With combined effort, the three kids finally managed to put back the library's books to how it was previously before they wrought destruction unto the library. As a way of thanking Mitsuki for her help with the mission, Mitsuki had suggested for the three kids to repay her by buying her dinner and accompanying her if they insisted.

After deciding on their food choice among one of the roadside stall, the group of four enjoyed their dinner together happily, especially for Mitsuki who seemed to be enjoying the unique assortment of food that the kids had recommended her.

"What is this thing!? It's delicious!" said Mitsuki while chomping unto a skewered, grilled meat.

"Those are innards, I'm surprised you are not afraid to try it, Mitsuki nee-chan!" Yuko answered with a smile as she ate one on her own.

"Mmmm? Food is food, why would I be afraid to try it?" she remarked with her mouth full of the chewy delight.

"Ah, it's because mostly people consider it as waste meat or think that it's disgusting," said Momo with a bitter smile, "After all, they might've never needed to eat every part of an animal to survive, especially in rich countries."

"Ehh, what a waste," Mitsuki muttered as she swallowed the last piece of meat on her skewer. "I understand why people would eat these tho, back then when things are hard to come by, people always made sure not to waste every single part of their hunts. The fur, the horn, meat, skin, innards, even bones.. To be honest I like it that way, it just shows how much appreciation they have for the life taken."

Hearing Mitsuki's word, the three genin smiled. After all, the land of earth had never been known for their nature's riches. Covered mostly by rocky mountain range, plagued by rain of rock, with plenty of dry, arid land within the area, even if they had come to take pride of it as part of their natural defences, it had never been a plentiful land. The village that they were currently in was considered lucky. It's located close to the border of another land that was more plentiful, covered in forestry, hence its reputation as a tourist hub and recreational area. However, even if they served the land of earth's traditional delight, not everyone was so keen on trying it due to their preconceptions.

"By the way, Mitsuki nee-chan," Kon asked with excitement, "Are you on a mission? Or are you here as tourist?"

To Kon's question, Mitsuki smiled wryly.

"Gosh, Kon, you know it's rude to ask other nation's people about their mission right?" Yuko reprimanded Kon, slapping his head with slight force.

"Is that so?" Kon and Mitsuki replied with surprise on their face. Noticing each other's confusion, Kon and Mitsuki chuckled awkwardly to each other.

"Ehhh? Even nee-chan?" Yuko remarked in disappointment over the older girl.

"Hahahaa," Mitsuki laughed awkwardly as she noticed how she had accidentally blurted out her lack of knowledge.

"Oh well, I guess you guys can consider it as I'm doing self-searching by travelling the world right now," she added, partially being honest.

"Alone?" asked Yuko,

"For now, yes," Mitsuki replied with a bitter chuckle.

"Eeh, that sounds sad," Momo added, to Mitsuki's pain. To lighten the mood, Mitsuki joked.

"Hahaha, it's fine, after all you guys are accompanying me now," she said with a smile.

"It's likely we will go back to Iwagakure tomorrow tho," Kon retorted.

"Then, all the more reason not to waste the time we have now!" Mitsuki grinned light-heartedly as she prepared more questions in her head, determined to find out as much as she could from the genins.

Itachi breathed a sigh of relieve as he examined the information that he had managed to purchase.

"Tsunade-sama will be the 5th Hokage of Konohagakure, huh," he muttered silently in his mind. "No wonder Jiraiya-sama was in Konoha.."

Everything started to make sense for Itachi, Jiraiya's involvement and his travel with Naruto. Assuming that Jiraiya was the one who offered Naruto to travel with him, he was sure that it would mean for him to take Naruto as his pupil.

"This is good news.." with teacher as prominent as Jiraiya, it was likely that it wouldn't be easy for Akatsuki to get their hands on Naruto. Besides, with Tsunade's homecoming, knowing her reputation as the legendary medical ninjutsu user and the one who made revolution in medical ninjutsu, Itachi was sure that her return would mean faster recovery for both Sasuke and Kakashi. Even if he had made sure not to irreparably harm them, he couldn't help but worry about the two, especially Sasuke. Mitsuki's word rang silently in his mind, bothering his conscience. Ever since the talk that they had, Itachi had been questioning himself more than ever. Fear had started to seep into the crack of his heart. What if the path that he had set Sasuke on would only bring his brother to an even darker path? Yet, he had always wished for Sasuke to walk in the light, unlike him.. Remembering his own words back then, Itachi wondered if he had become arrogant, just like how the Uchiha was.

"There's no use to think about it now," thought Itachi, silencing the conflict in his mind. The words of his father echoed in his mind.

"You should stay true to your thinking. Fight, be confused, be lost, and come through that to find your answer. And once you find it, make your decision, and do not waver from it. Find your answer, and be ready to follow through. That is determination," said Fugaku to Itachi.

Holding his father's word in his heart, Itachi brought up the strength to continue on the path that he had decided for himself. There shouldn't be any room for regret in his heart, he knew that. However, Mitsuki's recent retelling of her story pulled a string in his heart.

"I wonder… If only I did better, if only I've seen more coming, if only I've been more involved.. Can everything be prevented? I knew that what I did was what I considered to be the best I could do to make up for everything in that turn of situation, but.. I don't want to lie to myself, thinking that it was really the best I could do to prevent everything. Hell, if I can redo everything, I'd make sure it won't turn out the way it did," said Mitsuki with a sad smile on her face.

