I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 15

Itachi entered the first room. Kanna lay dreamless and resting. She would have survived the fitful episode if the Rokudaime had only endured the feverish dreams.

A parent's worry was endless. Kakashi chose to transport her and left. Perhaps because Itachi possessed the sharingan. Or, because it was as the Rokudaime claimed, and his chakra brought Kanna a measure of comfort.

In the morning she awoke well, unbothered at waking in his room. He brought a light breakfast, as she used to do for him, and sat to watch her eat.

"Won't you have some?"

"I ate while I prepared the meal."

"Really?"

"Really," he said gently, flattered by the limitless consideration.

Kanna smiled and resumed drinking from the miso bowl. "Kaasan does that sometimes."

"Does she?"

She took a moment and looked at the wall across from the futon. The edge of the bowl pressed against her bottom lip in contemplation.

"Yes," she said, eyes shining. "She does."

It was true, Itachi discovered many things in her subconscious. The private knowledge was likely the true reason she was left in his care. He was able to steer her thoughts to the benefit of her health.

"I will wait to eat at mealtimes," he offered. "So that we might be together."

There, on her nose, a rosy hue spread. Even so, it might have been wiser to drop her off at the Yamanaka compound.

In the afternoon her brothers brought many things: clothes and frivolous oddities. Packed by their mother, they informed Itachi needlessly, as they hovered by the engawa. The young men stood at the end of the steps, errand complete, and hesitant to go.

Itachi remembered Kanna's blood aversion. Two months she had thought her father dead. She had not been permitted to see him, so her imagination ran wild.

What, then, had her brothers thought, when Kakashi was hidden from them? They would have been young. Perhaps too young to remember in detail. Only that their father was not home, and all was not quite normal.

Unlike what Kakashi's body had suffered, Kanna's was fine. She had retained some muscle and fat during her rehabilitation. Itachi had no qualms about putting her brothers at ease.

"She is sleeping," Itachi said to them, "would you like to see her?"

Their eyes became wide at the offer. They were no longer boys, but experienced chunin. Their bodies had changed over the last two years. They were taller than their sister now, shoulders and chest widened by the beginnings of manhood. But in their aspect, they were still the younger brothers of a most precious sister.

Itachi led them to the threshold of the room. He slid the shoji door without a sound, opening the scene.

Daiki squinted his glassy eyes. "Nechan's gotten older."

"Yeah," Satomi said. He reached up and ruffled his brother's hair. Daiki had grown taller since last Itachi saw them together.

"We should have been there for her."

Satomi glanced at Itachi. "What are you saying? We would have just gotten in the way." When Daiki wiped his face, Satomi sighed. "It'll be okay."

Lost time. What was Kanna's original lifespan? Four years was nothing if she was to live a hundred years. Or was her spirit fated to be taken to heaven's bosom while still young? A few years, then, was a great deal of time.

Kanna slept often. Itachi abandoned resting in the living area. She would leave the room throughout the night and lay beside him on the tatami. To avoid the spectacle, he purchased a second futon and placed it at a reasonable distance from hers, for what the small room allowed. If the Rokudaime caught wind of the arrangement, surely, he would understand.

The Rokudaime's wife bathed her daughter until she was sure Kanna could do it herself. She regularly dispatched her sons, bearing dinner, and oftentimes, with Hiroyuki on their hip. Her family visited in parts, to prevent overcrowding and overstimulation.

Kanna's mother made it a point to convey sincere gratitude before every departure. Itachi fought off the assortment of sentiments her words often prompted.

In the early morning, hours before the light of day, Kanna smiled in the dark at Itachi, as he watched her from his futon.

She reached out, closer than she should be, and touched his cheek. Her desire was evident. Surely his gaze was no different.

Itachi closed his eyes then. "We are not married."

The first time he told her this she cried, but tonight she simply stared at him until, slowly, she retracted her hand and apologized.

"It's fine."

Nights were difficult.

She was well during the day, reading books and preparing calligraphy, but if she awoke in the middle of the night, her drowsy mind would get confused again, reaching out to him.

