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

Characters age:

Akane: 18 (51)

Itachi: 18 (35)

Shisui: 22

Naruto / Sasuke: 13

Kakashi: 27

"Itachi, what is this place?"

"Hum? An apartment."

"Yeah, why am I standing in an empty apartment with you?" He raised a brow.

"I need an outsider's opinion." She crossed her arms and looked around.

"It looks good, but why are we here?"

"I'm thinking of getting it." She widened her eyes.

"What!? It's a lot of money Itachi!"

"I have money."

"It's not a plan to convince me to move in with you, is it?"

"Kind of."

"Kind of?"

"You're not planning on leaving your place, so if I get one of my own, bigger than yours, then ultimately, you'll stay here. And I get to leave the Compound and stop being on the receiving end of their stares."

Ever since they had gone to the Uchiha library and they had seen him with Akane, the stares and whispers were insistent.

"They're not stopping with the staring?" He shook his head. "I see." She looked around. "There is good potential, it's a quiet part of town, although at the opposite of the Compound. Is it on purpose?"

"Yes." He ignored the knowing look in her eyes. He knew her stance on his clan and the last thing he wanted was to make her doubt whether their relationship was a good idea or not.

"I doubt the families and old couples living in the neighborhood will give you a lot of issues. You can make a great reading/study area there, with the bay window giving a lot of natural light and all…"

"You're projecting yourself."

"Shush, I'm helping you." He snuck in behind her as she was looking at the kitchen and kissed the crown of her head.

"I'm glad my plan is working." He could feel her rolling her eyes at him.

"You know, it reminds me that this old woman who left me the cabin must have passed away now."

"It's a possibility. Do you wonder if someone has it?"

"Yeah, I guess. It's…weird to think someone might live in it, but I have no idea what happened to the place when I left for Konoha before."

"Can I entertain you with something else?"

"What?"

"In July it will be the day we first slept together and got together."

"We didn't officially get together until we were twenty."

"Details sweetheart." She turned around.

"Do you have something in mind?"

"I was thinking of a nice restaurant." She slipped her fingers between his.

"You don't have to spend a fortune. I'd be fine with ramen."

"And I want to spend money on you now I have it and can." He kissed her forehead when he saw the soft glint in her beautiful eyes. "I also enjoyed seeing you all dolled up for me and want to see it again."

"An ulterior motive? Wow." He smirked a little. "Lucky you, I enjoy putting some effort in my appearance and don't have many occasions to do so, so I can get onboard with this wish of yours."

"How kind of you." She nodded, grinning.

"I think so too!" He was about to kiss her, Akane raising her face toward his and expecting his lips when a bird knocked on the window with its beak. They both looked at it. "Is that the Hokage's bird?"

"Yes. It's staring at you." She sighed.

"Seriously, I'm not even a kunoichi here and yet I'm summoned like one," she muttered. Akane kissed his cheek. "I get your wish to get your own place, but don't rush into it. Do you know anything about home owning?"

"I can't say I've had the opportunity to experience home ownership."

"Of course. Well, don't sign anything without telling me. I know it's your money but…" He poked her on the forehead.

"My end goal is for you to live with me. I'm not signing for anything if you don't like it." She smiled softly.

"I love you." She kissed him again. "I'll see you later."

"See you."

Once he was alone in the empty apartment, Itachi took a deep breath.

He felt in his guts it was the right thing to do.

"Yeah of course I'll be his security detail." Yagura was coming to Konoha to have a check-up by Tsunade-san."

It was good. He needed it and surely Tsunade-san could fix him up. I mean…she had healed Itachi after all.

"Was that all?"

"Are you going to talk to Kushina soon?" I shrugged. "She feels bad about your fight."

"So do I."

"Then go see her?"

"Why should I be the one to extend an olive branch? She knows where I live, and she's going harder than necessary on Itachi."

"So, your boyfriend is becoming a victim as well." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"He's a big boy, he can handle it."

"Hum…"

"What?"

"It's just that Fugaku has…told me a few things about you two." I tensed.

"And what?"

"I don't know what Itachi is seeing exactly, or what he has told you. However, Fugaku is concerned for his well-being, as well as yours. He's not being pig-headed because of his clan." I furrowed my brows. "Let's say Fugaku did not have the smoothest transition with his father, that the Elders of the Uchiha clan remember it and are seeing the same pattern in Itachi."

"What could he have possibly done?" He smiled awkwardly.

