Shisui made his departure but just like his apology, I barely registered it. Itachi finally averted his gaze and that action snapped me back to the present. I didn't have time to stumble, to hesitate. This wasn't a series I watched through a screen anymore, it was my life. So what if Itachi had a crush on me? That didn't change anything, my mission was the same. I wasn't required to reciprocate the affection. If I successfully 'friend-zoned' him, that could open the door for Izumi, taking me out of the 'love-interest' position and making it a nonissue.

"I'm sorry about that, Ashi-chan." He apologized, removing his hand from my arm and staring at the ground. "It wasn't my place to speak for you."

My heart stuttered in my chest. Shit. I promptly pushed whatever feeling that was to the very back of my mind. Things were complicated enough as they were. "Please don't apologize 'Tachi-kun, I'm the one who should be apologizing to you. I'm so sorry I was so hostile toward you, especially when you were only trying to help. I always seem to be causing you trouble."

Itachi finally looked up and there was the tiniest shy smile on his face. "It's not trouble, not if it's you."

My heart did another uncomfortable stutter. "Um, I-I have to go. I'll see you later, kay?"

I didn't allow him to respond before I was gone. Itachi having a crush on me was a manageable problem, but me being the one with the crush was an entirely different complication. One thing I absolutely could not afford to do was let my emotions get in the way more than they already had. For my plan to work I had to be by Itachi's side, adding a romantic attachment was an unnecessary hurdle. It would cloud every interaction I had with him, and impact my judgment. It wasn't an option.

My mind was so preoccupied with everything that had happened in the last thirty minutes that when I made it home, I didn't hear my sister talking to me until I almost walked right into her. "What is your problem, Ashi?"

There was an unkind bite to her words that I wasn't used to, but I tried not to take it personally. Maybe she was having an off day too. "Sorry Nee-chan, what's up?"

Her jaw clenched before she answered. "Spar with me."

It wasn't phrased as a question which only added to the oddity. My older sister wasn't one to spar often, preferring to stick to her veterinary studies. That wasn't to say she wasn't a formidable opponent though. We had been trained by the same person, and Kaa-san was very… thorough.

Sparring with Hana was the last thing I wanted to do after the day I had, but something seemed to be bothering her. Maybe I could do one thing right today by helping her work through whatever problem she was having. If that meant being her punching bag for a while, well, what was family for? Not to mention that if Kaa-san found out I passed up an opportunity to train she would have my tail. Never pass up an opportunity to sharpen your claws. "Okay."

Hana just nodded once before turning on her heel and stalking towards the training grounds next to our house. I turned to Shiro and Yuki with a lifted eyebrow. "She's being weird, right?"

The two ninken simply blinked up at me and I sighed. "You're no help."

Between missions and training, my relationship with Hana had been lacking as of late so I might have missed something. As selfish as it was, I just wished she had chosen a different day to want to work out her frustrations. Regardless, I wasn't going to let my problems get in the way of being there for my sister, so I plastered on the most convincing smile I could. "I'm excited to see what you can do, Nee-chan. It's been a while since we sparred."

"I'm going to beat you, Ashi." She replied and I chuckled.

"Someone's feeling competitive."

"I'm serious," the smile fell from my face. "I'm going to beat you. I'm going to be the next head of this clan, and I'm going to prove I'm stronger than you."

I blinked at my older sister's declaration. "Nee-chan, what? Where is this coming from?"

"You heard me. Now come on, let's do this." Her hands were already flying through signs, but I was still reeling from her sudden desire to prove herself. She'd always seemed happy for me and my accomplishments.

"Nee-chan, wait!" I shouted while dodging her sudden onslaught of attacks and the Three Haimaru Brothers. This morning they were all too happy to eat the treats I gave them, the traitors. "This is ridiculous! You don't have to prove anything!"

She showed no sign of even hearing my pleas, opting to focus on the punishing attacks she was sending my way. This wasn't simply a friendly sparring match or a way for my sister to work through her frustrations. Her attacks were meant to cause harm. I had to reevaluate my entire approach. Getting through to her was a lost cause, and the only way for me to avoid serious injury was going to be to knock her out of commission first. I had to be as ruthless as she was.

"Today sucks."

I didn't know how much time had passed. Blood was dripping down the side of my face and I winced when I took a deep breath.

"I can't believe she broke a rib," I hissed to Shiro and Yuki. They both bumped their head against my thigh and I managed a pained grin. "I'll be fine."

"Did you think you could hide with the amount of blood you're losing? I could smell you a nation away." I only managed to avoid my sister's attack by the skin of my fangs. There was no time to catch my breath before she was sicking her triplet ninken on me.

"You're a real bitch right now Nee-chan!" I growled while Shiro and Yuki lept in to keep the triplets busy.

