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

Characters age:

Akane: 18 (51)

Itachi: 18 (35)

Shisui: 21

Naruto / Sasuke: 13

Kakashi: 26

I was struggling.

"Here, your stomach won't handle too much food at once, but you need to get it used to solid food again." I pursed my lips, my stomach screaming for food.

Since I woke up after…Yagura's abduction, I couldn't control my limbs correctly, they would shake and using them would hurt. I was following Itachi without a word because I failed to see a better option but to rely on him for now but…my body didn't like that.

I was part of the Yuki clan and had the Hyouton. Mom was a full-blooded Uzumaki, she had the abilities that came with it: Adamantine Chains, the Heal Bite, an incredible healing factor, a life expectancy of probably a hundred and fifty years old had she lived, and yet was a chuunin in Uzushio. She had told me when I was young that the more diluted the Uzumaki blood was, the less abilities you would get and the less the ones you had would be strong. If you were mixed with another bloodline, except for the Senju, their abilities would tend to replace some Uzumakis and some Uzumaki abilities would replace a few of the other bloodline.

Uzumaki or not, there was only so much a baby could handle.

I didn't have the Heal Bite or Adamantine Chains, I had a long life expectancy as showed by the fact I had become a Yuurei. I healed a lot quicker than normal as well, I had stamina and yet, now…nothing.

It seemed like my body was stuck in its healing process. I was always cold as well and I knew it was not…normal. Dai had had that look on his face when he healed me that told me there was something going on he could not treat properly or did not know how.

I accepted the bowl he handed me but dropped it. Itachi caught it without an issue and glanced at my shaking hands. I tried to hide them, but he grabbed one.

"It's colder than usual," he noted quietly. He looked at my legs and saw they were shaking as well underneath the cloak I had. Then he put his hand on my cheek, then my forehead. "You're colder than usual." I averted my eyes. "You don't know what's going on, do you?" I shook my head.

"I'm cold…and my limbs are burning and hurting…" He frowned.

"How so?"

"It's like…when your fingers burn after entering a warm place when you were in the cold for a while. It's…it's that but in all my limbs and moving them…hurts as if I had been fighting for a while." He clicked his tongue.

"You should have told me earlier," he scolded me. A second later, he had the spoon of stew to my lips. "I'm going to feed you, don't be prideful and accept it." I glanced sadly at the spoon and accepted it.

For something he had made with what he could find, it was not bad. I had to swallow my pride as Itachi fed me. We had fled Kiri a week ago and touched solid ground two days ago. I had no idea how Itachi pulled that off and I did not care, not really. In all honesty, I could not stop thinking about how everyone in Kiri were doing, if they could flee as well or were imprisoned.

The guilt was consuming me. If I had not stayed with Itachi like I wanted to at first, if I had gone back to Kiri immediately then there would have been no picture, and they would not have taken me in. There would not have been Yagura's abduction in such a way, no execution and…

I turned my face away from the food.

"There are three spoons left Akane," he told me gently. "Please finish them." I shook my head. "Okay, you have eaten well anyway." I nodded stubbornly.

"What…has he written?" Itachi raised a brow. "I saw…one of your crows earlier, and you had a weird face on."

"A weird face?" I glanced at him sternly. "It's nothing for you to worry about."

"Itachi."

"Akane." Seeing I would not back down, he sighed. "He said he would get Tsunade-sama to come as quickly as possible and that if we were in the Land of Hot Water, you knew where to go to wait." Oh, I see. "Had I known about how you were feeling, maybe he would have made it an emergency." I raised a brow. "It's the Chuunin Exams, when I left, they were on a month-long break between the Second and Third Stages." I widened my eyes. "Orochimaru was not seen there if that's what you're worried about."

"Sasuke, does he have the…" He shook his head, and I sighed in relief. "Good, last time I saw Oro…"

"When?" he interrupted me curtly.