The workers on the new construction plot continued to dig an outline for sewage pipes. They hadn't started too long ago. The project was essentially on forsaken land so there was a lot to do. Connecting pipes to the village's eastern water supply and all that. The spring's fire in district 150 had cut out quite a bit of work for everyone in the business.

Toshiro, a man in a hard hat with a white mustache, approached the dirt road. There was a young man that had come every day the last week. It was always his philosophy to come right out and say what needed to be said. No time to waste.

His employees had been uncomfortable since the young men just stood there for the better part of the day with unblinking red eyes.

"Hello there, youngster."

"Good morning."

"Sure is," Toshiro mumbled. Odd fellow. Eerie, those eyes. Shinobi. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"I'd like to work."

"Err—um. Are you qualified?"

"I am not. I have read texts on the eastern infrastructure and have observed you." Okay. "I've grasped the fundamentals."

"Listen here, boy," the sun kissed man harrumphed. "We're a small business and can't afford a shinobi. Certainly not one with fancy eyes like yours."

"I will work for free."

"Hmm," changing his tune, Toshiro played with one end of his mustache, "free, you say? What'd you say your name was?"

"Uchiha Itachi."

"Woochihua?" Someone called from the site. "Coulda sworn them eyes were Hyuga."

In the first room, Kanna was with her mother, sorting through some belongings. Kakashi walked the field with his three sons. It gave the women space in the small home.

"Why is she here?" Sasuke sat at the ground table with Itachi. All the shoji doors were open to welcome the autumn breeze.

"The Rokudaime left her in my care."

"Kakashi?" Sasuke was perplexed and glanced toward the field. "What's changed?"

"You must know, little brother."

"I…I don't understand you half as much as I'd like," Sasuke looked somewhat uncomfortable to admit it, "I know what you have allowed me to know." Thoughtfully, he added, "This isn't out of guilt, is it?"

Itachi considered his sibling. He had just cause for questioning his motives. He had hidden many truths from his brother, only for him to unearth them despite Itachi's many reservations.

"You are a married man," Itachi said, "You know something of these things."

Surprised, Sasuke's eyebrows rose and then, the man smirked. He opted to drink his tea instead of commenting.

Not until Kanna was dying in his arms did it occur to Itachi that he would give anything to have her live. And so, what measure did a sordid, future confrontation with a child really hold? Compared to the death of the one he loved.

How apt that love would overcome fear. It was a pity the revelation had not come sooner. He knew he was the cause of many tears shed. Kanna had loved him dearly, yet he had not realized the breadth of it, nor wanted to, letting fear disrupt their mutual affection.

Itachi looked to the open field, to the score Kakashi begun with his restless sons. They chased and often threw Hiroyuki in the air. It was easy to find joy in family even during difficult times.

It was how it ought to be.

"If there are more sharingan out there," Itachi said, "there is value in having our clan rise again." Sasuke and Itachi would not live forever, and so who then would stop powerful genjutsu? The responsibility could not fall solely on his nieces.

Sasuke considered it. "I see your point. But there is more to having a family than that."

"I know it," Itachi admitted.

Kanna curled up at his side while he slept. Itachi sat up before she kissed him. His hand settled on her shoulder.

"We are not married—" He had become accustomed to her presence at night.

"I know, Itachi. I know." So why then—?

He considered her. She was half on his lap, parted lips, and pupils dilated. Her favored nightshirt was oversized. The gapping neckline exposed her collarbone and a slender shoulder. His hand slid down and pulled her shirt up, but it only exposed the other shoulder. Her hair fell and flowed around them in a radiant curtain.

She was older, and more beautiful. Her body had long since retained a proper diet.

She closed her eyes and leaned her chin toward him. "Kiss me," she said. "Like you used to."

His lips touched her forehead. "Will this suffice?"

"No," her voice trembled, on the verge of tears.

Itachi embraced her then, intending to bring her a form of the comfort she desired, hoping to assuage his own guilt. "Please forgive me," he pleaded. He held her to his chest, and she wrapped an arm around his waist.

They needed more time. So often she had been the one to stop his physical advances, and now she initiated them.

"We're supposed to…" She was confused again.

"I am not that Itachi."

"Don't say that," she whimpered. "It was your genjutsu. Yours."

