When Mitsuki got back to the inn, Kisame was already sitting on his bed. On the side table beside him was two empty boxes of bento. No sign that Itachi had gone back to the room yet. Mitsuki pieced the two and two together.

"Was that supposed to be for me?" Mitsuki asked with disbelieve in her face.

"I brought it for your dinner, but you arrived so late so I ate it before it got cold." Kisame grinned as he continued with his tool maintenance nonchalantly.

Mitsuki fought back her urge to throw something at the shark-looking-man in her anger. With a loud sigh, Mitsuki threw herself down to her futon. "What kind of joke is it to buy someone food then eat it yourself instead. Oh well, doesn't matter, someone from the village fed me already."

"Oi kiddo, don't tell me you stole food? If someone saw you it will cause problem for us you know?" Kisame said jokingly.

"OF COURSE NOT!" Mitsuki rebuted quickly in annoyance, causing Kisame's grin to widen.

A few moment passed in silence as Kisame continued with whatever thing he was doing to his samehada. Mitsuki, bored with the silence, initiated a conversation.

"Hey Kisame," called the girl.

"Huh?" Kisame answered lightly.

"What's Itachi-kun's weakness?"

Kisame blinked at Mitsuki in disbelief before laughing out loud immediately, causing Mitsuki to blush with annoyance and embarrassment.

"Why are you laughing!?"

"Do you think I'll tell on my partner's weakness just like that?"

Mitsuki squinted in annoyance in response to Kisame's remark.

"Besides, I'm not even sure if I'd be able to catch up to Itachi-san if he were serious," Kisame added.

"Oh yea, you lost the spar yesterday. What was I thinking asking you?" Mitsuki threw a verbal jab at Kisame. Kisame frowned in respond as he smiled bitterly.

"You ungrateful ki.." He responded as Mitsuki cut his speech, smiling.

"I'm just kidding. Thank you for bringing yesterday's dinner, and today's too," Mitsuki added calmly as she stood from her futon and cleaned the food waste. "..though you ate my part of dinner today." Mitsuki added jokingly as she jeered at him with her tongue out and walked out to threw the waste out as well as cleaning herself up. Kisame was at a loss at how the girl's attitude changed as fast as the stormy season. "I really don't know how to handle that girl sometimes," Kisame thought to himself, amused.

Itachi came back to Mitsuki and Kisame's cheerful chatter.

"Ah, Itachi-kun, welcome back!"*

"Welcome back, huh?" Kisame almost chuckled at her word. Mitsuki tilted her head, questioning. Kisame just shrugged, grinning.

Itachi stayed quiet and walked towards his bed, and took out what seemed to be a new book from his robe and started reading it.

Mitsuki shrugged towards Kisame as well as her greeting got ignored, which Kisame responded with an "I thought so" look plastered on his face, and then surprisingly, Mitsuki let out a chuckle.

"What, have you gone crazy, kiddo?" Kisame asked in confusion.

"It's nothing, just.." Mitsuki also was not sure why she felt like laughing somehow, and proceeded to change the topic, "Tell me again about the ninjutsu you saw on that mission you told me just now?"

As the two of them had another chat, Itachi was surprised to find a slight smile on his face. Maybe he had started to get used to the noise as well? He wondered why he found the lack of silence to be peaceful somehow in contrary to his usual preferred silence.

"Ah yes!" Mitsuki exclaimed as she interrupted her chatter with Kisame.

"Itachi-kun, rematch tomorrow?" Mitsuki said as she turned her head towards Itachi with a ploying grin on her face.

Itachi glanced back at her. He know she will ask, but it felt too fast. Wasn't it only yesterday that they had their training spar?

Facing the silent answer, Mitsuki grinned, her eye unsmiling as she let out a somewhat evil chuckle. "Don't worry, I've prepared myself well," she added.

"Do as you like," Itachi answered with a sigh, not sure what will be expecting him tomorrow. Some part of him was secretly looking forward to the surprise.

Sun has risen. Mitsuki stood prepared in the opening they used for the previous training, her hair tied high into a ponytail bun. In front of her, Itachi stood calmly, as if waiting for her to make the first move. Kisame was nowhere to be found.

"I guess he won't watch today too after all," Mitsuki muttered. She wanted to brag to Kisame if her well-crafted plan ended up working. "Oh well," she thought to herself.

Mitsuki raised her hand, calling for attention.

