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

Characters age:

Akane: 11 (44)

Itachi: 11 (28)

Shisui: 15

Naruto / Sasuke: 6

Kakashi: 20

Itachi fell on his bed with a sigh. Ever since he had his sharingans, with three tomoes, the Elders and his clan were more on his heels than before. His father was less, but them? Yes. They were saying he'd give a new shine to the Uchiha name, bring glory back to them within Konoha. It was exhausting. The Uchiha clan needed to be part of Konoha to sustain themselves, and both the clan and the village's executives had to understand that. Of course, it required kicking prejudices out the window, and he was counting on Minato for that.

He leaned on his hands, looking t the picture on his desk. His mother had taken both him and Akane to take one once they had their flak jacket. The Uzumaki was pulling on his cheek with a mischievous grin on her face.

He had seen her. He wasn't expecting to, he had not even told her about the party. It was official, boring, he knew she wouldn't feel comfortable. If anything, he had hoped to celebrate his birthday later in a more intimate way, with just her, or their siblings, something like this.

She was gone the next time he tried to find her and Sasuke in the crowd. It was weird. He had been happy to see her there in spite of his worries about his clan eating her alive, but then she was gone? He had asked his mom, and she did not know where she had gone to, asking him if her surprise was making him happy.

His mom was trying to do the right thing, but he wasn't sure if bringing Akane in a room full of sharks resenting her clan was a good idea.

"Nii-san?"

"Come in Sasuke." His brother came in, a dirty gift in his hands. He closed the door but remained silent in front of him. "What is it Sasuke? What are you holding?" He glanced at it, then back to the door. "Sasuke?"

"Don't tell Nee-san," he asked him immediately. "She didn't want me to tell Father but didn't say anything about you but…" Itachi shot a closer look at the gift. It looked like the blue gift he had glimpsed Akane holding earlier.

"I won't say a word to her, promise." His brother still looked unsure. "Sasuke, what happened to the present?"

"Nee-san left and I followed her. I hid when I saw…older boys messing with her." Itachi frowned and leaned on his thighs, listening closely. "They were making fun of her and calling her a foreigner, saying she will never really be one of us or something. Then they stomped on it," he said, showing the gift. "The other one grabbed her by her hair and punched her in the cheek. I think they hurt her jaw again."

"I see," he said coldly. "Do you think you could recognize these boys?" Sasuke nodded. "Then I have a mission for you Sasuke."

"A mission?"

"Find who they are and then tell me. Don't let them know you're onto them and don't do anything. You know who they are, you come straight to me."

"What are you going to do?" Sasuke gulped when he saw the dark look in his brother's gaze.

The second he had his hands on them he'd make them pay. Who did they think they were? Itachi knew his clan wasn't a fan of his friendship with Akane, but he had never thought they would be dumb enough to raise a hand against her. Why had she not fought back though?

Itachi poked his brother on the forehead when he noticed the worried look on his face.

"I'll handle it, just do this for me, okay?" He nodded but still looked worried.

"Nee-san is going to be okay? She seemed…very sad." Itachi sighed a little.

"Be an awesome little brother to her, okay?" Sasuke nodded and left.

What was it with people telling Akane she didn't belong in Konoha? He was aware of discrimination, but straight-up xenophobia? It was an issue. He knew Shinko had had issues when she first arrived in Konoha, but it got better. Was it the Uzumaki lineage? Or her connection to Minato? Did people think she was favored, which was true to a point, but still? Or did they think it wasn't fair someone who was an 'orphan' didn't struggle much? Did they know about her Hyouton, was it the reason? Did they not like her because she was from Kiri?

It was not fair, Akane had never done anything to them. If anything, she could start resenting them.

Itachi carefully opened the gift. There was a black box, the lid deformed because of the stomping. What could Akane have possibly gotten him?

He blinked, stunned, at the broken ice sculpture inside. He didn't understand, why would she not give it to him? He remembered her saying it was special in her clan, he knew how much he had wanted one ever since. His heart was beating wildly in his chest and his cheeks were burning, so why would she not give it to him? Was she embarrassed to do it in front of everybody? He wouldn't have enjoyed it either, but then she could have gone upstairs and waited, or leave it in his room?

He could see it was a raven, but the head was separated from the body, which was in several pieces. There was a seal on it, probably to keep it from melting. The sculpture was probably the size of his hand and not even cold the touch.

The next day, he went to visit her, the present in his bag. He had noticed the tiniest details; she had obviously spent a lot of time on it. She probably could fix it as well. He was hesitant on using glue because he didn't want to ruin the whole thing.

"Hello Itachi," Kushina greeted him. "Do you want to see Akane?" He nodded. "She's in her room. She dislocated her jaw again after falling down some stairs in the village, so she's resting."