She was right. It had been his illusion the moment he stepped into it. He could have done anything. But she had influenced it as much as he had, if not more. He had guided the illusion around her fantasies, not his. She had to be the one to break from the genjutsu, not him.

He tried to coax her back into her own futon, to sleep, but she was inconsolable at the suggestion, wrought with a longing that had multiplied in a false world.

He gathered her up in his arms again, burying his face against the crown of her head, his fingers entangling in her hair. She parted enough to gaze at him and wiggled an arm free from between them. Her fingertips touched his chin. They ran up his jaw, touching him in soft taps as she once had in the forest. She brushed his shortened hair form his eyes.

She slept in his futon, much as they had in the illusion's timeline. It was all Itachi could do outside of bolting out of Shisui's house like madman.

Kanna's parents or Sai's team usually stayed with her while Itachi was away, but today Sarutobi Mirai had been given clearance. Kanna made Itachi wait with her by the tree at the mouth of the field. The moment her friend approached the women erupted into girlish squeals.

Itachi silently stood by as they excitedly talked over one another. They held on to each other's arms and leaned their faces close.

"You're older than me now," Sarutobi commented, touching Kanna's hair, "but not too much. You still look like yourself."

Kanna did well—it was in no small part due to studious effort. And a great deal to do with Itachi's initial hand in disrupting the Tsukuyomi, as he was so often reminded by her family.

Sarutobi displayed signs of distrust toward Itachi. Avoiding eye contact. Stiffness. Her typical demeanor seemed to have devolved into apathy. He had been given a brief greeting before the women made their way toward the house.

She left in the afternoon when he returned. Kanna was napping so Sarutobi felt no need to uphold niceties and simply walked by him without a word. He watched the chunin go with little reaction. It was unfortunate that her opinion of him had soured, if only for Kanna's sake. It would not be too long before she noticed if she had not already. Kanna was mannerly, not blind.

When he entered the house, Kanna called for him.

He quietly sat by her side. She touched his hand while her other hand rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Did you work very hard today?" Her voice was groggy.

"It went well," he said. "But I am filthy." He thought she ought to know as she continued to touch his hand and forearm.

A small grin touched her mouth. "You smell bad too."

Itachi stood and made toward the washroom. Although he had left her laughing, he felt faintly embarrassed by her remark and wished to rectify it.

He was pleased that after washing, Kanna had set the low table in the living area.

"Kaasan taught me how to make this yesterday," she shared as he joined her.

Itachi watched as she daintily tucked hair behind both ears before she grabbed the ladle from the stone pot. She poured broth in his bowl. The udon noodles and tofu floated up. She then sprinkled scallions and bonito flakes over his bowl. A serving of steaming white rice and broccoli accompanied the meal.

His mouth watered. He placed a hand over the chopsticks. "Thank you."

A sad smile overtook her. "You've been taking care of me. I know it hasn't been easy…for anyone." Her expression became wistful.

"You are not a burden." He thought she should know. "All your life you have catered to others. Let the favor be returned."

Her familiar blush began at her nose and spread to her cheeks. He hoped she would say no more of it. Guilt would do her no favors.

During the meal, she debated attending the fall festival. Sarutobi reminded her of it even though the Hatake family had made sure not to bring it up for the exact reason. "I'd like to go. My brothers play the taiko drums. They do every…year…" She lost confidence as Itachi's gaze turned skeptical the more she talked.

"You are not ready."

"I can do it," she softly insisted.

"It is this weekend." He did not wish to fight.

Kanna frowned, unhappy with his estimation. "I am going."

He gently placed his rice bowl down. "What will you do if you become ill?" The lights and activities could trigger an unfavorable episode. Surely the festivals had only grown in splendor since his last life.

"I won't." She had already decided.

Itachi's gaze narrowed. "You are not a burden, but if you are reckless, then you will be."

She slammed her chopsticks down and stormed to the room. He reached for his rice again when suddenly she stomped back into the living area.

"Will you come with me or not?" she demanded quite fiercely.

"You've given me no choice," he said just as irritated.

She spun around hotly and went back to the room.