"When I went to Uzushio to get the Claw…the markings on my arm. He was roaming around and attacked me. I think…he tried to bite me, but I used my katana to defend myself. He broke it and just…left. He looked weak." Itachi pursed his lips. "It was roughly three years ago."

"His body was probably reaching its expiration date, before he tried to get my body when I was close to being fifteen, before I met Kisame." I narrowed my eyes at him. "Yes, I know how it sounds."

"Sasuke isn't out of danger." He pursed his lips. "If you have to go back to Konoha, I get it."

"That's stupid." I blinked. "What do you think you can do in your state? Plus, Terumi made it clear he'd kill me if I didn't protect you, like Karatachi."

"Right, because you're scared of them?"

"They seem to be quite competent." I looked down. "Which is why you should have faith in them and their ability to survive." I gulped.

"Sure, it's not…easy though."

"Hn. The Hokage said he had to meet with the Tsuchikage after the Exams, so he will arrange for Jiraya-sama to get Tsunade-sama." He looked at me with worry and sat down next to me in front of the fire. "Do you think you can hold on until then?"

"I'm not dying Itachi, I just…think I messed up something in me with my Hyouton." He wrapped me in his cloak and pressed me against him. I closed my eyes a little. "I can't believe I used to think you were running too hot for me in the summer and now it's…not enough."

"I could use Amaterasu and see if…"

"Don't be silly, you can't ruin your eyes for this Itachi." He leaned his chin on my head. "The cold comes from within me, I can feel it."

"What did you do exactly?"

"…I don't even know…we were fighting Yagura…I made it very cold and then…I think I used the Hiraishin, but I had no marker in the room. Then the…the guys left and…I bought time against anbu but they put the heaters at the full blast and…Hoshigaki-san and Raiga got me…"

Thermal shock? Was it what it was? Was my body in emergency mode and refused to raise its temperature? It wouldn't explain the pain though.

"Tsunade-sama will know what to do."

"…I hope so." I couldn't fight a shiver to run through my whole body. Itachi felt it and pressed me more against him, rubbing his hands on my back vigorously.

He didn't let me walk until we reached my old house. I indicated him the room Shisui and I had been put in after fleeing Konoha and I heard Itachi making the bed for me. He put me in it and put the blankets up to my nose. I heard him go through the kitchen and when he came back, he had a teapot and two cups on a tray.

"The kitchen seems to be stocked with enough food for a week," he informed me as I sat up, leaning against the wall. He poured me a cup of tea and made sure I could hold it on my own before removing his hands. "Is it a safe house?"

"It's where I used to live before my father went batshit crazy," I replied quietly, takin a sip of my green tea. "This was my room, Fubuki and I used to share it." Itachi raised his brows and looked around. "And Shisui and I later on."

"I thought it was a safe house the Hokage had," he admitted, curious.

"It's possible he acquired it and turned it into a personal safe house," I replied. "I could tell you when it was stocked if I could see the seals."

"You stay in bed Akane, except for basic needs."

"Thank God," I mumbled. "I don't want diapers."

Itachi was a very good nurse I had to say. He would be careful of any need I'd get, gave me a lot of tea to keep me warm and hydrated, cooked all my meals, and found some hot water bottles to put in bed with me. It felt as if it was useful because I stopped feeling colder as time went by.

Itachi would make sure we would talk at least an hour a day and play some kind of game he had found so I'd still move a little and avoid being so bored that my mind would go to dark places. Even at night, as he was sleeping in the bed next to mine, I knew he'd wake up to check my temperature. He would wait in front of the bathroom door in case something happened when I was in the bath, forbidding me to lock the door.

He was worse than I was with him before.

I wasn't sure how long it had been when I felt my seal burning and I yelled in the middle of the night.

Itachi jumped out of bed and turned on the light to see Akane, her blankets on the floor and twisting in pain. She lifted her shirt, scratching her seal until it bled. The marks were shining purple and reverting to black quickly.

