"..tsuki! Mitsuki!"

Mitsuki's felt like her head was spinning as she woke up from her trance. Opening her eye, Mitsuki clenched her forehead as she felt the world spun around her.

"Ugh…" she muttered as she tried to get over her light-headedness. As her eye adjust to the faint light of the altar, Mitsuki saw Itachi's face hovering over her with worry. Slowly, she regained her consciousness and recollected her thought.

Itachi waited patiently as Mitsuki slowly rose back from her stupor and sat on her own. Looking at her dazed face, Itachi couldn't help but wonder if her stupor was because of all the blood she had lost. Itachi couldn't help but wondered about her well-being, since normally, someone would faint or die from losing such amount of blood, however, to Itachi, Mitsuki barely looked paler. If not for her absent-minded state and the amount of blood on her body and clothes, no one would suspect that she was just bleeding from all over her body some moments ago. Nevertheless, looking at the state she was in, Itachi couldn't help but worry.

After waking from her dream, Mitsuki hadn't yet uttered a single word. The scenes in her memories were still replaying again and again in her head as she gazed blankly to nowhere in particular. It was as if her mind was still trying to comprehend the sensation that was recorded in her memory as well as her flesh, while at the same time, rejecting it. It was is if a horrible nightmare, it didn't feel real for her, yet her body remembered everything all too clearly. The crackling of her bone that echoed through her flesh as they cut through her body, the pain as they swung their blade again and again into her desperately reconnecting tissues, everything was still fresh in her mind, as she had just re-experienced them physically not too long ago.

She remembered all of them, the perpetrator, and the ones who dragged her along to sacrifice her. She knew them, and she watched some of them grew up. Throughout the years, she had helped them, advised them. She remembered their thankful faces as she did, and now.. She remembered the cruelty in their faces too as they turned their blades against her, dragged her, and dismembered her. Mitsuki's body trembled upon remembering the pain in her body, and the hatred in their eyes. Not only that, but also the horror in their eye as she returned their gazes, it was as if they thought she would hurt them.

There was once more a disconnect in her mind. As Inaba, she could forgive them, for they were her duty, the humans that she needed to protect. Her guilt and long memory of fondness towards humanity made it easier for her to understand what they have in mind, easier to forgive them as a deity with a duty to uphold. As Mitsuki, who had lived closer amongst human as one of them, however.. Her memories of what happened during her time with Old Man Bocchon resurfaced in her mind. The obvious ill intention of the strangers, the fear and hatred as she retaliated, how quickly the old man turned against her despite her staying together with him for a long while, her ignored plea, and the suffering that she had to endure during her restraint..

"Humans are capable of such changes.. Humans are capable of such cruelty.." she thought. Then it came to her.. Of course they were scared of what she would do.. After all, humans could do such horrible thing, can harbour such a horrific intention. It was natural for them to expect someone would do the same to them as well.

She's scared. Thinking of those who she had bonded with during her time as Mitsuki.. If they were to ever see her as a monster, would they too turn against her without a bat of an eye? After all, she had never been truly honest with them, as she had never been truly honest with the villagers as well. Maybe, their kindness that she received from them was not because of her true self, but because of what they perceived due to the incomplete truth.

Then, how about Itachi and Kisame?

Mitsuki turned her head towards Itachi to meet his gaze, unintentionally revealing her frightened state as her body trembled.

"What's wrong?" Itachi asked with concern upon seeing Mitsuki's unusual expression. The last time he saw her being so afraid was that time in Aida's house, and now he knew the reason why. But, it couldn't be about him this time. After all he had been feeling alright ever since Mitsuki "stretched" his life.

There was no reply to Itachi's question. All Mitsuki did was just averting her gaze away from him with pained expression. Despite not understanding the reason, Itachi waited in silence and sat beside her, as if telling her that he would wait as long as she needed all the while giving her some space and time to think without probing her. Somehow, Itachi's subtle act of care and silent understanding gave Mitsuki the reassurance that she needed.