"Before we start, can I be the one who set the rule for this spar? Think of it as a handicap to make the fight fair for me?"

"Let's hear it," said Itachi calmly, as he wondered what would the girl in front of her be plotting.

"For the winning condition, how about whoever managed to intentionally got something on the opponents body, they win?"

Itachi slightly lifted his eyebrow at the proposal.

"Wouldn't that be too easy?" He could've just splashed some water at her right here and then and the match will be over.

"Hehe, that's why we both will impose on limitation to make it fair, on what counts and what doesn't count."

Mitsuki waited for any sign of rejection, and nodded satisfiedly when none was shown.

"Then I'll go first," she said. "Anything that can accidentally splash or stick to our body unintentionally doesn't count. Air of course, water, dust, leaves, those are out. As well as things that doesn't impose physical danger to the opponent. How about these?"

Itachi gave her nod of approval as he turned his mind, trying to decipher whatever plan Mitsuki had in her mind. "Then, I will add on," he spoke. "Anything that is wilfully controlled by the attacker or are considered an extension of the attacker's body will count towards valid object. And to make it more challenging, how about we impose the minimum size of the things that counts?" Mitsuki nodded at the addition.

"That's fine by me, you can decide on the minimum," Mitsuki smiled, unflinched.

"Then, how about the size of a shuriken? About 10 centimeter diameter at the very least."

"Hmm, diameter seems a bit rigid," Mitsuki grumbled. "How about minimal 10 centimeter in at least one side?"

"Sounds good, then I suppose kunai and combat needle counts as well." Itachi nodded.

"Combat needle?" Mitsuki tilted her head.

Thinking about it, Itachi thought that such weapon will suit Mitsuki's skill well.

"That's all from me." Itachi finished his proposal with a light smile, as he excitedly waited for what new surprise he will get to see on that day's training.

With confident smile still plastered on her face, Mitsuki then lifted her finger and start the countdown. "Then, on 3,2,1, go!" she shouted as she quickly dashed out of sight into the shadow of the mangrove.

Mitsuki peeked behind the branch of the tree she was hiding on. "Seems like he won't make the first move," she thought to herself. Mitsuki smiled. "That's fine, let's see how will he respond."

Mitsuki closed her eyes as she touched the trunk of the tree. She could feel the energy flowing calmly through the trunk, the branch, the root, the leaves. As she extended her consciousness further, she took in more information. The land, the air, the muddy water. As she extended her reach, more and more image mapping of the energy flow got imprinted in her head. 5 meter, 10 meter, 25 meter, 50 meter, 100 meter. Mitsuki tried her best to focus and not let her breathing be audible. "This is my limit for now, I think. I should work into expanding this," she thought to herself. As she set her limit, Mitsuki started scanning the area with her thoughts. Birds? Ants? Fishes? And then she found it, a familiar signature. Faint and still, easily missed. "Trying to hide yourself I see, it's amazing what shinobi can do." Mitsuki smiled, impressed. It will be easier for her if Itachi moved just a bit more or let his chakra leak. She could see his effort in suppressing his presence. Too bad her ability was just different, she grinned. "Now I wonder how should I surprise him?" Mitsuki scanned the area nearby the faint signature that she found.

Meanwhile, on Itachi's side. Focusing on his environment, he kept his breathing and position steady, patiently and unmoving, as he hid his shadow behind a rock. He was still not sure how Mitsuki's power work in detection, she have never shared the detail of it other than saying that she reads "energy signature" and that she was able to identify him and Kisame separately. Considering those, Itachi focused to erase his presence even more than usual as he searched for any sign of Mitsuki's location and attacks.

"Clack," a faint sound reached Itachi's ear. Still trying to release his chakra as little as possible, Itachi jumped away from the source of the sound. From the source of the sound, a stone spike exploded out from the ground.

"Ho?" Itachi mumbled with a smile as he landed on a tall branch of a tree. "She can control things from afar now? But there seems to be a limit on the range of this remotely controlled attack."