He activated his sharingans, hoping to see something but there was nothing but her moans of pain. Eventually, when she started to kick her legs around, he straddled her and pinned her wrists to the mattress. Her eyes were hazy, and he doubted she recognized him.

Itachi widened his eyes and was sent to the wall when her left arm was covered in purple energy in the shape of a claw. She tried to strike him with it, jumping toward him. He dodged and found himself close to his bed. He took his own blanket and wrapped it around Akane's left arm, keeping it above her when she was in front of him.

He frowned when he spotted a brief, but bright yellow color in her eyes. They remained like this for a couple of minutes until what she had called 'the Claw' disappeared. Her seal stopped shining purple and her eyes were confused.

"Ita…chi?" she mumbled weakly. He couldn't say anything that her eyes rolled back in her head, and she fell on him.

"Akane?" He noticed the panting and red cheeks immediately and cursed when he put his hand on her forehead.

She was burning.

"Don't do this to me," he muttered, hurrying to put her back in bed. He stayed up all night, changing the wet cloth on her forehead often.

He had gone from keeping her from being too cold to keeping her from burning up in a matter of minutes. Her seal…what could have happened to trigger it like this? Could someone have us…

The Sandaime had used it against Orochimaru before, could it be…had he attacked the village?

Itachi took a deep breath. If Orochimaru had attacked, maybe Sasuke had been a target. However, his parents and many people in Konoha were capable shinobi and kunoichi. They could handle it. Akane was a lot more important for now. They could, and would, handle whatever was happening without him. Akane needed him and he would not let her down and leave her alone.

Not again.

Akane's fever subdued a little by morning. She remained unconscious though and he had to go to the nearby village to find something in order to feed her, like an IV, in case she would not…

Itachi stopped in his steps when he saw the red clouds on the black cloak of the man sitting on a rock on the side of the road. He opened his eye and glanced at him. His hair was now long enough to be tied at the back of his head; his missing eye hidden by thick black locks.

"Shisui," Itachi greeted him, tightening his hold on his bag. Shisui didn't pipe a word and walked in front of him instead, his sharingan blazing in his eye. "Move." He tried to step on the side, but Shisui followed him.

Shisui was partnered with Akane's dad, and he only had a clone with her.

"I can't let you through," Shisui finally said.

"Shisui," he repeated through gritted teeth. "I don't want to fight you."

"Neither do I." Yet, he got in a fighting stance when he received memories of his clone. Ushio was…

Itachi dropped his bag and ran at Shisui. The exchange did not last long, but Shisui was better than before. Their fight was going nowhere because none of them wanted to kill the other, yet…

"Hey, I'm done, stop playing Shisui." Shisui jumped away next to Ushio, who sported the Akatsuki cloak and a slashed forehead protector from Kiri. He looked at him up and down. "Hey, tiny Uchiha grew up apparently." Itachi narrowed his sharingans at him, tempted to turn them into the Mangekyou. "Now, what's your priority, us or my darling daughter?"

"Ushio-san," Shisui muttered with a sigh.

"What, his brother thought running straight at me when I said I wanted to meet Naruto was a good idea. I want to see if this one is the same." His brother?

"What did you do to him?" Itachi asked him in a threatening tone.

"He's not dead if that's what you want to hear. Now, conscious? I doubt it. You know I enjoy messing with people's brains." Itachi piercing glare went to Shisui, who did not shy away from the accusation in his eyes. "Anyway, let's go Shisui." Ushio put his hand on his shoulder and vanished.

"Hiraishin," Itachi muttered. He grabbed the bag on the ground and clenched his hand on it.

Sasuke…no, Sasuke was in Konoha, with two skilled Seal Masters, maybe Jiraya was there too. He was in good hands. Akane only had him. He could worry for Sasuke, but he couldn't prioritize him again.

When he reached the house, he didn't even remove his shoes and went straight to where Akane was resting. She was still in bed. He stopped next to her and frowned, slowly kneeling next to her.