"Right.. He has always been this kind of person," Mitsuki thought, slightly smiling even as the tinge of sadness and fear was still present in her expression. Digging through her mind, Mitsuki recalled Itachi's story. Understanding the circumstances was one thing, but Mitsuki couldn't comprehend what could have gone through his mind as he ended the life of those close to him, as well as what compelled and let him carry on and finish the cruel mission.

While pondering, Mitsuki now understood the sadness within Itachi's soul as he saw past Mitsuki end the tracker girl's life without hesitation.

"He must have seen me like how I see him right now. After all, the weight of life is so heavy," she thought, imagining how Itachi must have struggled to understand about what had gone through Mitsuki's mind at that time when she had made that decision to take someone's life. "What have I been through, and what made me the way I was.." As the thought about Itachi surfaced, Mitsuki felt comforted, and her fear was slowly being washed away.

Then, Mitsuki recalled how Itachi questioned her after everything, with patience and understanding, no anger and blame upon her. An indescribable feeling filled her heart.

"What is this feeling," Mitsuki thought to herself. "Moved? Grateful? Impressed? Respect?" The feeling lingered in her heart as she glanced subtly towards Itachi's sitting figure, seemingly lost in thought himself. After gathering her courage, Mitsuki spoke,

"Itachi-kun.." she called unto him.

As if he had been expecting her words, Itachi turned his head to meet Mitsuki's gaze, responding to her call silently with his gaze, as he waited for her to finish her sentence. Mitsuki paused for a while, fearing that Itachi wouldn't answer her. Then, she recalled their agreement on that night, to tell each other everything with honesty. Was it a promise? She wondered. Believing in him, Mitsuki dared herself once more.

"Can I ask you.. That night.. or even before.. When you had to end the lives of those you knew, and cared about.. What enabled you to keep going? What compelled you to forge on? I knew the consequences if you were not able to do it, and I also understood your decision to do so, but.."

"It's unthinkable how I could go ahead and do such thing?" Itachi smiled wryly as he completed Mitsuki's sentence.

"I'm sorry Itachi-kun, but know that I'm not asking this to judge you or anything like that," Mitsuki said hurriedly. Seeing the sadness and guilt in Mitsuki's eye and her blood covered body that she didn't even seem to realise, Itachi could see the sincerity of her words, not that he would have ever thought otherwise. "I wonder why," he thought to himself, suppressing his smile.

"I.. just wish to understand you better. To understand humans better…" Mitsuki said, guilt still apparent in her voice as she regretted breaching such a sensitive and painful memories of his. Wondering what made her suddenly brought out the question, Itachi pondered for a while before answering.

"I believed that it was the only way left that will leave the best outcome for Konoha, Shinobi world, as well as my clan. And so, I turned that believe into my conviction," said Itachi. Inwardly, he had actually started to doubt if his decision was a correct one, after everything that had transpired around him lately. It was all due to Mitsuki's influence, he thought.

"Can you explain further about your clan? I'm not too familiar with the concept of clan within shinobi world. It's unthinkable why a clan would risk a world war for the reason that you have told me," Mitsuki said hesitantly, worrying that her words would upset Itachi somehow. To her surprise, he smiled bitterly.

"I told you, didn't I. Collective believes, with enough people believing, even the worst of lies could be paraded as truth. For our clan, we had a deep-rooted believe that nothing could solve the situation between our clan and the village. It stemmed from things that happened far in the past, fanned by dissatisfaction over some issues that might not even be related," Itachi said, thinking back to his first encounter with the enmity within Uchiha clan during his childhood. It was due to the selection of Namikaze Minato as the 4th Hokage over his father, Uchiha Fugaku. Thinking back, it might not even be related to the discrimination that the clan believed they had faced constantly.

"And therefore, tied by the bond of clan, they failed to see the bigger picture," said Itachi, a tinge of sadness could be heard in his voice.

