It was all for herself, Mitsuki thought as she recalled Itachi's question the previous night. She herself had felt a major change in her heart, as if she was no longer the girl that the duo met months ago. During the short time of her journey, she has been greeted with a lot of kindness, as well as meeting different kind of people, and interacting with Itachi and Kisame. By getting to understand those people, it had changed her for the better, or at least, that was what she had thought, and hoped. She could almost say that she felt human, as weird as it sounded. But if she wanted to keep progressing, she needed Itachi to be alive, for he was the one who started all the changes within her. "That's all," Mitsuki uttered in her mind, convincing herself. With an unfamiliar sensation in her heart, Mitsuki jumped down from the tree branch.

"Hey, Itachi-kun, don't you think you should eat properly? How are you going to recover like this?" said Mitsuki as Itachi picked up a few fruits from the surrounding tree.

Inside his mind, Itachi scoffed at the notion of recovering from his uncurable, rare illness. Deciding that Mitsuki didn't need to know that, and to protect her heart from breaking further, Itachi answered lightly. "We can't afford the luxury of another stop. There's still quite a distance to cover," he said calmly. Hearing Itachi's response, Mitsuki narrowed her eyes, judging the truth of his words. Knowing that she wouldn't get anything by pressing further, Mitsuki moved over to another topic of interest.

"Anyway, what is this eyedrop? Why do you go to such length to get it? Can't you get it anywhere else?" Mitsuki let out a barrage of question towards Itachi, not knowing where to start. Hearing her questions, Itachi maintained his silence for a while as he formulated a concise answer in his mind.

"It's not something that can be gotten elsewhere, and it was Uchiha clan's special medicine to counter the side effect of Mangekyou's usage," said Itachi briefly without going into excessive detail, leaving the fact that he had his variation made stronger, specially for him to cope with his condition. However, his response only spurred Mitsuki's curiosity further.

"I've heard the gist of it from Kisame, but.. can't you just not use those Jutsu anymore?"

In response to Mitsuki's question, Itachi smiled bitterly. Easier said than done, he thought. "We can't always predict the outcome in battle, there are times where we couldn't afford to hold back," Itachi replied with a slight frown on his forehead. Hearing this, Mitsuki took the chance to drop her next question.

"Then? Was it necessary? Using your Tsukuyomi on that white haired, masked ninja? And.. your brother as well?" Mitsuki's question pierced Itachi's heart right where it hurt. With an enquiring gaze, Itachi frowned as his gaze met Mitsuki's doubtful glance.

"I saw everything. And knowing you, Itachi-kun, I know that it wasn't necessary for you," Mitsuki added as Itachi kept his quiet. "Also, what's with those careless divulging of information. That's so not like you.." Mitsuki casually dropped the bomb as she ended her sentence.

Once again, Mitsuki's observant nature surprised Itachi. It was as if he had dug his own grave the moment that he took her along with his party. Not sure on how to answer, Itachi drowned himself in silence. Perceiving his lack of response, Mitsuki opted to drop the topic, albeit not giving up on her pursue of answer.

"Your brother, that wasn't like you.. how you treated him I mean.." said Mitsuki, changing the topic.

Hearing her probing words, Itachi frowned as her words gave him discomfort. It was as if she was attempting to blow his cover, to dig deeper than she should. "What do you even know about me?" Itachi said coldly, his word came off harsher than he meant as his heart was thrown into turmoil.

"I know more than you think I do. After all, I can see it.." said Mitsuki, as she gazed directly into Itachi's fierce expression. "Your pain, that is.." Mitsuki clarified, sadness reflected in her eyes as if she were scrutinizing his action, and pitied him. Overwhelmed by Mitsuki's response and the emotion reflected in her eyes, Itachi stood up and walked away uncomfortably. It was as if he couldn't bear having her peek deeper inside him more than she already did. Seeing Itachi's action, Mitsuki sighed as she gazed upon Itachi's back with pained expression on her face, and mumbled, loud enough for Itachi to hear. "Dummy," she said as Itachi put some distance between them.