"Did she go to the hospital?" The Uzumaki nodded, her fists on her hips.

"You bet she did dattebane! The nurse scolded her for an hour straight!" She closed the door behind him. "You know the way."

"Thank you." He was quickly knocking on her door. "Akane, it's me."

"Itachi? Huh…gimme a second!" He heard her pacing in her room before she opened her door, her hair a mess and her skin flushed. She had a black strap around her face keeping her jaw in place. "Hey."

"It's…nice." She deadpanned at him.

"I look like a chocolate egg," she replied, letting him in. He glanced at the desk when she closed the door. It was covered in papers, scrolls, papers, and erasers.

"Are you working on something?"

"I'm always working on something."

"Like what?"

"Meh, I don't feel like boring you with details." He wanted to know though. "Do you know more about the village?"

"Oh, not yet it's not why I'm here." She blinked.

"Oh right!" She grabbed something blue from her closet and handed it to him with a small smile. He blinked at it. It was a birthday gift, with the same wrapping paper. "Here, I didn't give it to you yesterday."

"It's…my birthday present?" he asked, taking it slowly.

"Well yeah, what else could it be?" The one in his bag felt heavier. He wasn't sure he was understanding what was going on. "Open it!" He did, finding what looked like her medical seals. "It's very useful when you don't have a medic. External bleeding, diagnostic, a few to extract poison as long as it's not completely mixed with your blood…"

"When did you make them?"

"Well, I thought it would be a good gift, when I was in the hospital, I asked the medic to help me."

"Hn." She furrowed her brows.

"You don't like it. Again."

"No, I do like it, it's just…when I saw you yesterday, I thought the shape of the present was different, that's all." It was small, but she tensed for a micro-second.

"Well, I felt sick quickly so maybe you've seen it wrong." He looked at her in the eyes. Her gaze was not wavering.

"You must be right."

She was lying. She was lying straight to his face and not wavering. She was pretending the seals were his present when…Why did she not want him to know about the raven? It was thoughtful, and personal, he loved it more than the other gifts only aimed at making a good shinobi out of him. The raven was for him, with no hidden purpose.

"My mother told me she invited you."

"She did. You…you didn't know, did you?" He shook his head. She sighed. "Sorry, I shouldn't have come. I mean, you didn't invite me so sorry."

"You don't have to apologize," he said with a straight face. The air between them was awkward for a few seconds. "What happened to your jaw?"

"Well, I left because I felt sick and tripped in the stairs in the village. I dislocated my jaw again because I can be a klutz." She was lying about this too then.

She was lying about her gift, about being bullied by members of his own clan…he was confused. Why would she keep this to herself? He wouldn't pity her or anything, so why…

"Oh, and happy birthday, of course," she added with a cute smile.

"Thank you." He hugged her tightly, his cheek on her shoulder.

"Itachi?"

"Thank you for the seals, but I want this too." She chuckled and hugged him back.

"Of course." Her hug was warm and comforting, like always. He felt like he was home.

Yet, in a corner of his mind, he wondered if it was still the same for her. She was lying to him…to protect his feelings? Keep him from worrying?

At least he was sure of one thing. If some members of his clan were ready to raise their hand against her, he would not ask for her help for the possible coup. He would not willingly put her in the crossfire. He would keep her from it and protect her.

He would not let his clan stain and hurt his love more than they already had.

He leaned his forehead against hers.

"Are you okay?" she asked him in a concerned whisper. He nodded, a lump in his throat.

How many conversations should they have had by now he had happily run from?

"I have found things." Itachi and I were at our spot. It was happening less often now because of our respective schedules, but we were finding time to meet each other here. "This village you said you went to, Ine?"

"Yeah?"

"It's a ghost town." I furrowed my brows. "It has been for a few weeks. There was a mysterious epidemy and it killed every villager."

"But…but I went to the inn, there were people working there, I know it!" He raised his hand.

"I believe you Akane. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Orochimaru." I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Maybe he was testing you in a stressful situation, I don't know but…it seems like this whole mission was fake."

"Minato-san gave me the mission, he wouldn't…"

"Maybe he was tricked too. It's easy to give fake information if you control everyone there. The ranking doesn't match the mission description anyway." I stood up. "What are you doing?"

"Taking it to the Boss!" I kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you!"

I waited a little to be able to see Minato-san. He didn't seem surprised to see me.

"Let me guess, Itachi told you what he found out about your mission."

"Huh…yeah. How…"

"He is good, but it doesn't mean I wouldn't notice someone snooping around." I pursed my lips. "The village you went to has been abandoned a few weeks ago because of an epidemy. Orochimaru-san told me you were drugged and delusional for the whole mission and he left you at an actual inn to be safe."