"I don't understand. I.. know the bond of a clan, the weight of it, the fondness.. but if it were to bring upon destruction to the whole world, destabilizing the country.. I don't think any of us would have wanted that.."

Hearing Mitsuki's statement, Itachi sighed softly. He wished that it wouldn't have been otherwise for the Uchiha as well. However, he knew why exactly the Uchiha clan was the way they were.

"To us, shinobi, especially with a clan as old as Uchiha, our existence predated even the Shinobi Village system. Some people therefore consider it more important than either the village, or even the rest of the world itself," said Itachi with weight in his heart, as he recalled the history of his clan. "Especially for our clan, we have an unusually strong blood bond, or attachment to our clan. It might be tied to our bloodline, or even to our history," Itachi explained patiently.

"Hmmm.. Is that so," Mitsuki muttered softly. She still couldn't imagine it after all, the bond that ran through Uchiha's bloodline. Wondering if it was because of her unusual circumstances, Mitsuki decided to move on with the topic. "Then, how come you are.. the way you are?" Not sure how to put it, Mitsuki asked Itachi vaguely, wishing that he would be able to understand her question anyway. Surprisingly, her question brought a smile, albeit sad one, unto Itachi's face.

"Because I've witnessed it. The hellscape," Itachi muttered.

The next few minutes, Itachi told Mitsuki about his childhood. How his father had brought him to the battlefield, what he had witnessed, how it made him feel and shaped him, how he had tried his best to learn everything there was to broaden his horizon after and how he broke through the curse of the bond of the Uchihas, enabling him to see beyond his own clan.

"It.. was not something that anyone should be proud of. After all, I sacrificed my own clan, with my own hand," said Itachi, closing his story. Thinking back, he could imagine how disappointed Shisui would be over the path that he chose.

"Sacrifice huh.." Mitsuki chuckled bitterly as the word tickled her heart.

"I thought by doing so, Uchiha's name won't be forever sullied, and my brother would never have to see the darkness of the clan and could always be a proud member of Uchiha, "Itachi added. "And once he avenged the clan, he would be considered a hero, and would be regarded in respect. That will be for the best."

Itachi's word sent Mitsuki thinking. The apology of the villager who was holding his Katana out towards her echoed in her mind. "We have no choice, huh?" she recalled. Mitsuki wondered, if like how the Uchiha was leaving Itachi with no other choice, she had also pushed the villagers to the edge. Wondering what had happened to the villagers afterwards, Mitsuki felt a worry in her heart. She finally understood Inaba's forgiveness and the guilt that led her to accept her own "death". Also, from how Itachi told her about having his brother avenging the clan, Mitsuki couldn't help but realised the reason behind Itachi's silent avoidance on that night they first talked honestly about their past to each other.

"They are alike," Mitsuki thought. "Itachi-kun, and.. My past self.."

Upon Mitsuki's lack of response, Itachi gave Mitsuki a questioning gaze. Catching the worry behind Itachi's eye, Mitsuki remarked lightly.

"Yet, in return, your dream, your goal, your future, your reputation.. You abandoned everything. You dummy," said Mitsuki as she glanced at Itachi bitterly, narrowing her eye as if sulking. Catching her expression, Itachi let out a muffled laugh.

"It's fine.. after all, as compared to me who held darkness in his heart, who was able to go to such extent and murder my own parents and the people I cared about, those who placed their hopes on me and knew me personally for years.. Someone like Sasuke with pure and straightforward heart is better suited to carry on the clan's name," said Itachi with solemn look of acceptance in his face. Surprisingly, Mitsuki responded to his word with a quick slap on his shoulder, prompting Itachi to look at Mitsuki's annoyed face in confusion. His gaze was greeted with a complicated look on Mitsuki's now folded face.

