The journey to the hideout was a long one. Mitsuki, who had never traveled so far away off the village before, was intrigued by a lot of stuff that she found on their way. As usual, Itachi didn't speak much on their travel. In fact, Kisame found that he was even quieter than usual. However, he didn't ask a thing about it for he understood that in such time, Itachi wanted to be left alone. He had already accepted for a long time that Itachi had never been so open about himself or what he was thinking anyway. Besides, he already got his hand full with the little girl who seemed to have considered bothering him as her new hobby.

"Can you stop it?" said Kisame, as a piece of the chestnut seed shell that she was peeling flied and hit the back of Kisame's head. Considering that she had pranked on him a lot during their travel together so far, he was not sure if it wasn't intentional.

"Hehe, sorry, this time it's an accident, really.." said the girl with no sign of regret in her voice whatsoever.

"… I don't believe you," said kisame, as his mouth formed a downward curve.

"Don't be like that," she said cheerfully, "I've decided to try to get along with you guys, and that's why i promise that i won't ever lie to you guys as a prove! Besides, it's suffocating to have to lie all the time. Granpa used to be the only one who i don't need to lie to, and ever since he's gone, I…"

"Sigh, whatever kid. Just keep it down a little bit or i might decide to just chop you down. Or at least go bother Itachi-san instead, why is it only me you were after?" said Kisame annoyedly, cutting her words.

Mitsuki smirked as she answered sarcastically, "Since he lent me that hat and you didn't, and i promised him i'd be a good when he did, didn't I?"

Kisame sighed as he cursed her internally. As far as his partnership with Itachi had been going, their travel has always been the pleasant trusted each other and had each other's back. Itachi had never talked much, yet he always answered him when Kisame got bored and decided to strike up a conversation. Sometimes he would joke around and Itachi would response in calm manner, which is actually not bad at all. Kisame could say that he enjoyed his partnership with Itachi, and together, they could be at ease. "But not now, not anymore.," Kisame mentally grumbled.

"Let's rest here," Itachi said suddenly. They had walked for quite a long time already, and the sun has already started to set. They were in the middle of a forest path. As the two man decided on a place to settle while staying hidden, Mitsuki started to gather the dry wood stalk around them swiftly. By the time Kisame had finished preparing the campfire base, Mitsuki had already finished gathering the needed wood.

"Where is he? Itachi-sa..-kun, i mean?" asked Mitsuki as she put down the wood she gathered to the prepared base.

"Well, i suppose he went to hunt for some food, why?" Kisame asked back.

"Hmmm, i see.." she answered. As she closed her eyes for a while, Mitsuki searched for the man's specific energy that she has been memorizing for a while now. As she pinpointed the location, she opened her eyes and started running towards it.

"Thank you, shark-chan!" she shouted as she ran.

Kisame let out a "meh" as a response, as he continued to prepare the campfire.

"…-kun huh?" Kisame mumbled to himself, smirking as he imagined how Itachi would react to the sudden closeness she showed by how she decided to call him.

—

A bird fell from the sky. On her body was a shuriken, stabbing her on her wings, disabling her from continuing her flight. As the bird fell, it slowed down and stopped in the middle of the air, right in front of Itachi's body. Noticing the presence that might be the source of the phenomenon, Itachi turned back his body. Behind him, stood the very girl that had been the source of his confusion.

"Eh, don't worry. I'm just saving you the problem of cleaning the bird from the dirt later."

As Itachi put his hand below the bird's now floating body, the bird fell down to his hand directly, as if whatever was holding her was gone. As he silently wondered about how she did it without any noticeable movement, the girl answered his question.

"I just manipulated the air below the bird a bit. Isn't it interesting?"

Itachi stared at the girl, wondering about how she could read him. He was sure he kept his usual expression and didn't let out any sign.

"Why are you here?" he asked, hiding his actual question.

"Let me help you here," she answered, smiling, as she moved to his side.

It was a perfect opportunity for Itachi. It was hard to admit, but he was still curious about the existence beside him. Even though he was older, his extremely curious nature from when he was a child was still residing inside him. It was the same nature that made him studied countless book of different major, and made him question a lot of things in himself and the world around him. It was also his strongest trait besides his hate of losing, it was a part of what made him himself. Itachi knew about his own personality well, and that was also why he wondered if the choice he made that night was a mistake created by his own nature. If he could get rid of his curiosity towards her, perhaps he might be able to see things with more clarity. That was what he thought to himself. That was when he decided to put her skills into test

As he took a few more shuriken from her tool bag, Itachi took a deep breath and activated his sharingan. As he finished his preparation, Itachi kicked the stalk of the tree beside him, with just enough strange to shake it and startle the birds residing upon it. The birds flew with fear, just to be greeted by the shuriken that Itachi threw with extreme precision. "Now, to observe her movement," Itachi thought as he shifted his glance towards the girl. In his surprise, what he saw was pure excitement from the girl. Just like a kid, her eyes were sparkling as she observed what has happened. The sight reminded Itachi of his kid brother, Sasuke, when they were training together. He was almost tempted to smile at her.