"It's not true at all." He stood up.

"I know. Just like I have a feeling this 'epidemy' was the sad result of bad experimentations he tried to get rid of. This man you say you faced; I think he was a guinea pig who tried to flee or who was sent to fight against you."

"But why? I mean…" There was a flash of white in my mind, a mask.

"Did you remember something?"

"I don't…I don't think so…"

"If it's similar to an anbu mask, I'd like to know." I widened my eyes, which made him sigh. He leaned against his desk. "I see."

"What's going on?"

"Danzou has officially requested you to join his Root." I gaped. "If him and Orochimaru-san had a deal going on…I wouldn't be surprised if I was tricked by false information coming from the Land of Rice Danzou and his men were actually sending."

"Well, he is asking at least."

"Because I'm the Hokage, nothing more, nothing less. He knows if he didn't and you suddenly disappeared, I would come for him immediately. Here, he gave some arguments that were not that bad."

"Such as?"

"Such as, with you being born abroad from foreign clans, it would be easier to protect Konoha from the shadows." It was not that stupid. "It doesn't mean you should though and…"

"Hey, we talked about this already. I'll do it." He furrowed his brows at me and crouched in front of me.

"I don't want you to do it Akane, who knows what he's expecting from you. He might ask you to spy on Itachi, or Shisui, or me for that matter, it's a lot."

"I know, but if it is necessary then I'll do it. Someone has to."

I didn't want to be a spy, but I mean, if it could help with future situations…I couldn't let Danzou dig his teeth in Itachi or steal Shisui's eye.

Oh dear, Shisui's eye. Well, of course I had to join it now.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am. But you might want to put Itachi in the Anbu, at least until we know his clan isn't going to stage a coup. If he realizes I'm in Root, he will find everything out."

"And it is a bad thing because…?"

"I'm not letting him turn himself into a martyr," I said with firm determination. "He was used as pawn his whole life before, so if I can help him and make him live his life for himself, then I will." He was quiet, contemplating my words. "And, as much as I'd like to believe Root is necessary for Konoha's well-being, a tree with rotten roots will die and fall. Might as well try to get rid of him for good."

"They have a seal." I blinked. "On their tongue, to keep them from saying anything about Danzou and his whereabouts. I'm also afraid they might try to make you talk in some way or another."

"That would be awkward."

Unbeknownst to me, it was the beginning of the end of peace for me.

He was in Anbu. It had come out of the blue a little, but he was. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know what prompted Minato to put him here, under Kakashi's command, but he would not dwell on it. After all, the second his father had heard about his promotion, he was on his back when he was home, saying which mission was more important than others and finally telling him what was going on behind the scenes.

Both him and the Hokage were working on having the Uchihas more included in the village. The first thing they wanted to do was opening the Police Forces to every citizen of the Leaf and not just the Uchihas. Of course, it caused an uproar when it was first suggested to the clan. Later, Minato entrusted his father with a genin team, who worked for the Police Forces to show they could make the Police Forces better and more effective. They were starting to warm-up at the idea of having, maybe, other clans helping them out but not civilians or civilian-born, because they would not know to do.

It was a first step in a way. Hopefully they would not make two steps back.

People in the village still did not like them and thought they were responsible for the Kyuubi Attack. His father had confirmed to him it was indeed an Uchiha, that Minato had fought him and that he did not think it was a shinobi from the Hidden Leaf. This was a crucial point.

The Uchiha clan was part of the Hidden Leaf. However, the backlash after Madara had made them want power over the village they had helped to create instead of showing they were not like Madara. They wanted more power. They were not at the same point in planning a coup as before because his father was working closely with Minato, who was often coming to see how things were at the Police Forces.

They were still not happy though, and angry.

Then came Akane, which was not something he had seen coming at all. To many of his clan members, the way the Hokage was taking care of a foreigner and treating her like one of them was infuriating because the Uchihas had not had this treatment. It was one point on which Minato was not popular with his clan. They strangely had nothing against Kushina because she had been here for so long. Akane though? Yes. Her promotions were quick, and his clan thought it was weird and it was favoritism. Then came his relationship with her.

His father had not said it exactly, but his friendship with her was almost seen as treason to the eyes of his clan. She was close to him and had no right to do so because they were not from the same world and might try to get him on Konoha's side. Their relationship could not go beyond friendship, and it would be best if it were to stop as well.

Of course, he had told his father that if he had something to say about his friends, he should just say it. Fugaku replied that in other circumstances he wouldn't mind, but that by staying close, he insisted on this word too much to Itachi's taste, would be a danger to both him and Akane. She would be the target of dark glares and insults when she'd be in the Compound and she'd be seen as his weakness and a liability. If he didn't put distance, his clan would do it, one way or another.