"Ahhh.. I wonder if this is how Amaterasu-sama felt when she found me that time," she muttered silently with a mix of sadness and frustration. Sighing, Mitsuki started another speech, berating him.

"Itachi-kun, listen to me. When there is light, there's shadow. Darkness and light are two sides of the same coin. Because there is love, there is hate, and.. It is something that exists inside of everyone," said Mitsuki with serious tone, as if giving Itachi a lesson. Surprised on how Mitsuki had suddenly went back to her preaching self as soon as she saw him feeling down, Itachi let out a muffled chuckle.

"Even the divinity?" Itachi joked. Unknowingly, Mitsuki's word and unpredictable action somehow lifted a weight in his heart, enough for him to throw a joke back at her. Chuckling, Mitsuki answered,

"Yes, even the divinities. Have you ever heard about Gods who turned into evil Gods? It was not as uncommon as you might think," Mitsuki answered with a light smile, bringing relieve to Itachi as he felt Mitsuki's slow but eventual recovery from her previous state. As the two unconsciously traded a smile, Mitsuki shifted her glance away from Itachi, continuing.

"You know.. I've always wondered why you have such a beautiful soul, yet you and Kisame both claimed that you two were both the worst of the worst, haha.." Mitsuki laughed with a sense of irony as she shifted her gaze towards the shrine's ceiling. "After knowing you better, I understand now," she added with affectionate gaze on her eyes as her mind drifted back to her memories of Itachi and everything she knew about him.

Mitsuki's word reminded Itachi of what Mitsuki had said in the past about his soul. He had always wondered about what she could see, about the soul that she had always been talking about. Yet, he had never dared to ask, afraid to find out the truth. The hesitation and curiosity in Itachi's eye caught Mitsuki's attention.

"What? Are you curious?" Mitsuki pried jokingly, causing Itachi to look away, flustered upon accidentally letting his thoughts show, out in the open.

"No, I.."

"I thought we were supposed to be honest to each other?" Mitsuki chuckled as she leaned towards Itachi playfully, adding, "Was that a promise?" she asked curiously.

To her words, Itachi didn't respond immediately. And so, upon hearing no answer from Itachi, Mitsuki sighed and moved back, away from him, as she tried to suppress her disappointment over her misunderstanding.

"How does.. my soul look to you?" suddenly Itachi asked, surprising Mitsuki. Taking Itachi's attempt at honesty as a yes to her previous question, Mitsuki face quickly turned into a smile as she answered,

"It's a beautiful sunset coloured flame. It's the kind where the sky turns slightly purple during sunset. It's very warm and beautiful, yet somehow sad," Mitsuki explained briefly with adoration in her eyes. Not sure what was so special about it, Itachi frowned slightly, as if asking Mitsuki for more explanation.

"The reason why it is flame, is probably because you have affinity with fire element, is that right?" hearing Mitsuki's statement, Itachi nodded, prompting her to continue onto the next point.

"As for the color, the colors of someone's soul tend to reflect their life and personality, or their core, to put it simply. Sometimes, the color will change briefly, affected by someone's emotion, like colorful sparks on the flame. Each core emotions, and some other strong emotion have their own distinct color. For example, anger is dark red, care is yellow, sadness is blue, hatred is black, and many more. A lot of complex emotion will show as a combination of all the different color, sometimes it can be quite hard for me to decipher the composition as well," Mitsuki chuckled as she gave Itachi a crash course about how she views souls, an abstract concept as it was. Somehow, Itachi could imagine. After all, his sharingan could identify chakra by its color as well.

"However, something that deeply affects a person and changed who they are on the inside will permanently alter the color of their soul. For example, let's say an innocent child had a bright sky blue soul, then something bad happened to him, leaving impression and shaped his path. The emotion that he strongly experienced, will forever be changing the tint of his soul. Sounds familiar?" Mitsuki added, ending her explanation with question as she narrowed her eyes sadly, seemingly hinting Itachi on something. Not sure what Mitsuki was on about, Itachi frowned.