"I don't think it's my place to tell you. Let's just say he was far from being the perfect heir." It didn't make sense.

Fugaku-sensei didn't strike me as someone who was impulsive or anything so…

"And what do you think?" He looked down. "Oji-chan?"

"I think Itachi is going to break your heart again and I don't want to see that." I was taken back.

"He won't. I mean…it's different now, I've told him everything and he's honest with me."

"Sure. It's probably just me." It rarely was just him.

"Anything about Root? The Isle of the Lost?"

"Nothing. It's…calm. It's too quiet even."

"The calm before the storm you think?" He sighed.

"I'm afraid so. I'm glad you're recovering well in Konoha but stay in shape and ready to go back into action at any moment." I took a deep breath.

"Of course. I'll escort Yagura back to Kiri myself." I left his office promptly.

The…peacefulness, let's say, of life recently was unsettling in the end. I knew what was lurking and yet, nothing. It had to be hiding something bigger and more dangerous and I was not looking forward to it.

I went home to get my nodachi and went to Training Ground Three. There was no one, so I went on the lake to train my Hyouton.

My birthday was soon as well. I didn't want to spend it battling my dear aunt, I should bury the hatchet before this. My pride was keeping me from being the wise one in this situation, but if she didn't…I would apologize.

I watched the water turn to ice as the tip of my nodachi was in it, spreading chakra in it quicker than I would. It was taking a lot of chakra at once, but ultimately for big areas it would save me chakra.

I left a part of the lake unfrozen and jumped in it. The coldness of the water woke me up and I closed my eyes, focusing on my chakra in the cold around me and in me. I opened my eyes and put my hand on the ice in front of me. I focused on it, trying to shape an Hiraishin marker inside of it. I could feel the ice and saw it changing, a marker appearing inside but sending chakra in it make the ice blew up.

I surfaced, grabbed my nodachi that I had dug in the frozen water before diving in the lake and pulled myself up.

"Akane!" I looked to the shore when I put my nodachi over my shoulder. Kou and Yasuo were there.

I went back to the shore and melted the ice.

"We come back from a long mission to find out you've been back for a month and a half?"

"Two months." My birthday was in two days now I was thinking about it. It was soon.

Shit, I had to talk to Aunty quickly.

"Are you back for good?" Yasuo asked me, his hands in his pockets.

"So far. I'm going to juggle between Kiri and here."

"Good. It was tiring to hear people whispering about you," Kou said casually. I pursed my lips.

"I'm sure. I'm working with your clan again, so you might see me around." He nodded.

"Has Itachi gotten his surgery?" Yasuo twitched at the name.

Right, he was crushing on me, or in love, I wasn't sure.

"Yeah, he's fine. He's out of work for a while, but he's fine." Kou raised a knowing brow. "What?"

"I thought I had made it clear at school." He pointed at his eyes. "My eyes see all Uzumaki." I rolled my eyes.

"What do you want to me say?"

"You guys are dating, aren't you?" Yasuo glanced at Kou in frustration.

"Yes, so?" Yasuo shot me a quick look, but it was too quick for me to see what his eyes showed. "I don't remember it being any of your business anyway."

"Are you kidding me? I was third-wheeling all the time." I deadpanned at him. "No, I'm not being dramatic. You don't know what it's like to be around you two." He showed me with his hand. "Go home now or you'll get sick."

"Yeah, you're right." I hugged myself. Yasuo was quick to put his flak jacket on my shoulders and zipped it up my chin. "Huh, you don't have to Yasu…"

"It's fine, I'll get it back later," he cut me off hastily, his hands on my shoulders. He stared at me for a few seconds, and I glanced at Kou awkwardly.

"We have a report to give." Yasuo cleared his throat and stepped back.

"Sure yeah. See you later Akane." I nodded at them and left.

I took a shower and changed when I was home. I picked up Itachi's notebook. He would stay up late to read through what we had from the library. He had read the scroll about the Otsutsukis later than I had thought, but ever since he had become…a tiny bit obsessed. In his own words, if he knew everything there was to know, we could find a way to…keep insanity at bay.

We had agreed that the Shinigami had to be the goddess Izanami, founder of our world alongside her brother and husband Izanagi. I would have said 'apparently' about this before, but now I was besties with the Shinigami, and with the Otsutsukis and their origins, having gods and deities and kamis be real was not that crazy to think about.