He didn't want to distance himself from her but didn't want her to be used against him. Before it was Sasuke, now Akane as well…

It would be the best course of action though, wouldn't it? She was not an Uchiha, he would be busy, he could slowly distance himself from her until the storm was over.

"You look depressed." He glared at Shisui. "Wow, I wasn't trying to be mean!"

"I know." Shisui sat down next to him. "Father said I should stop being friends with Akane."

"Oh. I understand the sour mood now. Did he really say that?"

"He said I should distance myself."

"…it's not the same thing It…" Shisui didn't finish his sentence due to the second glare he received in less than thirty seconds. "You know, with the situation with the clan, maybe it would be a good thing." Itachi glared harder. "I'm not here to lie to you Itachi but say things how they are." Itachi gulped quietly.

"I know. I just…it's not that easy."

"You love each other, just tell her how things are. She'll get it." Itachi shook his head.

"No, if I tell her, she'll try to help and be reckless. She'll get herself in useless danger." Shisui pursed his lips.

"Give her some credit."

"I do, but I also know how she is Shisui."

"Do you?" He didn't like the implication. "Okay, I get it, no comment on your relationship with Akane. But she may surp…"

"I'm not telling her anything." He knew what he was doing.

As long as she could be blissfully unaware of what was happening in his clan, he could do it all over again. He needed to find a way to keep spending time with Sasuke. Before, he had told him that maybe he could have changed his parents' mind.

Akane…she was smart. She'd understand why he was distancing himself, even if he didn't say the reason why. He wouldn't put her in any more danger than she was as a chuunin.

"Again." I jumped to my feet, twirling my katana in my hand. The guy in front of me stood up as well.

November was there. I had been a part of Root for four months. Kakashi and Yamato, Tenzou for now, had taken me here, Kakashi telling what to do and what not to do. Tenzou had wished me luck and that I could go to him if I needed. In other circumstances, Kakashi would have made a comment about flirting, but as we were in front of the Root HQ, he didn't. They left me at the entrance, and I had to find my way inside on my own. Danzou was there, on a platform at the center of bridges underground. He told me I had made the right choice by accepting, showed me around as he explained to me what his Foundation was for and then he put this seal on me. For others, it was on their tongue. For me it was beneath it. I was still living in the village; he couldn't put it somewhere people would see.

It had not been pleasant, however.

I had a wolf mask and the Anbu black cloak, which felt odd on me. Having Konoha forehead protect had always felt odd, but here…it was even worst.

The strange thing though was that I could fight without holding back. Danzou wanted the best, his methods were like a kid version of the Bloody Mist. Basically, his Root training was not traumatizing because I had been traumatized by far worst. I knew what to do. Don't get close to anyone, don't let anyone leave alive, get rid of threats even internal ones. Become a mindless weapon.

It was oh so familiar. Danzou had implied I would fit right in due to my origins and after four months there, I knew why. He saw me as a product of the Bloody Mist. I was, I was one of the best even, but he didn't know that.

He didn't know that, despite his reputation and manipulations…I wasn't scared of him anymore. I was, at first. I knew what he could, would, tell Itachi to do and such. He had Konoha's best interests at heart, his methods were twisted and sinister, but it was what mattered to him.

I was brought up as a kunoichi as Karatachi Yagura's apprentice. He didn't care about all of that. He had stopped the old graduation system, sure. However, he had initiated random battle royals. It meant that every week, simply because he was bored and wanted to see how devoted we were to the Mist, there would be random battle royals in some places in Kiri. Any shinobi in it at that moment had to participate. Sometimes he would tell two people only to fight.

It was always to the death.

Danzou was ruthless and it was brainwashing and trauma he was inflicting on the others, sure. Yet, I wasn't scared of him or even bat an eyelash at what he was asking me to do in training. I had had worst.

His missions though? I dreaded the moment he'd make me do something that would keep me up at night.

I grabbed the guy's hand, twisted it in his back and froze it up to the shoulder. He tried to destroy it but I froze him entirely.

"Good," Danzou commented, getting closer to us. His cane was the only thing you could hear until he reached the frozen dude. "However, it would be useless to incapacitate your fellow Root members permanently."

"Hn." He narrowed his eye at me.

"You may be connected to the Hokage, and it may grant you some privileges, but it does not prevent you from being disciplined." I fought the urge to roll my eyes and unfroze the guy.

I had tried to leave the Bloody Mist five times; I was notorious for doing a great job and then huge insubordination after.

Root was bringing everything back to the surface.

It was horrible to admit, but I had never felt truer to myself as a kunoichi than since I had joined it.

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