She had what appeared to be blood on the corner of her mouth, but…she looked to be in less pain. Itachi put his hand on her forehead and was surprised to realize her fever had gone down. She was still too warm, but nothing compared to before.

Something blue caught his eyes on the nightstand. He glanced at it to see it was a scroll, a note leaning on it. The name 'Tsuna' was written on it.

Was it for Tsunade?

"Ita…" He looked back at Akane. Her eyes were barely opened. "So…rry…"

"Don't talk, I'm going to make you something to eat and…"

"San…daime…dead…" He blinked. "Sho…dai…Nidai…me…in my…seal…" Oh.

The Sandaime died using the Death Reaper Seal and as Akane had it on her, it triggered it. She must have attacked him because he was the only living soul around.

"Tired…"

"I know sweetheart, I know…" he whispered, the nickname flowing out of his lips naturally.

He hurried to make her some rice porridge. He fed it to her. Her eyes were closed, she was still very weak, but she ate it, taking some time to swallow it.

"Bland," she muttered.

"I don't care, eat."

He stayed at her bedside for a few days, his initial relief at seeing her fever down gone as her state was not improving. A week later, there was a knock on the door. Itachi tensed and took a kunai, Akane sleeping. He carefully made his way to the door.

"Uchiha, I know you're in there!" That was Tsunade's voice, wasn't it?

Itachi looked at the kitchen window and lowered his kunai when he saw Kakashi there. He opened the door.

"Hello."

"You look terrible," Tsunade greeted him, entering the house. She removed her shoes and directly went to Akane while he closed the door behind Kakashi. The Hatake looked around and sighed deeply.

"You do look terrible Itachi."

"It has not been my number one preoccupation." Kakashi and him went to Akane's room, Kakashi pausing at the entrance. "Kakashi-san?"

"It's nothing, just memories coming back to haunt me." He glanced at Akane. "Sensei told me about the situation in Kiri."

"Does he have news?"

"The country is at war with itself, again. The borders are completely shut, so there is no saying who is alive and who is not, where or anything. The only thing we know is that the Daimyo was smuggled out of the country by some Mist shinobi before the borders were closed, so it was highly possible Akane is not the only person from the Mist in political exile on the continent right now."

"There's no point in trying to regroup and attack for now either," Itachi added.

"Actually, about that." Itachi raised a brow. "Fugaku-san has requested your return from the Hokage." Itachi frowned and glanced at Akane. "Yeah, that's why I'm here. Sensei sent me here to potentially replace you." He didn't like that.

"Has the Hokage officially requested my return?"

"No. Your father wants you home because Sasuke is in the hospital, he is fine by the way, Kushina-san knows how to remove the seal, she just wants Tsunade-sama with her for maximum safety." It was good to hear. "However, with you gone for weeks now and Sasuke unconscious, he said he needed you back to…show the unity of the clan?"

"What a joke," he couldn't keep himself from muttering.

"Sensei told him he would send me to talk you into it, but it was to prevent a fight with your dad, he's more than fine with you staying here. You're more involved in Kiri's situation than any of us, as well as whatever happened to Akane, so it's best if you see the situation to the end."

"I agree."

"Yes, so I'll tell them I tried to convince you, but you're stubborn and didn't want to hear anything else." Itachi smirked a little, watching Tsunade reading through the note with a frown then take the scroll. "Oh, sensei wrote you a letter by the way, but your mother gave it to me so maybe she wrote something in it as well." His mother? She usually did not involve herself in his or Sasuke's missions, and in case of emergency it was their father. "And he wrote one for Akane, so make sure she gets it when she can." He nodded.

"Itachi, did Ushio make Akane drink his blood?" Kakashi frowned suddenly.

"What?"

"I think so. A week ago, I saw Shisui and he kept me from coming back here until Ushio arrived. When I came back, Akane's fever had dropped and there was blood at the corner of her mouth."

"I see." She stood up. "Leave the room you two." They did and Kakashi sat down at the low table in the main room.