The point was, figuring out the identity of the Shinigami was great, but then? It was not as if we could just go visit them and knock on their door to ask them to let me keep my sanity and not die, right? I was not saying any of this to Itachi though; I knew he needed to do something about my case, even if I worried the frustration that would grow could harm his recovery.

I was more worried about the lack of action outside the village than my situation. My headaches were gone, it was all mattered.

I glanced at Yasuo's flak jacket on my bed. Neither Kou nor Yasuo had one when I left, but I knew from Naru they were both jounin now. I wasn't surprised for Kou, but I had no idea in what man Yasuo would grow up to be. I was curious about his skills but…he looked like he had issues. I could understand how my abrupt departure could have disturbed him, like his clan's doings, but if he no longer was part of it then he was most probably alone.

His father was harsh, but loving, like his mother. They truly cared for their son; it wasn't right that it ended that way.

Itachi arrived when I was making miso soup. He was exhausted from his session with Kushina again and took a shower immediately. When he left the bathroom, a towel around his waist and the other being used to dry his hair, I was putting the food on the table.

It could barely hold a two-person meal.

"Whose jacket is that?" I glanced at him as I sat down. He was staring at Yasuo's jacket. "It's not mine."

"It's Yasuo's." He looked at me. "I trained after my meeting with Minato, I got wet, and he put it on me before I went back home. They found me at the training ground."

"Hn." I sighed at his reaction.

"I'm sure he was just trying to be nice. He knows we're together; Kou asked me, and I said yes." He got dressed without a word and sat down in front of me. "Itachi?"

"I guess what matters the most is that he knows you're not available or even interested."

"Of course. I'll give him back tomorrow."

"I can do it for you if you want."

"So you can be the intimidating boyfriend? No thank you." He deadpanned at me. "He's my teammate, and I want to talk to him anyway."

"What for?" I shot him a pointed look. He shrugged. "Curiosity."

"He cut ties with your clan. With your particularities regarding love and all of that, I just want to see how he is." I could see he didn't enjoy hearing it.

"I see. What did the Hokage want with you?"

"Yagura is going to come to Konoha soon. I'll be his security detail and then I'll follow him to Kiri." He lowered his chopsticks. "To make sure he goes back to Kiri safely."

"Because what's safer than sending not one but two targets back to an insular country on their own?" he asked sarcastically.

"You're not going to be an overprotective prick, are you?" He frowned slightly. "You can't keep me here against my will." He opened his mouth, but instead of a retort he sighed.

"I know that, I'm aware it's just…you're a target, for his personal reasons and I'm stuck here." He took a deep breath. "I know I can't always be around to protect you, and that you can protect yourself but…I don't want reality to be thrown in my face." I pursed my lips.

"He's not there yet."

"I know." He took a bite of his fish. "What do you want to do for your birthday?"

"Oh, not much but…celebrate it with family. I need to talk to Aunty." He nodded.

The rest of the evening was quiet. I went to bed, making as much space for Itachi as possible by gluing myself to the wall. I fell asleep as he was reading something and when I woke up around three, he was still reading at the table, a flashlight between his teeth to read. I stood up and quietly walked up to him. He was startled when I slipped my hands and arms down his chest, resting my chin on his head.

"Go to bed 'tachi," I whispered.

"I just…"

"Please, I'm lonely." His shoulders relax. "It will still be here in the morning, just come to bed."

"…fine, you win." I kissed the top of his head and went back to bed.

I snuggled against him the second the sheets were over him.

"And Itachi?"

"Hum?"

"Go to sleep, turn off that brain of yours."

"I'll try." I kissed his lips.

"Love you." He kissed my nose.

"Love you too." I smiled in his chest.

"It's going at the right pace, not too slow and not too quickly."

"How long until I get my chakra control back?"

"Months." Itachi almost groaned at Kushina. "Even if you can, you won't be able to draw out too much chakra at once thanks to my seal. Your body and chakra pathway need to heal, and you can't rush it." He put the seal down. "I know that knowing you're out of missions for at least a year is not what you want to hear but look on the bright side."

"Which is?" Kushina pointed her thumb to her chest with a smug grin.

"You're going to have a much better chakra control!"

"Right."

"Spending too much time with Akane is making you too sarcastic."

"He's always been like this, it's just coming out more and more." Kushina and him looked to the right to see Akane walking toward them, her hands in the pockets of her jacket. "Hey Aunty."

"Hello Akane." A tense silence took place.