With sudden realization, Mitsuki snapped out of her excitement. Her face changed rapidly from excitement to surprise, followed with a determined look. Mitsuki slowly breathed in and closed her eyes. Her expression was both peaceful, and focused. As she spread her arms gently, Itachi could feel the same shift in energy as he felt that night. However it was weaker, and gentler. As he tried to analize what was happening around him, he noticed that there was no sound of the birds hitting the ground yet.

The girl suddenly opened her eye with an annoyed look.

"What's wrong?" Itachi asked.

"Nothing. I've stopped all of them from falling. But that's it. It's just that, this is what i had always been doing up until now. Holding fruits from falling to the ground, pinpointing the location of fallen animal. It was actually nothing much of a help," Mitsuki answered with an annoyed tone.

"..I'll pick them up, you wait here," Itachi responded as he turned his sharingan back off and turned his body towards the direction where the birds were flying. He was disappointed, for he had expected more from her. "I think this finally is the end of it," he thought to himself with a little bit of disappointment towards himself from expecting too much. In his surprise, the girl shouted to stop him.

"NO. Don't you dare do anything!"

As he heard her shout, Itachi turned his head as he glanced towards her.

"I've told you that i'll help you before, but this way i won't be of any help! This will prove Sharky-chan's word to be true, that i will be an useless kid which is more of a burden, and i'd hate it! I wanted to be of help too, but this way…" said the girl as she avoided Itachi's glance. "If only, if only i could control the power of that time.." she mumbled.

As the girl exhales, she lifted her head and glanced fiercely on the direction of where Itachi was about to head off, and lifted her hands toward it. As she swiftly waves her hands backward, suddenly, a strong wind blew towards them from the direction they were facing. As the girl's increasing focus was reflected in her eyes, Itachi could feel the wind becoming stronger and stronger. While protecting his eyes from the dust and leaves which came along with the wind, he turned his head towards the direction of the wind. Suddenly, he could caught several objects came flying past him in high speed, right towards the girl's focusing figure, and slamming right onto her.

"OOOPH," the girl let out a sound, as the objects hit her right on her stomach, and followed by another hit on her face, throwing her off balance. As she fell to the ground, the wind started to halt.

"Plop," one of the object fell into the ground. "Plop plop," more falling sound could be heard as more objects fell into the ground. As one of them fell near him, Itachi could finally see the objects clearly with his regular eye. It was the bird which he had gotten with his shuriken. Turning his head, Itachi looked onto Mitsuki, whom as the last bird fell down right onto her head, let out an ouch.

Itachi was at loss, for he didn't know how to comprehend and react to everything that happened. Unconsciously, he let out a snicker from behind his high cloak.

As she heard the slight voice, Mitsuki spoke in excitement. "Ah! You laughed!" said the girl. As Itachi straightened his expression to avoid getting caught more, he could see both surprise and excitement in her face.

"That's good!" she smiled as she said that, surprising him even more.

".. why would you consider it good when someone is laughing at you?"

"Because, ever since i've first saw you, i've always got this idea that you are suffering. Even more since I questioned you last night, forgive me," said Mitsuki softly with a bitter smile on her face.

"How could you be sure about that?" ask Itachi subtly, trying to hide his feeling of vulnerability. He was surprised that he was easily found out, just like last night and a while before then.

Smiling, Mitsuki took the dead birds off her head and her body. As she prompted her body to stand back, she answered, "Because, as i've told you, these ten years, i've been learning about how to read people. With the help of my ability, i can do it even better."

As if knowing about Itachi's curiosity on what she had meant, Mitsuki continued her explanation while picking up the birds which has fallen to the ground, "Living thing's energy is dynamic. When they feel, the energy changed itself. Anger, sadness, happiness, bad thoughts, good thoughts, everything is reflected upon their energy. It's almost easy for me to tell if someone has good intention or bad intention. Well, i still can't read their mind though, but combined with a little bit of analysis on their behavior, in which i'm sure you're pretty familiar with, i can basically guess about what they are thinking, and their true nature. Well, it has been hammered unto me for years anyway." Mitsuki smiled as she finished her sentence and glanced towards Itachi.

"Last night, when we met, i've decided that you two aren't a bad guy. That's why i was trying to get you guys to leave instead. And that's not all, I could feel the heavy weight of your emotions, even in comparison of Sharky-chan. It was as if, you've been carrying a heavy burden, and all it has left you is suffering. But even so, i could still feel kindness inside of you, and it had left me wondering."

As she continued to speak, Itachi could feel a strange stir in his emotion again. He was surprised, and worried about the fact that anyone had actually been able to see through his facade. But somehow, a part of him was happy. It was a strange feeling that he couldn't understand. While he was trying to straighten his mind, the girl continued to talk.

"When.. i asked you those question.. I could see the confusion in your eyes. It felt as if you were asking yourself the same question. Why? Could it be that you understood about how i feel? And, is it also your source of suffering? As i observed you, I also felt like that's not all, and it has made me curious.."