"Gasagasa, clack," another sound reached Itachi's ear. This time, it's coming from the tree's trunk? Itachi sharpened his sense, waiting, when suddenly a new branch grew quickly from the trunk of the tree towards Itachi. Just in the nick of time, Itachi jumped away. The growth slowly came to a halt as he moved away. Then, as he tried to land , the branch beneat him started to move in an unnatural way. Swiftly, Itachi continued with his motion and jumped away without wasting any time. As his brain processed the sequence of attack, Itachi questioned himself. "If this is the way she planned to attack, what is the relevance of the rule she imposed previously?" Ideas and scenarios popped in his head as Itachi connected the dots. The direction of the attacks, the limitations, the rule. Itachi had a suspicion, though he had no way to confirm it yet. A smile flashes on his face as he felt his curiosity piqued. "I guess I'll entertain her just this once," He thought to himself as he decided to let the attacks guide him.

"There he is," Mitsuki smirked as Itachi's figure was driven outside the forest, out to the open ground. Immediately, Mitsuki shrunk her field of detection, just enough to anticipate Itachi's possible attempt to fly back into hiding, out of her eyesight. Focusing, Mitsuki threw a kunai sideways and guided it with the wind to curve towards Itachi in an unexpected curve.

Itachi felt the shifting wind. Learning from his experience on accompanying the girl's training, he quickly caught on into the situation and deduce the direction of the attack from the wind's direction. Scouring his surrounding carefully, Itachi shifted his body slightly as he spot the Kunai flying towards him. Only then, he noticed something was tied up behind the kunai. "A pouch?" he asked himself, trying to deduce what would be inside it. Just then, another kunai flashed from the opposite direction. Itachi prepared himself to dodge the incoming attack, as the kunai slashed open the pouch on the previously evaded projectile, and spread the contents out.

"These are, seeds?" Itachi thought to himself as the tiny grains scattered around him in the air. All of the sudden, from inside the seeds, various stems and vines burst the shell open, threatening to caught Itachi inside the intricate layers of net created from the scattered seeds. Aware of the situation, Itachi threw a few kunai away towards the seeds and the vines, creating enough opening for himself and cutting a pathway open. However, as the seeds dropped to the the muddy water beneath him, the vines continued to grow vigorously in an controlled manner, as if ready to bind Itachi's feet to place. Noticing this, Itachi jumped up, away from the muddy water.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew around him. Itachi narrowed his eye as he tried to avoid any dust from getting into his eye. Suddenly, he noticed it, countless white, feathery pappus floating all around him. Some stuck to his body and clothes, as it was blown in high speed by the wind. Dandelions? No, these are..

In an instant, thorny vines and leaves burst out from the seed that were stuck onto and around him, binding his body in thorny, yellow blooming stems and leaves. It was the thorny leaves of spiny sow-thistle.

"Got you!" Mitsuki came out of her hiding excitedly as she saw her plan worked her way to victory. Or, is it?

Itachi's body burst into countless crows, which instantly flew past the vines and towards the baffled girl. Some circled her, preventing her escape, and some landed on her body.

"Ouch!" She yelped as the crow that landed on her head gently peck her on top of her head.

"It's a pity." A voice came out from unexpected direction. Across the field, far above the ground and the muddy water, Itachi stood on a giant tree branch as he revealed himself from behind the tree's trunk. "You were close," he added, as a smile escaped from his lips seeing Mitsuki's annoyed and baffled expression. She looked like she was going to bite him with annoyance, Itachi thought. "I take it it's my win?" he teased.

"Since when?" Mitsuki asked. Itachi glanced back at her, questioning. "Since when did you switched?" Mitsuki added as she narrowed her eyes in frustration, the crow still perching on top of her head.

"Just before you sent over that gust of wind," Itachi jumped down and landed nearby the flock of crow and the girl. One of the crow flew and perch onto his hand. "I made sure I was within your line of sight when I jumped away so you won't think of reconfirming your senses. You shouldn't have let your guard down just because your enemy is within your eyesight. Even if you seemed to have captured him," Itachi added with a smile.

"Ugh, misdirection is it? Darn it, I should have known it won't be that easy," Mitsuki grumbled. "Agh, it's my loss I guess. Besides, I forgot to impose rule on ninjutsu usage as well, so all is fair and game."

Itachi tried to hold his laughter within as he smiled with guilt. Somehow he felt like he always ended up putting his emotional guard down when training with the girl in front of him. It reminded him of the best time in his life. Realising this, Itachi tried not to think too much about it as he blamed it to his nostalgic feeling.

"Darn, you shinobis are sneaky.." Mitsuki sighed as she complained. Itachi held himself back from giving her a poke on her forehead. He felt as if that was a line he shouldn't cross, to avoid himself overlapping the image of the girl in front of him and his beloved little brother further. He'd prefer if he can keep some distance between them, both for his, and her sake.