"It's good Tsunade-sama just overcame her fear of blood thanks to Naruto."

"I'm struggling to picture the order of events since I've left."

"Right. Well, the Sandaime is dead, first of all. The Chuunin Exams happened without issues. However, Sensei had to leave right after to meet with the Tsuchikage and left the Sandaime in charge. That's when Orochimaru attacked. He managed to put a mark on Sasuke." Damn it. "He was helped by Suna, but it seems there were some elements left unsaid between Orochimaru, his village the Hidden Sound, and Suna because the Fourth Kazekage called his men to retreat when he realized Orochimaru was set on erasing anyone, including civilians. Ultimately, they fought with us against Oto but his son still released Ichibi in the woods, where my team decided they would be useful." He sighed. "There was no dead and Gaara came back to his senses, but Naruto scolded the Kazekage for being a bad father. That's what Sensei came home to: the Sandaime dead, Orochimaru in the wind and Naruto asking him to adopt Gaara. Jiraya-sama, Naruto and Sasuke then left to find Tsunade-sama, but ran into Ushio and Shisui, Ushio put a seal on your brother then Naruto and Jiraya-sama fought Orochimaru with Tsunade-sama, Shizune came back to the village with them while I met up with Tsunade-sama to come here."

It was similar to what he knew, but not entirely. What mattered was that Tsunade was here now.

I opened my eyes slowly, feeling slender fingers brushing through my hair. It felt nice and comforting. I looked at my right to see Itachi's face just a few centimeters away from mine. Well, face, the crown of his head really. His other arm was over my chest, his hand on my arm.

"Itachi?"

"Hum…" He raised his head a little, the mark of the mattress on his cheek. He yawned and looked at me with sleepy eyes. His fingers stopped and I could see the confusion in his eyes. I poked his nostril, and he grabbed my finger. "You're awake."

"So observant of you," I teased him, noticing the exhaustion on his face. He clenched his jaw and hugged me delicately, burying his face in the crook of my neck. "I think I almost stole your soul, so sorry about that." He let a dry chuckle escape his lips.

"So that's what it was." I nodded like I could.

"Itachi…"

"Yes?"

"Bathroom." He moved his head back and I jumped out of bed to run to the bathroom. When I was done and my hands cleaned, I opened the door. Itachi was in front of it. "I'm not cold anymore."

"I hope so," he replied, relieved. I couldn't say anything that he swooped me off my feet and took me back to bed. "You're not entirely recovered however, so don't overdo it."

"You're not giving me a choice, are you?" I sighed when he put the blankets back on me. "I'm starving though."

"I'm going to cook you something," he told me with a small smile. I nodded and noticed the two letters on my nightstand, a scroll on them. I sat up and leaned against the wall, taking the letters in my hands. I recognized Minato's handwriting on one of them, but the other seemed vaguely familiar to me. I opened that one first.

It was from Tsunade-san explaining what happened to me. If I understood it well, from the scroll and what Itachi had told her, she had pieced the story together. In that room, when I used the Hiraishin without a marker, it was because I got 'in-sync' with the temperature, on the verge of hypothermia, and due to that I could control anything that could be affected by cold temperatures, like moisture. She thought I had unconsciously wanted a way out and made a marker somewhere.

It was…wow.

However, because of the brutal change of temperatures, my body did go into a thermal shock. Due to the two-month long imprisonment, I wasn't in top-shape, my body activated my Hyouton as a defense mechanism and I had started to go into a cryonic phase. It was slow because I was not doing it consciously.

Cryonic? Like suspended animation? I was aware I could erase myself from heat detection and use my Hyouton to look dead, even to doctors by slowling my vitals but…it was like ten steps further.

Then, my seal was triggered by the Sandaime. I was the vessel of the Shinigami so it completely depleted me from my chakra. It also triggered what was happening with the cryonic process and crossed it, giving me a big fever instead. Overall, once more, my kekkei genkai and the Shinigami had been fighting for dominance of my body. It was surprising that it even stopped my healing process though, but if it was slowly freezing me to preserve me, my strengths would go to that and not healing.