Kanna and her mother were inside, helping one another put the finishing touches on their wardrobe. The festivities had already begun. The steady beat of drums occasionally hummed through the air.

Itachi waited outside in plain clothes.

"I told you she wasn't easy," Kakashi mumbled, tossing a paper ball to Hiroyuki. They both wore gray yukata and were mirrors of each other. The child even wore a mask.

Itachi addressed the older man. "She is being stubborn."

Shrugging, the Rokudaime caught the ball and told his son to go long. The boy scrambled to catch it. "She's all smiles and cotton candy until you try to stop her from doing what she wants to do."

It was true. When had Kanna's kind nature prevented her from getting what she wanted? Had it ever really stopped her from attaining her goals? Undoubtedly it hindered her, but it did not stunt her growth. It was often commendable, but today it was frustrating. Her father was very familiar with that side of her.

"What should I have done?" He asked because he did not know what else to do.

Itachi was surprised when the former Hokage clasped him on the shoulder. Hiroyuki entertained himself and ran around, throwing the ball high up and caught it every time.

"I thought you'd never ask, son," Kakashi said with smiling eyes. "You can't just tell a woman no. You must give her options."

"Options."

Kakashi tapped the side of his temple with two fingers. "Options."

"We're ready!" Ayame-dono stepped down the engawa with her daughter following behind. They were both dressed smartly. The honorable wife's obi was white over green, and Kanna's was yellow over a deep blue yukata.

The Rokudaime approached his wife. "What a sight for sore eyes."

Kanna's mother became radiant. "Shall we go?"

Kakashi offered his arm and then whistled and motioned for their son to follow. The boy ran up to his mother, wanting to be carried but the Rokudaime denied him. "Hold her hand instead," he said, and the boy listened to his father, the ball under his other arm.

"We'll see you two later!" Ayame-dono called over her shoulder.

Itachi peered at Kanna. Her hair was tied up formerly and from her hands a small round satchel hung over her lap.

After a lingering silence, she made to go. Itachi gently pried one of her hands into his.

Instantly her eyes moistened and he brought his other hand up to wipe a tear. "You are lovely," he said.

She gasped lightly, staring up at him in wonder. "You're not upset with me anymore?"

"No," he admitted, "I rather not be."

"I just want to see my brothers."

"I know it."

"What now?" she asked, sincerely wanting to make amends.

"I will willingly accompany you if you indulge me," he said, "let us stay on the outskirts of the festival, and only venture in to see your brothers."

Kanna pursed her lips together. "Itachi—"

"I worry for you." His thumb brushed her cheek. "Please."

"Okay," she softened before his eyes. "We can do that."

The Hatake brothers wore short, festive colored yukatas and strode on the raised platform in typical bravado. It was to the crowd's great amusement when feminine squeals erupted. Satomi slid a hand through shoulder length hair, conjuring a wave of sighs. Daiki grinned at his brother and disrobed, wearing nothing but a fundoshi. The discarded yukata was held ardently by a crying girl.

Cheers and laughter filled the air. Somewhere in the crowd the Rokudaime was pinching his nose and Tsubame was rolling her eyes.

Kanna gasped. "Oh Daiki!"

Itachi led her to raised benches close by, where it was not too congested. The spectators preferred standing closer to the stage.

The Hatake brothers threw their bachi sticks up in the air. They elaborately twirled high in the air but once they were caught a serious, somber drumming began. The pulse quickened into heightened levels, exciting the masses. The performance was impressive despite the theatrics, Itachi relayed to Kanna, who only giggled at his analytical observations.

After the show, Soota and Sarutobi found them. Together they left the crowds.

"Who was her father?" Itachi asked Soota when Mirai pulled Kanna away to a water balloon yoyo stand.

"Sarutobi Asuma," the Anbu provided. Seeing the dark change in the older man's expression, he added, "does it bother you to be indirectly involved in his death?"

"It is unfortunate." Another blight. Sarutobi Asuma's death had been regrettable. If only he had encountered Itachi and Kisame instead. It was a morbid day when the Akatsuki's plans affected his village's people.