"Look, I…am sorry for going behind your back to make the idea mine. I was angry and hurt, so I went to the most extreme solution without thinking of what it would do to you. For that, I apologize. I got too prideful, and it got the best of me."

He almost narrowed his eyes at his girlfriend because he knew that she was prideful when it came to fuinjutsu and to apologize was a lot. He was proud of her though.

"Aunty?"

"Akane!" In the blink of an eye, Kushina was embracing Akane tightly. "I'm sorry too kitten!" Akane patted her back. "I just saw how useful it could be to people and didn't think how you would react."

"…did you replicate the medical seals as well?"

"No, it was something I wanted you to work on with me when you would get back because it is a lot to make them usable for everyone as I have not created them."

"Yup, it was complicated to make. I did though, in like eighteen months. When I was twelve and a hal…aouch!" Kushina was pulling on her ear.

"It's not a reason to get cocky!" When she let go, Akane cradled her reddened ear, crouching on the ground.

"Here I was, not wanting to spend my first birthday back in the village fighting with you and you just maim me!"

"Get over it, you've seen worst. I put you through worst during training."

"Don't remind me, Fugaku-sensei was livid to see you there."

"What?" Both women glanced at him.

"Oh right, you're here!" He deadpanned at Akane, who chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry, you were too quiet." It was always nice to know his own girlfriend had forgotten he was there.

"What happened with my father?"

"Oh, Aunty once showed up at training when we were genin and took over. Your dad was powerless." Itachi glanced at Kushina quickly, who was puffing her chest like Naruto would.

"Fugaku is powerless against me dattebane! In all situations!"

"What is your deal with him seriously?" Kushina shrugged.

"He's irresponsible, that…" She put her hand on her mouth immediately. "Anyway, birthday dinner at home? Itachi, you're invited." He opened his mouth, but Akane was quicker than him.

"I don't think it's a good idea. His dad is not happy about us being together and all…" He gazed at Akane in confusion, like Kushina.

"It's fine, I think Miko-chan won't be happy about it because she loves to host but it can just be Itachi and Sasuke."

"I still don't think it's a good idea." He walked up to them.

"Did I do something?" Akane looked up at him and sighed.

"No, no you haven't it's just…when Minato summoned me yesterday, he also told me he wasn't very…enthusiastic about us being together and that Fugaku-sensei had talked to him about us." He was not expecting this.

His father not approving of them was one thing, and he had made his peace with it. However, Minato not approving was something else. He was not Akane's father, and personally, he did not care about his opinion for now. He knew Akane cared though, so it made him care as well.

"Oh, it's just that? Don't worry about it, Minato will come around. Despite your age, he just doesn't want to see you as a grown woman." Kushina put her arm on the Uchiha's shoulders. "Now please come and bring Sasuke too. He's been avoiding us since the whole debacle with Naruto."

"He's ashamed of his behavior and rightfully so," Itachi stated firmly.

"Of course, but Naruto is not dead, Fugaku arrived in time. Now, I'll be happy if he can spend five minutes in my presence without finding a silly excuse to run away."

"How come he's not running away from me too?" Akane muttered to herself.

"You're his darling 'Nee-san', he won't, especially after years of you not being around 'ttebane." Itachi rolled his eyes. "Tomorrow at eight. Do not be late. Dress casual."

"Sure. Now what was it about Fugaku-sensei always being powerless against you? Because your husband also implied a few things about his youth that I do not understand." Itachi raised a brow. Kushina chuckled awkwardly.

"What? Minato was a prodigy, he was always on missions or training, he doesn't know what he's saying."

"…wouldn't that make him a mission partner for Fugaku-sensei then? Despite the nine-year difference?"

"We…well…" Akane put her arm around her aunt's neck and trapped her against her. "It's not…"

"Minato said the Uchiha Elders were seeing his patterns in Itachi and that he was not the perfect heir back in the day. What is this about?" Itachi pursed his lips. He remembered Kushina telling him his mother was on the path to have a great carrier as a kunoichi years ago, and now his father was not the perfect heir? It was hard to picture with how much he had always been on his back.

"What do you know about my parents I don't?" Itachi asked Kushina, who bit on her bottom lip.

"I really think you should ask your pare…"

"Aunty, he's about to be nineteen and doesn't know shit, clearly they don't want to talk."

"Kushina-san, please. The only argument my father has is that I'm supposed to think of the clan's wellbeing before everything else." She pursed her lips.

"Did he phrase it that way?"