"Didn't I ask you before, if it was really necessary for you to use Tsukuyomi on your brother? I've heard from Kisame the gist of what it could do," Mitsuki remarked with sadness in her voice. Immediately, Itachi remembered, his last meeting with Sasuke, Mitsuki's worried probing on that night, as well as his withdrawal from the conversation. Realising what Mitsuki might have seen in relation to their topic, Itachi felt an overwhelming guilt filled his heart.

Gazing directly into Itachi's eye, Mitsuki told Itachi firmly as she realised that he had figured out what she was on about, "I didn't get to tell you that time, but.. you really shouldn't do that anymore. For your sake, and for your brother's too." Upon Itachi's silence, Mitsuki decided to tell him the truth, thinking of how she wouldn't back down this time, no matter how Itachi would react.

"The moment he screamed. I could see the pain in your heart, your own intense self-hate and regret. And your brother.. His soul was slowly dyed black with hatred. He already had a lot of pain inside of him, yet whatever you did to him that day only exacerbated it, coloring his soul blue with sadness and black with hatred," she divulged.

Itachi averted his eyes, away from Mitsuki's. ".. It was necessary.." he said, more to himself than anyone else.

"You knew that wasn't true," Mitsuki remarked, challenging Itachi.

"He needed to hate me. If not, how could he grow strong enough to one day take revenge, and protect himself from those who might want to harm him.." Itachi retorted as calm as he could while he tried to keep himself from revealing the pain inside him through his tone.

"Don't force your own self-hate unto him. You, more than anyone, wanted him to hate you, and punish you for what you did. Because you think, that is what you deserve. Isn't that true?"

Somehow, Itachi couldn't deny Mitsuki's word. Doubt crawled within his heart. Was his action and decision on that day based on his own selfish wish for atonement, not out of what was best for Sasuke?

"Itachi-kun, you're a very sensitive person. I'm sure you know already about what happens to those who gained their strength fuelled by their hatred," she enquired, wishing that Itachi would see where she came from. Just for one last measure, she added, "For example, that guy who you called Madara."

Hearing Mitsuki's word, Itachi snapped out of his thought as he turned his head to meet Mitsuki's gaze. With eyes locked into each other's, Mitsuki continued, "That man, his soul is burning black and red with hatred and anger. It was not unlike the flames of hell." Mitsuki shivered slightly upon remembering the sensation she felt during her encounter with the masked man.

"He gave me a very unpleasant feeling, as if he would like to see the world destroyed," she added. Itachi understood what Mitsuki meant. Before the Uchiha clan's massacre, as he observed the unknown intruder, he made sure to learn about what might be his ideals and motivation. Indeed, the hatred that the man had ran deep. Towards Konoha, towards Uchiha.. He believed that he had used it to his advantage, but.. Doubt managed to resurface within his heart.

"That's why.. you should stop it. Before it's too late, that is. For your beloved brother's sake.." said Mitsuki as she averted her gaze. To her words, Itachi said nothing as he reflected upon Mitsuki's word with unrest in his heart. This time, it was Mitsuki's turn to wait in silence as Itachi drifted within his own thoughts, engulfing them with silence once more.

"Geh," Mitsuki's sudden exclamation broke the silence, surprising Itachi. Realising her mistake, Mitsuki looked at Itachi with guilt.

"Ah, sorry. I just realised how I'm in such a.. Horrible state.. haha.." Mitsuki said awkwardly, chuckling as she showed Itachi her kimono sleeve which was dyed red with blood. Seeing no surprise on Itachi's face, Mitsuki recalled the moment she woke up on Itachi's arm. Slowly, she could feel her face heating up out of embarrassment.

Suddenly, a voice echoed from within the shrine.

"Hooo, Inaba, is that you?"

Author's note:

This chapter is so hard to write ugh… so much complicated feelings on Mitsuki's side that's hard to describe with words…