Soota crossed his arms. He had visited in uniform often. The captain disguise disabled the stationed black ops from commenting. He was a respected shinobi and friend. Soota closed one eye to peer at the Uchiha. "The Rokudaime killed my father."

Itachi looked at him then.

"We're all better for it, ya know. I met him once. Not all dad's are good guys." That was unfortunately very true.

Days after the festival, during a time when Kanna rested inside, the Uchiha brothers disputed over a long-awaited topic. Itachi had to lead his brother far from the house. Sasuke brought up it was time Itachi take his place as the clan head now that he was willing to marry (after he paraded around the festival holding the honorable daughter's hand).

They had both been taken aback at Itachi's prompt, vehement refusal.

"It is your duty," Sasuke reminded him of the many assembly meetings he had missed, "And your responsibility. You are the strongest. The other clans have asked about it. They want you. Now that the other villages know you're alive, I think this is best for our family." News certainly traveled fast.

"You have been more than capable."

"No, I have not. The clans know it and Kakashi knows it. But you were born for this."

"What do you want from me?"

"Stop denying yourself," Sasuke countered, a tremor in his voice. "You'll drag that girl down with you." His brother was on the verge of emotion and it troubled Itachi. "Look within yourself once more, please."

Itachi had to turn from the man. His head hung and his hands were on his hips, thinking, contemplating, trying to revolutionize something, anything within himself so that his brother never again had such a reaction because of him.

He breathed in deeply. "My priority right now is her."

"I know it is," Sasuke stated with a wry laugh, "Everyone knows it. I just thought you should start thinking about it now. I don't want to overwhelm you."

Itachi turned to his brother, sincerely saying, "Let me have this time with her, as she heals. Come spring I will give you and the village an answer."

Sasuke easily walked forward and embraced him. "I will wait for it then." Their ears pressed together. Itachi closed his eyes at the familiar warmth of a most beloved brother. "They are not unreasonable. Much has changed in twenty years. And I believe in you."

The leaves had all fallen and winter came. Itachi knew Kanna had long since recovered and had come to reality in the evenings. It was now only a matter of having a difficult conversation where she would be sent home. He would then take the proper steps forward. He would build a house and then they could marry. She would have to understand what was expected if he took the mantle of clan head.

As Itachi and Kanna prepared their futons next to each other, he finally suggested she return home. She slapped him. He'd seen it coming but had not stopped it.

However, he did not count on the sudden arousal that overcame him. He was upon her then, kissing her fiercely and sliding his hands up her shirt.

How long had he held himself back? Having her near his bed every night for months.

She responded too immediately to his caresses, moaning at every pinch and squeeze, as if every exchange from the very real contact rectified the garbled illusions of them. Or justified them—Itachi did not know anymore.

In the genjutsu, despite their short marriage, Itachi warped a frayed first night together. The incomplete, ambiguous night would be repeated anytime she tried to be intimate with him. The coldness of it had ultimately been what brought Kanna's deliverance.

The perversion of love had been his last resort because Hatake Kanna had become too enamored with living as the wife of a clan head. He tried to coax her out of the dream by having her long for her beloved family. Although she had missed them, she would dismiss it in favor of being near to a stoic husband.

It was the same now, when offered to return to her family's side, she chose him. Foolish woman.

"I-Itachi," she stuttered as he wrenched her shorts down.

Although he'd never been with a woman, he was no stranger to arousal or the casual musings of what exploits he might enjoy. He was still a man and Kanna was a beautiful woman who had cleaved to him for the past season.

She shared his sleeping space and food and soap. She relentlessly tried to crawl into his futon and told him she loved him. At first, he thought she was unable to help herself, but as she recovered from duality, she did not stop confessing such things—so now he did not know what was becoming of them, or how he should proceed.

Such was the power of the sharingan.

A still small voice with a partiality toward goodness, reminded him that Kanna had loved him before the Mock-Tsukuyomi. That their union was predestined. Even so, his propriety and plans for their future seemed ridiculous when faced with the nakedness of a woman.

The tips of his fingers pressed into the backs of her thighs, indenting her white flesh as he fully slid his palms up behind her knees. He pushed her legs back and tested how far she could go until her knees touched her shoulders. She was completely exposed this way.