I ruffled my hair. She also wrote my dad came, gave the scroll and used the Healing Bite on me so I'd get enough strengths back to at least eat properly, but that she had no explanation as to why he would do that. Finally, she wrote that Itachi had been watching over me since we left Kiri and refused to let Kakashi take his place, no matter what version of it he would tell me, and that I should be grateful and thank him instead of feeling like I'm being pitied.

I turned it into a ball and opened the other one. It was more personal and made me tear up a little, especially because there were two letters. Both Minato and Kushina had written me, telling me they hoped I was fine, to be careful and that they missed me, Aunty saying that she would cook a feast the day I'd 'come home' from this hellish mission. She had even sealed me a few snacks and I nibbled on a chocolate cracker with nostalgia. Minato-san had sealed one of his markers and I just looked at it without understanding.

"Is everything alright?" I sniffed and put everything away when Itachi entered the room, the smell of food filling my nose.

"Yeah, sure." He put the tray on my lap but before he could help me eat, I took the bowl of miso soup and started eating. "I'm not shaking anymore."

"Sure." I glanced at him. He was looking at the mattress.

"Did you enjoy feeding me or something?" He froze and looked away under my suspicious gaze. "Wait, seriously?" He shrugged. "Being a nurse isn't really…"

"You did it for me." I was taken back by that. Sure, I had but…

He sighed.

"I haven't done it because you've done it, of course, it was simply the right thing to do." Sure.

"…did you use a nickname or something?" He froze. "Maybe I've imagined it."

"You must have, you don't like nicknames, do you?" I pursed my lips.

"I just feel like people give them out too much and it's cheesy." I looked down at the soup. "It's good."

"Why are you surprised?"

"I don't know, the house is not…anyway. Have you broken the genjutsu? Did Mangetsu give you my message?"

"Yes, and yes." I looked at him hopefully, but he shook his head. "It took me longer than I anticipated to break it and Yagura was unconscious when I left, I don't know…anything else." He pursed his lips. "However, I know the child, Suigetsu, was not in danger." I sighed in relief. "How did you even break out of your cell? They told me they blocked your hands and feet.

"I froze my spit and picked the lock with it," I replied as if it was nothing. Itachi was dead silent and stood up to leave the room. "Heh?" Before I could call him, I heard laughter.

Oh, so he was making fun of my genius.

"I can hear you!" I bit in my pork aggressively when his laughter just got louder.

I had not heard Itachi laughing in years, and I had never heard him laugh so much and so freely either. I thought my thinking was smart, I used to do that as a kid when I had no water around and creating it would be too much. I was self-taught with my Hyouton, and freezing anything in sight was the one thing I could progress on.

When Itachi came back in the room, the smile not leaving his face, I looked away, blushing. He noticed it and cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't making fun of you. It was…it was smart thinking; I can't deny that. It's just…so you to break free from Kiri Anbu Head Quarters by using your own spit."

"…I also froze my sweat when they turned on the heaters." I pursed my lips. "And I've frozen my own blood in more than one instance. And others' blood." He looked at me fondly and I averted my eyes.

"Not much is known about the Land of Water, but with what you're describing me, I understand why the Yuki clan was sadly the first one to be hunted down. The human body is made of sixty percent water after all."

"We don't control freezing," I muttered. He raised a brow. "No elemental kekkei genkai are 'specific' to clans, that's something for doujutsus users. If anything, clans just have…a more specific relation to it, I guess? I mean, I'm resistant to the cold but someone who has an Ice Release but isn't from the Yuki clan won't. The Yuki clan does not control ice, we have control over the temperature and its cooling down to freezing point, there is a difference." He was quiet for a while.

"Then, if the Ice Release is made of water-natured chakra and wind-natured chakra, am I right to say that if you were more comfortable with one of them, the use of the Hyouton would be different?" I nodded.