"Also what's with these crows?" Mitsuki said as she gently picked the crow above her head up to take a closer look at him.

"Hmm.. to put it simply, it's like the familiar that you mentioned before," Itachi answered shortly, to avoid overcomplicating the explanation.

"Heee, how cute. Crow huh? It's just like you," Mitsuki smiled as she patted the crow's head, maintaining eye contact with the clever creature. "They look intimidating and often misunderstood, but inside they're a gentle, smart, creature." Mitsuki smiled gently at the crow with a solemn expression on her face, as Itachi stared at her, wondering what was the meaning behind her words. Sometimes he really felt like the girl can see through him more than he intended to let on. The crow on Mitsuki's hand tilted his head as Mitsuki leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the forehead, surprising both the owner and the crow.

"Hey, can I have this one?" asked Mitsuki playfully as she turned her head towards Itachi with a pleading look and well crafted cute smile.

"No," Itachi answered plainly and swiftly.

"Tch. Cheapskate. Scold your owner for me, crow-kun." Mitsuki frowned as she threw the crow to fly up from her hand. "Let's go find some food to bring back then, winner's treat!" Mitsuki said as she jumped forward towards the path away from the forest.

"…." Itachi followed in silence as he was left speechless by the random turn of events, trying to stop himself from thinking too much about it.

Omake:

"We're back!"* Mitsuki opened the door with a cheerful yet naughty smile on her face.

"Welcome back," Kisame grinned as he saw the duo came in, pile of foods in hand. "You look happy, did you win? Hahaha what am I saying, that's impossible."

Mitsuki grinned as her eyes narrowed into a cunning, ploying glance in contrast. "Itachi-kun bullied me, so I'm punishing him, hehe."

"…." Itachi kept his silence. Somehow he felt like he got roped into the girl's scheme somehow.

"What's with the food?" Kisame asked. The pile on her hand is obviously more than 3 person's portion, considering that they also brought something back for him.

"I'm a growing girl after all, I need more food."

"How are you growing when you said you didn't grow a bit these past 10 years," Kisame scoffed.

"Maybe it'll start from now on," Mitsuki grumbled.

Kisame laughed in disbelief at the notion as Mitsuki tried her best to ignore it. A small smile formed on her lips, causing Kisame to stopped laughing from confusion.

"Well, today's a fun day, so I'll forgive you," Mitsuki said with a playful, cheery tone.

"?" Kisame looked at Itachi confusedly, "Didn't she said she got bullied?" he thought to himself.

Ignoring both of them, Itachi sat down on his bed, facing away from the other two, as he opened his own packed food.

"Next time, I won't let my guard down," Mitsuki added cheerfully as she swallowed her food without shifting her gaze from the treats in front of her.

"…." Itachi replied with silence as a slight smile escaped his lip.

Author's note:

Agh this chapter is so hard to write… I'm not very good with battle as Mitsuki's not very good with direct combat x'D I ended up writing middle part of the story inside as it was a lot easier for me to write since it involves mostly mental struggle x'D

Ugh maybe I'll take a break from battle scenes for a while, it's so hard to describe the details of the battle and their thinking process. I've been re-reading Naruto's LN for inspiration but it's still very hard after all also… I WANT TO WRITE ROMANCE but I need to get past this slow burrrrnnnn. I hope it will pay off as I think both the pairing will need a lot of time to process their feeling before actually moving forward to the other direction, especially considering that Mitsuki knew nothing much about herself yet.

Also how did Mitsuki made Itachi bought so many food? By guilt tripping him about how hard the training was so far and how the day before she almost didn't eat. This sneaky girl.

Other notes:

* The welcome back here is "Okaeri", which more commonly used when welcoming someone home, despite maybe being used in other situation as a joke or coming back to a place of belonging. Both Itachi and Kisame never used "Tadaima" and "Okaeri" with each other, it maintained some sense of distance due to their complicated relationship. So Mitsuki saying it without hesitation showed how much the two of them meant for her, and Kisame couldn't help to respond to her innocence as well. Meanwhile, Itachi never said "Tadaima" since he's still trying to keep his distance with the both of them even though he is slowly starting to warm up to Mitsuki as well against his own wishes. But eventually, nothing good will happen when she keep getting involved with a pursued criminal like him, isn't it? Or that's what he thought at least!