As she stopped talking, the girl jumped to his front, carrying the birds. Looking straight into Itachi's eyes, she smiled, "That's why, i want to know more about you! What are you? What do you feel? Why are you, you? I feel like I'll be able to find out more about myself by finding out more about you." Finishing her sentences, Mitsuki smiled and handed over the birds that she was holding to Itachi. As their gaze meet, Mitsuki's smile went wider.

"Let's get along well, Itachi-kun!" she said, cheerfully.

Hearing her words, Itachi was at loss. Confusion and uneasiness fluttered inside him. A lot of thoughts were appearing inside his head. About how she was both dangerous and harmless, especially for his existence and his mission, and about how her decision to follow him for her own sake might turn out breaking her instead, even more if she actually joined Akatsuki. As he was trying to find another way out, he responded.

"Kisame has told you before, but i will remind you. You should realise that we are not the ordinary shinobi you know, we are criminals. And our organization is basically a group of dangerous criminal like us. Trying to find yourself by following us and interacting with us will not be a good choice to make."

As Mitsuki realized about where the conversation was going, she spoke to cut Itachi's word. "I think you've got it wrong. It has nothing to do with what you guys think. You have no saying in this. It's my decision, my responsibility. I'll see it through, whatever it might result in. Whatever you say and you do, you cannot change my mind."

As she talked, Mitsuki shifted her glance towards Itachi's figure and stared right into his eyes, surprising him with how sharp her gaze was. "Besides, what is good from sheltering me from the dark of this world? I've always realized that the world is not as bright as it seems to be. There is always two different reality lying side by side, like how that peaceful and cheerful life down the village in comparison to the truth that I've hidden about granpa and the workers. I see no benefit from hiding or avoiding the dark truth. For, gaining fake happiness by hiding in lies and facade about what I am and what I've done and being content with it is not what i seek."

"I'm not a kid that you need to protect. I'll take a decision for myself, and that's that. Whatever happens to me should always be my own responsibility, and never someone else's, that's what I've learned during all this time in the village. And I've decided to tag along with you guys and be of help while i'm at it," said Mitsuki with determination which surprised Itachi even more.

Itachi had to admit that she was right. Even as Sasuke's older brother, he had always been unconsciously trying to shield him and his innocence from the dark truth of the world. He even tried to keep his distance from his beloved brother so he wouldn't get dragged inside the quabble between him and their clan, hurting him in the process. Seeing the girl spoke with maturity despite of her small figure, he wondered if the current Sasuke had started to mature as well. Slightly smiling, Itachi finally responded.

"Well, you've failed in your first self determined task, though.." he said lightly as he patted off some dirt from the dying birds body which ended up falling to the ground, despite of Mitsuki's earlier attempt to keep them from getting dirty to ease things. Stung with the words, Mitsuki's face turned red of embarassment.

".. and despite all you said about having to lie all this time, your expression looks pretty honest to me," said Itachi as the girl attempted to find a word to say in response to his word earlier in panic. Hiding his smile, Itachi went ahead of her, back to where Kisame was.

"Th…that's because i've told you i wanna be honest with you guys, that's why!" shouted the girl as she hastily followed the figure in front of her.

—-

"Oh, you two are back. What's taking you so long, Itachi-san? Did she finally decided to prank on you?" said Kisame as he saw the pair walking towards him from behind the line of tree.

"D..DON'T TELL HIM WHAT HAPPENED, HE'LL MAKE FUN OF ME!" Mitsuki whispered panicly with a flustered look on her face.

As he heard her words, Itachi replied to Kisame. "… Nothing," he said.

Looking at Mitsuki's flustered expression, Kisame was unconvinced. He grinned as he asked, "What is this here? Did your prank fail marvelously? Or did he not allow you to call him Itachi-kun?"

"SHUT IT YOU SHARKY-CHAN! THAT'S NOT IT!"

"Hoo, then why are you angry?"

"!"

As the two argued, Itachi closed his eyes. He wasn't content with the situation, however he couldn't find a way out either. If it was her own decision, how could he change it? "Hopefully, she changed her mind. There is nothing here for her but darkness," he thought to himself, when suddenly the image of her determined face as she was telling him not to protect her flashed inside his mind. "This is not good," Itachi thought as he hid his smile, noticing that he had become curious on how will the girl in front of him grow. As he dwelt in his inner silence, Sasuke's innocent face flashed in his mind, and he wondered.

"Sasuke, how are you and how have you been?"

It was as if an invisible knife stabbed into his heart, leaving him once again with pain and sadness. That's right, he couldn't let himself to be distracted, thought Itachi to himself. For there is one more thing that he needed to do, and for that, he will do anything to survive until the time had come.

—

Author's note:

GOSH THIS CHAPTER TOOK SO LONG TO FINISH.. I tried to take a little of my time everyday to continue writting despite my busy days, but still working in exhaustion doesn't produce good result, so i end up dwelling in this chapter longer.. I hope it's satisfactory .