"I'm way more comfortable with water because Mom used it and Yagura's primary element is water, so I naturally leaned more toward freezing, ice, stuff like that. Cooling the temperature, hypothermia, creating a wind so cold it cuts through you, those are stuff that leans more toward wind." I shrugged. "I never looked into it that much to be honest, but I guess that scroll should tell me more about it."

"You…" I glanced at him. "You seem more at ease with your past regarding Kiri."

"Oh." I pursed my lips. "I am. It's not complicated knowing the second Shisui got me out, I turned a blind eye on anything regarding Kiri, including my own lineage. I used to be way better at Fuinjutsu and relied on it more, but I'd say it's fifty-fifty unless the climate is…good. And of course ther…" I closed my mouth.

"There's what?"

"…there's stuff Aunty told me before I left Konoha Mom never told me before. We weren't talking anymore back then so I…"

"Oh." He looked guilty for a fraction of a second before it disappeared. "Can I know now?"

"There's not much to say, my grandparents spoke up against the Third and were executed the same way I almost was, my parents saw it and when my dad was offered the hat, the one condition he had to fill was to turn me into the jinchuriki of the Rokubi." He widened his eyes a little. "Don't make that face, it's logical. My dad took off not long after because Kiri messed his family up to much already." I lay back down. "It's just…strange to look at senpai and think I should have been the target of the Akatsuki." He pursed his lips. "He was caught by Pain apparently, and destroyed a few of them, it's pretty co…"

"Stop." I didn't look at him. I heard him sigh and run his hand on his face. "Just…you're not the jinchuriki, so…you're not a target." I scoffed.

"Please." This time I did gaze at him. "Don't you think it's funny how you can't get away from the Hidden Mist when you're the last person you'd expect to be associated with it?"

"It came to mind recently." I smiled faintly.

"Yet it killed you once." He frowned. "That disease of yours, that my brother had, it's not a disease. It's a chemical weapon thrown in the air by the Third to kill any kid with a kekkei genkai or the ability to have one." Itachi just stared at me. "I've done my research. From the start of the Purges at the end of the Second Shinobi War to when we were ten, the very air you'd breathe in Kiri was contaminated. It goes up to around two-hundreds kids killed. Dai would explain the reasons you got it here and before better than me, it was a while ago anyway."

"It's a genocide."

"Welcome to the Hidden Mist, where you'll think Root is kiddy play and the Uchiha massacre just another Monday." I sighed. "I know the Bloody Mist messed me up bad, but to realize it when I was in Root and not feel anything about it…there's always good in the negative."

"I doubt saying you were not affected by a year spent in Root is 'good'." I shrugged.

"I was worried about what missions he'd ask of me and stuff, nothing more. I've never actually told him anything relevant about your clan either."

"I already knew that." I raised a brow. "The Hokage made me read your reports. They were all trivial things and then…nothing."

"Have you figured out I was the one keeping you from following the snake as well?" He looked confused. "Ha, I'm better than you."

"You were under a henge."

"Knowing what people look like as adults is helpful." He tilted his head on the side a little. "It was Sasuke in his thirties." Something clicked in his eyes.

"You said he had lost an arm," he whispered.

"I never let him live it down." Once, Sasuke and I were bickering and he very seriously asked me what I could do he possibly couldn't do.

I clapped and gave him the finger with both hands. Naruto laughed for ten minutes straight, and Sasuke was embarrassed, grumbling about damned Uzumakis and their stupid sense of humor.

"Itachi." He looked at me. "Thank you for what you've done, for my village or for me. It…was cruelly needed."

"You don't have to thank me; I was the best choice the Hokage had." True.

He poked me on the forehead, a sad smile on his lips.

"And it's the least I can do for you." I was confused. "If you don't feel at home in Konoha, I should make sure the place you go back to is safe and sound."

I bit the inside of my cheek and closed my eyes.

"Thank you," I repeated under my breath.

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