Hana launched herself at me before I could even get on steady footing. I deflected the kunai aimed at my face at the very last second, hissing as it managed to slice my cheek. There was no time to think, only instinct. Usually, that helped me in a fight since my senses were sharper than the average ninja, but Hana had the same training and abilities that I did. It was like fighting a clone. I dropped low to avoid the kick aimed at my broken rib before going into a backhandspring to get some distance between the two of us. Every move was agony, but the agony was preferable to losing at that point. I could feel the pain feeding into the weight of all of my frustrations. It was bubbling just below the surface and it was what kept me moving. I was willing to be my sister's punching bag, but it had snowballed into so much more than just that. It seemed like she was punishing me for something out of my control, and I felt as if I was losing what little control I thought I had on my life as a whole.

All the anger and frustration spilled over when Hana managed to get behind me, grabbing a fistful of my hair and using it to slam me into the ground face-first with a crack that seemed to echo through the clearing. It was like a seal was broken at the same moment as my nose. "Just stay down, Ashi!"

Words were beyond me as the animalistic rage spread through me like fire in my veins. Using my claws I swiped at her right Achilles tendon, managing to nick it and cause her to jump back. It gave me the freedom to jump to my feet and in one quick motion, I reached up and reset my nose with a sickening crunch. The pain reverberated through my body but only as an afterthought. Logically, I knew the action hurt, but it was as if my bloodthirst and rage were so consuming that I couldn't register any other feeling. I watched how Hana flinched, faltering for the first time since our battle had begun.

Before she had any more time to react I was closing the distance between us. She tried to defend against my assault, but it was unlike anything I had ever executed before- brutal and unrelenting. My claws were cutting through her clothes and slicing into her skin. Hana was landing a few cuts and punches, but I didn't even register them. It had become a comically unfair fight.

A particularly nasty hit to her jaw threw her to the ground and I was immediately on top of her. "Ashi, please! I'm sorry!"

I heard her words, but I was horrifyingly apathetic to them. Instead, I palmed a kunai. It was like I was watching everything play out while having no control. All I could do was watch in horror as I swung the weapon down, angled directly at my sister's neck. The tip of the weapon had gone just deep enough to draw blood when something barreled into me.

The impact knocked the breath from my lungs as I went flying. My body rolled across the hard ground and after a few seconds, I managed to dig my claws into the dirt to bring myself to a halt. I growled, a deep guttural noise as I looked up at my assailant and saw Kuromaru.

"This is not a fight you want when you're already so beaten, pup. Stand down." The ninken commanded, but I was already far beyond reason. Instead, I raced toward him on all fours and I heard him let out a breath.

Before I could reach the massive dog, however, a crushing force from above landed right on my back, slamming me to the ground and breaking another one of my ribs. "Stand down, Ashi!"

Kaa-san's sandals dug into my back but I snarled and continued to struggle. "Ashi! I said, stand down!"

There were times that I thought the way she yelled was classified as roaring, but they all paled in comparison to this. It immediately forced me to freeze as if she had me by the scruff of my neck. There was something deeper to it, something wired into the animalistic part of me that was forced to bend to her command. There was even more to the Inuzuka than I thought.

"Kuromaru. Report."

"Hana is alive, she merely lost consciousness."

The weight of my mother disappeared, but as I began to seem to regain control, the weight of my attempted action was even heavier. "What have I done?"

I heard Kaa-san sigh before reaching down and getting me to my feet, as gently as could be considered for her. That was a surprise. She wasn't a comforting woman. If anything, I was expecting her reaction to the scene she came across to be one of anger and beratement. Instead, when I looked up at her, she looked sad.

It was so unexpected and out of character that it filled me with dread. "We need to have a chat, pup."

So much had already happened that day, that the prospect of another life-altering revelation was too much to handle. Without a second thought, I turned and bolted. Kaa-san didn't give chase, but I wasn't expecting her to. She understood that sometimes people needed to work through things alone. She knew I would come back when I was ready.

Yuki and Shiro eventually caught up to me and we just ran for a while. I let no coherent thought stick in my mind, only concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. After thirty minutes of thoughtless wandering, I found myself standing in front of the Memorial Stone. My many trips made it easy to spot Kushina and Minato's names. They were inscribed side by side, forever remembered for dying in service to their village. Heroes.

I reached out my hand as if to trace their names, but I stopped when I saw the blood dried onto my skin. My own and my sister's.

"Oh god," I shuddered. "I was going to kill her. I almost killed her."

Saying it aloud with the multitude of names staring back at me brought me to my knees. "What is wrong with me? How could I do that?"

I wasn't sure exactly who I was asking; myself, the names, or whatever force had reincarnated me to begin with. Regardless of who the questions were directed at, they didn't get answered and I brought my hands to my face, feeling the tears I didn't realize had begun to fall. Shiro and Yuki lay on either side of me, but it was only a small comfort.

"Fuck." I whispered before repeating the word, getting progressively louder with each one. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!"

My breaths began to come out faster and faster as I openly sobbed. That combined with my broken ribs kept me from getting enough oxygen and it only took a few minutes before my body fell forward and I sunk into unconsciousness.

A/N: Still alive guys, don't worry! Hope you all enjoyed it, I feel like this chapter was a lot of just setting things up for the future so I hope y'all weren't bored. Also, apologies once again because I know I'm not the best at writing fight scenes, I try to avoid them when I can but it's hard when the series is about ninjas lol. Stay well and be kind 333