Ever since Mitsuki's probing, the journey had been thrown into silence, with Mitsuki caring for Itachi subtly, without uttering a single word, and Itachi silently guided the way ahead without speaking a single phrase. During the course of his life, Itachi had gotten used to silence himself. However, something about the usually lively girl being all quiet bothered him more than it should.

As for Mitsuki, she realized how much her words had brought Itachi pain. However, she didn't intend to let go this time. It was for Itachi's own good, she thought. There couldn't be anything good coming from hurting both himself and his brother like that. With the resolve in her heart, Mitsuki kept her quiet as she gave Itachi some space, while waiting for the time when he would answer her truthfully. As the night had fallen and the moon once again graced the night with its presence, Mitsuki gently sang a sad lullaby as she gazed upon the moon atop of a tree branch.

Below, Itachi glanced above him towards the oddly maturing figure who sang under the moonlight. Silently, he wondered, where had the girl in front of him had learned to sing. The song that she hummed was filled with gentleness, yet sadness was embroidered within the tunes. Hearing it, Itachi recalled Mitsuki's question, as well as his last encounter with Sasuke, and how much pain he had caused his brother. Even then, he was not sure how Sasuke would have fared against his mental attack. He had taken extra care not to excessively harm both him and his teacher, yet..

"Forgive me, Sasuke.." Itachi muttered silently in his heart as a formless, invisible sharp sensation stung his heart.

"…." During their walk on the next day, Mitsuki had suddenly stopped on his track. Noticing the halt of her footsteps, Itachi stopped his stride as well as he looked back towards the girl's anxious figure.

"What's wrong?" said Itachi, breaking the silence that had lasted between them for a while now.

".. This place.." Mitsuki said as she faced a big, dilapidated Torii* gate. Her emotions unreadable.

"Would you like to check it up?" Itachi offered. Between everything that happened in Konoha and his encounter with Sasuke, he had almost forgotten about the information he had been gathering about the girl in front of him. In fact, he hadn't even found himself a time to check the scroll he took away from the Uchiha compound which might shed some light on his analysis so far.

Mitsuki froze. The scene felt familiar somehow, yet, she was filled with anxiety. Despite that, she knew that standing around would take her nowhere. Swallowing the uncomfortable feeling inside her, Mitsuki nodded lightly, as her face paled. Noticing her condition, Itachi slowly followed Mitsuki from behind cautiously as she slowly climbed the set of stairs on the other side of the Torii gate.

With every step she took, Mitsuki could feel her stomach churning and her mind screaming. It was as if a chain was holding her back, telling her not to take another step ahead. As she reached the top of the stairs, her hand had started trembling. Seeing this, Itachi walked ahead of her and instructed Mitsuki to take a break.

"Wait here, I'll be back soon," said Itachi as he headed over to the abandoned shrine. Hearing his word, Mitsuki nodded weakly and found herself a seat, her face paled and her hands trembling still. To be honest, she really would like turning back, but.. she had decided to confront her past for her own, and Itachi's sake. "This trembling could only mean that we are at the right place.." thought Mitsuki as she tried to convince herself not to dash away from the dreadful sensation that had been looming over her since her arrival in the shrine.

Inside the abandoned shrine, taking a look at the scenes and worn out painting in front of him, Itachi activated his sharingan, scouring for any chakra that might indicate anything hidden. Sensing nothing, he took out the scroll that he had gone to the trouble to retrieve from his clan's compound and sat down as he laid them out. As he matched the symbol that he found along with the mural of the shrine, Itachi arranged his thoughts about.