Kanna moaned as his hot breath hovered over her. How submissive, he thought. How flexible.

Not much different than a cursed animal cleaning its cub, Itachi dragged his tongue over her. Again, he applied pressure and Kanna began to hum. He stopped at the top of her.

"I have nothing to give you," he said and indulged her with pleasure.

Kanna thrashed under him. Those were not sounds of repulsion, he knew. He doubled his efforts. Her head whipped back and forth in delirium.

His lips hovered above her for a moment. "You have trapped me."

He used a forearm to keep her knees up. His other hand positioned itself under his mouth, a finger finding her. He lovingly traced her. Kanna started to push her hips up the moment he tested the pressure needed to penetrate.

Despite the rigged resistance, he managed. Liquid fire poured into his palm.

Her expression was one of pain and pleasure as he touched her, opening her. He tasted iron and her sweet femininity as she came undone with a sharp cry.

Itachi sat back on his heels. Hatake Kanna made an alluring image. She was naked from the waist down, thighs resting over his. Her hands were folded over her groin in embarrassment. Itachi wiped his chin with the back of his hand.

She blushed as he offered a blanket.

"Forgive me." His cheek stung from her earlier assault. His retaliation had been inappropriate.

"U-um, it's okay, Itachi-kun," she said, frazzled at the sudden passion, adding an honorific she'd never used before.

He remained staring at her and kept to himself. She slowly sat up, holding the blanket over her hips to avoid further exposure. She half turned from him, legs folded. His eyes traced the curve of her changed body, from her neck to the soles of her feet.

"Please… don't kick me out."

"I won't." How could he after what he had just done? He had half a mind to marry her tomorrow before more transpired. And undoubtedly more would.

She still wished to rest beside him, despite his lack of propriety. Or perhaps it was retribution, Itachi thought as he stared at the ceiling, and Kanna lightly snored beside him.

They next day Itachi walked home from the construction side. He crossed paths with the Hyuga head in a step-in-ally. The men greeted each other with a slight nod, as was typical from the pride of clan heads. Though Itachi was aware, it was upon Sasuke's reluctant shoulders who currently manned the assembly's proceedings.

"Good evening," Hiashi said, the lines near his eyes creasing a bit. "Have you met my granddaughter?" A girl in a yellow sweater and short black hair peeked from behind him. In Kanna's memories, he knew this was the Nanadaime's daughter. Her eye color was not quite Hyuga.

"I have not," Itachi said, acknowledging the girl. "Good evening."

"Your manners, Himawari."

"Good evening!" The girl bowed deeply. A wicker basket with a lift-off lid dangled from her small hands.

"Very good," the Hyuga head said, resting a hand on the girl. "It has come to my attention that you shall be wed soon. You have my compliments." Himawari looked between the two men, aglow with excitement at the thought of weddings.

Itachi, unaware of how such a thing was known, let nothing of his wonder show. As an alternative, he accepted the congratulations with reserved coolness. He wondered what his intended would think where she to discover the world's presumptions.

Before they parted, the girl scurried to Itachi's side and presented the basket. "Would you like a kitten? It's the last one. Ojīsama says he can't keep them because he's too old to take care of others, and that others should take care of him now." Himawari cupped her hand around her mouth as if to tell a secret. "My auntie says he's just grown lazy in old age."

Surprise did strike Itachi then. He glanced at the Hyuga head, whom he was sure was attempting not to laugh.

Curious, Itachi opened the lid. Inside lay a bundled up, white kitten. He thought of Kanna's hair.

"It's a girl cat." She said it proudly with two missing teeth. "You can keep the basket."

"Child," Hiashi called, "you shouldn't pester the man."

"It is fine." Itachi took the basket. "Thank you. We will take good care of it."

The girl ran along and grabbed her grandfather's awaiting hand. The two departed with goodbye waves. Itachi looked at the wicker basket, hoping the gift would further animate Kanna.

She loved it. The animal itself was quite taken with Kanna and never left her side. Suitably, the small cat was of a gentle nature despite its age and caused no trouble. It often slept in its basket that smelled of its litter or on Kanna's lap. Itachi himself made it a point it slept between them during the evenings.