?" she asked, and he said "This is Naka no River, but these grounds belong to the Uchiha clan. Shisui and I would often come here"

She took in the sight of the night sky and noticed how the skyglow didn't reach here; the stars were prominently shining, the moon was full and even looked bigger, and the air was moist from the waters spraying out of the chasm below. It was breath takingly beautiful.

She took in a deep breath, then exhaled it, and when she turned to look at Itachi, it appeared to her that he had been deep within his inner thoughts. That was when it hit her, that Itachi was sharing a very important part of him that only belonged to him and Shisui with her, and that thought filled her with great appreciation towards him.

"Thank you for bringing me here, Itachi" she said, and he turned to meet her gaze as he responded, "You asked me to share a story with you, but talking about it isn't easy for me, so perhaps it's better if I show you" he activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and transported himself and Ino into his Tsukuyomi plane.

"Where are we?" she asked, and he answered her, "You are in my genjutsu. Don't worry, I'm just going to show you a few memories, so my Tsukuyomi wouldn't drain you."

The plane around them was shifting as if she was being transported to some location although she had been standing firmly in place right before Itachi. When the shifting stopped, she noticed that they were now surrounded by the same shrubbery and trees from the forest they walked through.

A short distance away from them was a young-looking Itachi, who had been throwing kunai at several targets placed on surrounding trees and boulders. He must have been only six years old, but damn was he incredible at throwing kunai. Itachi was performing air flips as he threw each one of his kunai which had all met their target's bullseye. "Impressive" Ino chimed, "I didn't think you were one to boast, though" she jeered, but he directed her gaze towards a point between the trees in response and said, "look over there" and as her gaze met the parting in the trees where he had gestured towards, a young looking Shisui had emerged.

~Well done, Itachi. I guess you really are a genius~ Little Shisui called out to him

"This was the day we became friends" Itachi supplied.

~I'm still no match for Shunshin no Shisui~ young Itachi returned with a smile.

"You seem more cheerful, at that age" Ino remarked, "Shisui though, he hadn't changed at all. It's like m- our Shisui in a compact size" she chuckled, and he smiled.

"I was being groomed into becoming the next clan leader. Back then I thought the responsibility meant I needed to be the best at everything, and in some ways it did, but as I grew older, I started to see things for what they really were. Shisui was the only one who understood this, the only one who understood me" he remarked, as his genjutsu now showed a young Itachi meeting Shisui at the cliff they were presently at.

~Here again~ Shisui called out as he approached little Itachi sitting by the cliff, ~are you avoiding home again? ~ he asked, and little Itachi nodded.

"I know a little about that" she said, referring to being a clan heir herself, "but, I'm lucky that my dad doesn't pressure me like the other clan heirs have been pressured. The elders don't like that though, they're seriously old fashioned"

"Ah, yes, the elders… I can't imagine yours are stricter or more outdated in their thinking than the Uchihas, as Shisui once put it…" Itachi remarked and changed the genjutsu into another memory of Shisui mocking their clan's elders.

~They're so old, that even sex probably changed twice over since they last had it~

Ino chuckled at that… That was her Shisui. Cruder and lewder than anyone she'd ever met.

Itachi showed her a few more memories before ending the genjutsu. They were back by the cliff, and Ino found herself asking, "Is that what you see when your thoughts drift inwards?" her tone empathetic.

Itachi nodded his head so subtly, that she had almost missed it. She was just as observant as his best friend had been.

She placed an arm around his waist and moved in closer to give him a half hug and rested her head on his arm just below his shoulder, which he had been too high for her head to reach.

Itachi, finding this embrace comforting, had leaned into it and placed an arm around her shoulders and leaving her head to rest on the right side of his chest. This was the moment Itachi and Ino had truly become friends…

Author's Note:

Heads up, this is going to be a slow burn love. There are illustrations on Ao3, if you want to take a look at the art, my handle is Ladypearl7 on Ao3, more details on my profile.

Next Chapter:

"Memories of love and friendship" I will post this tomorrow.

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-LP