Among the Uchiha clan's passed on Doujutsu especially those who awaken along with the possession of Mangekyou Sharingan, some wielded extraordinary power to the point that it was believed that the power was of the Gods themselves. Among them, Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi, with the name of Amaterasu**, the ultimate all consuming fire, derived from the long worshipped Goddess of Sun, predating even shinobi's existence. Tsukuyomi, on the other hand, was named after the deity of the moon, as well as Amaterasu's brother. As Amaterasu represent the material world and light, Tsukuyomi represent the spiritual world and darkness. Besides the two jutsu, there were also several other jutsu carried by the Mangekyou which are named after related deity due to their extraordinary power, such as Izanami, Izanagi, Susanoo, Kotoamatsukami, and many more. As for the Uchiha's relation to the history of such deity.. It was previously rumoured that the Uchiha line, along with the Hyuugas, came directly connected from the predecessor of Shinobi, under the line of Ancestor's era's emperor, Tenji, who was believed to be the descendant of the Amaterasu herself.

".. and this place is undoubtedly, the shrine of Amaterasu.." Itachi muttered as he confirmed his suspicion. As for where Mitsuki fell into place within all of those information, Itachi couldn't be sure yet. However, if there was any indication, he believed that Mitsuki's strong reaction, or aversion, might be the proof that he was walking the right path in uncovering her connection. As he recalled the description written in the old text he found in the "Sun Blessing Village," Itachi formed a speculation that he immediately put at the back of his mind due to the lack of evidence. Considering his encounter with the old text, as well as Mitsuki's persistence in following him, there had been too many coincidences along with his findings. If Mitsuki had never insisted on following him, it was unlikely for him to notice the existence and the significance of the dilapidated shrine and its connection to his own line as well as Mitsuki. "It was as if we were guided by the hand of the Sun Goddess herself.." Itachi muttered, as he chuckled slightly at the superstitious notion.

A while after, as he finished jotting down his thought safely on a scroll of his own, Itachi went out of the shrine. As he saw Mitsuki still sitting silently in front of the shrine area, seemingly unable to calm the trembling of her arm, Itachi approached her quietly with concern in his face, without saying a word. Seeing Itachi's approaching figure, Mitsuki smiled bitterly as she held her own hand, her face still devoid of color. It looked like she would be puking any moment she lost her control over her last shred of calmness.

"Ah, Itachi-kun.." she exclaimed weakly. "Sorry, it doesn't seem like I can.." she said with a bitter smile on her face.

"Ah, but it doesn't mean that I'm giving up on my goal!" quickly, she added in panic, considering what Itachi might say to her in order to have her give up on her pursuit as he saw her current condition. Hearing the panic in Mitsuki's voice, Itachi said calmly in a relaxing tone.

"It's fine, we are not that far from our destination anyway. We can come back anytime," said Itachi lightly. Hearing his calm tone, Mitsuki breathed a sigh of relieve as she followed Itachi's descent down the series of stairs.

Author's note:

Finally we reached the beginning of the 1st turning point heheheheheeh.. From here on I think the angst and romance will start to come off a bit stronger. Foundations are laid, now it's time for suffering (:

Also long explanation on the lore implementation below!

Extra note:

(*) Torii(s) are, simply said, a gate that is usually placed in the shrine's entrance in japan, mostly colored red. It's believed that passing through a Torii meant passing through the gate towards the God's realm, away from mortal realm. Therefore, there are some rule to be observed, but for convenience sake (else I'll have to go deep in explanation x'D) just assume Mitsuki and Itachi knew what they were doing hahahah

(**) Amaterasu, is the main God of Japanese Mythology, the chief of gods, and the leader of Takamagahara, as well as the goddess from whom the emperor of Japan was believed to be descended of. She was the daughter of the creation gods, Izanagi and Izanami, with Izanagi representing life and Izanami representing death. The concept used in this fanfic will be derived both directly from Japanese mythology as well as the representation given in the game Onmyoji, where it shows more of Amaterasu role as the progenitor, chief of gods, as well as the life giving light who is full of love towards humanity. Amaterasu's brothers including Susanoo, Tsukuyomi, and Oyamatsumi, will also be equally important in the story :3 Please wait for more explanation ahead as the story unravel!

As usual, feel free to speculate! See you guys next chapter, and maybe, just maybe, comment with your speculation! heheheh