"Does it matter?"

"I don't think it's all there is to it," Akane admitted with a concerned gaze. He shook his head.

"Kushina-san, tell me what you know that I don't."

"I…damn it, your mother is going to kill me for it." Akane loosened her hold on her. "Your father was engaged when he was a teenager up to when he was twenty-six, almost twenty-seven." Itachi just stared at her.

"What do you mean there was another woman?" Akane asked her in shock.

"If you think Fugaku is a harsh leader, or father, you've never met his father." His paternal grandparents both died during the Kyuubi attack, so he did not have many memories of them. "Fugaku was engaged to another woman and with the war he was more often on the battlefield than in the village, so they never had the time to get married. However, Miko-chan was on the battlefield too. Do I need to make it more explicit?"

"You're the product of an affair!" Akane almost yelled, releasing her aunt to move closer to him.

That…was not something he thought he would hear one day.

"So they got married?" Akane asked her.

"Pfff, right. Miko-chan didn't…she didn't have the best of reputation in your clan Itachi, and I'm sure if you dig deep enough, some people will tell you this exact thing. She was strong though, and that's how she first got in contact with Fugaku. He was impressed and I think he liked her almost right away. It was not reciprocated." Akane put her hand in his back. "Miko-chan was not impressed by the whole show and rules your clan has, so the heir was just the symbol of all of that." Now he could see his mother being like this. "The few times I was sent outside, I was usually on her platoon. Minato would sometimes be there too, but I was more interested in Fugaku and his behavior around Miko-chan when everyone knew he was engaged. We…followed them a few times."

"Aunty!"

"We were teens! Point is, they got closer and fell in love, and then got pregnant. The Elders were not happy, especially your grandfather and they wanted her to…terminate the pregnancy." He reverted to a cold face. "Fugaku didn't want that, Miko-chan neither even if she knew she would need to say goodbye to a lot of things, and they eloped together."

"There are wedding pictures," he heard himself say sternly.

"Your mother bounced back quickly after you were born, I'll give her that. They eloped when she was seven-month along, it created a huge scandal of course and she went into labor early because of it. Things settled when you were a couple-month old." She sighed. "I guess Fugaku doesn't want you to go through the same scandal he went through."

"He was in my situation and still found a way to be with my mother," he retorted coldly.

"She was an Uchiha," Akane whispered to him. "Wait, why did she have a bad rep?"

"I've already said too much. Don't be late tomorrow!" This time, she was the one to run away. Itachi pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I can't believe this."

"It does explain his behavior a little."

"Yeah, he's a hypocrite." Akane pursed her lips.

"Or he's worried in what you're getting into after what you've been through?" He frowned at her. "Look Itachi, your dad is not…"

"You don't know him like I do."

"True. But you're not being objective."

"I'm not talking about this."

"Ita…"

"I said I wasn't talking about this," he repeated, but colder. Akane furrowed her brows at him and took a step back. "No, Akane, it's just…"

"No, I'm sorry if I'm prying too much. Just…give your father some credit. You know he loves his family."

"Hn." She didn't say anything more.

"It's weird about your mom though."

"Not so much, her parents don't live in the village." He rubbed his temple. "I don't want to talk about it for now anyway."

"Sure."

"And Sasuke can't know. Not now."

"Yeah sure." Itachi licked his dry lips and gently closed his fingers around Akane's wrist. "Yes?" Without a word, he pulled her in his arms. "You're sweaty."

"Hn." She hugged him back.

"You can squeeze me like a plushie tonight if you want to," she whispered in his ear. He smiled faintly and took a deep breath in her hair. It smelled like chestnut, like Fall and like home.

"I know you're not ready for marriage, I get it, but eloping sounds good." She chuckled.

"I mean, I don't picture myself enjoying the preparations, so let's keep that in mind." He moved his head back to look at her. "Look, we're clearly stuck with each other anyway, so…one day…why not sign a piece of paper as well." A smile slowly formed on Itachi's face. "You haven't proposed so it's not a 'yes' anyway."

"It's even better." He kissed the crown of her head. "I love you so much." She relaxed immediately in his arms.

"I love you too."

His clan would not break that.

Thanks for reading. I hope you have liked it, please do let me know in reviews! Thanks to the Guests for the reviews! And yes, Shisui will be back, of course he'll be back. I do enjoy making him appear in one or two chapters right now and then sending him away though, for now he's having his own life behind the scenes.

Bye!