"I feel like.. once I stopped doubting myself and trying to better myself, I would stop growing, as a person.. Then, how can I proudly say that I'm humanity's guardian, while they keep advancing, yet I'm standing still?"

"She regretted, yet she kept moving on, aware of her own mistake, admitting it.." thinking of the weight that it must have brought her as she dragged her doubt, her regrets, and the consequence of her own action along with her as she continuously moved forward without blaming it to anyone else even once, Itachi gained a newfound respect towards the girl.

"She's strong," he thought to himself. Still, Itachi knew that one of the reasons that he couldn't afford to regret his decision was because of his own pride over the path that he chose. Rethinking it would only make him waver on his path, and by doing so, he would bring even more disappointment towards his father, and Sasuke. There was no way for he would allow himself to look back, not now. No matter what, it was something he shouldn't do.

"That's right, we both are different after all," thought Itachi once more in regards of Mitsuki, strengthening his resolve once more.

"Mmmmm.. Iwagakure got Roshi for the Four Tail and Han for the Five Tail." Mitsuki noted everything that she had managed to dig out from the genins on her own notes. "They are both quite old, it's been at least 40 years since they both become Jinchuuriki. Appearance wise…"

After jotting everything down, Mitsuki leaned back on her chair and sighed as she recalled her conversation with the three genins.

"Why don't they hand over the bijuu to other person? I mean, they are getting old right? Don't they want to retire?" asked Mitsuki.

"Ehh.. it's not that easy. Well if onee-chan is from small village, you probably won't know this, but.. When jinchuuriki is created, their life force is basically merged with that of their bijuu. Meaning, if the bijuu is extracted from them, they would die. Besides, experience is important for any shinobi, so we just can't afford to lose such veteran and replace him with younger, less experienced shinobi without any valid reason," said Momo. He indeed seemed to be the most knowledgeable one among the three.

"Dies, huh…" Mitsuki frowned as the thought plagued her mind. "Does Itachi-kun knows about this? He probably does huh.."

Back to the present, Mitsuki tilted her head, frowning while trying to put herself in Itachi's position.

"Hmm.. I guess he can't purposely fail this one. If he want to appear loyal, it would be best that he succeed this mission to make up for the failure in Konoha.." she pondered. "Luckily Kisame trust Itachi-kun, else his action would come off as really suspicious, especially considering how after his infiltration in Konoha, the information about Akatsuki is leaked." Recalling the event that transpired, Mitsuki remembered the Nine Tail Jinchuuriki and his mentor. "Well, I guess for now they can blame it to that big, white haired old man."

After further consideration, Mitsuki decided to redact a few points from her written report that she will share to Itachi and Kisame. She had decided that some information would be better to be handed over directly to Itachi, so that he would be able to decide what to do with it. Besides, she felt like she would need to talk to him alone too and ask him a lot of things, hopefully some time during their next meeting.

"Did you hear, apparently Iwagakure's jinchuuriki was spotted celebrating the moon festival in the big town nearby a few days ago," a man said excitedly as the show owner place a big bottle of sake unto his table.

In the corner of the same Izakaya, sitting alone was a conspicuous tall man with black robe and red cloud pattern all over his robe, accompanied with his big sword. Silently sipping his sake, the man subtly enhanced his hearing using his chakra as a boost, hoping that the chattering shinobi wouldn't notice his attempt at eavesdropping. As he listened to the information, Kisame couldn't help but grin upon his luck. It was only his second bar of that evening, moreover on the second day of his information gathering as well. He really didn't expect to come across some relevant information that soon.

"Which one is it?" asked the man's conversation partner.

"Was it the Four Tail? Or Five Tail?" the man rocked his body as he thought hesitantly, as if recalling.

"Eeeeh, so which one is it?" complained the friend.

"All I know is that he's a very tall guy. I wonder if he's still there though?" said the guy excitedly, indicating his interest in the Jinchuuriki.

"Why would you want to meet him?"

"Isn't it interesting? I didn't join the war so I've never seen a jinchuuriki before. Don 't you want to see them?"

"Why are you treating them like some exotic animal? It's better to stay away from trouble you know, I heard even the people from their own village avoid their jinchuuriki," the friend reprimanded.

As the two shinobi bantered, Kisame chuckled inwardly.

"My, my, which one is it indeed? Oh well, whichever it is, I guess no harm in knowing," he thought to himself.

"That city that they mentioned, that should be within Itachi's jurisdiction," thought Kisame as he recalled, "Now then, how do I inform him on this? Waiting for the end of the week seemed like pushing it."

KNOCK KNOCK!

"!? WHO!?" Mitsuki jumped up from her bed as the sound forced her out of her dream. Indeed, there was a loud knock on her window.

"Oi, Oujou-chan, open up!" call a voice from outside of Mitsuki's room window.

"!? Kisame!?" upon identifying the voice's owner, Mitsuki hurriedly walk towards her window and opened it. As soon as she opened the window, Kisame jumped in without hesitation.

"I figured it's easier to find you than Itachi-san since you should still be in the same inn," said Kisame with a wide grin. "Can you help me contact Itachi-san?" he added hurriedly. Confused, Mitsuki tilted her head in curiosity.

"What is it, what is it? Why such a hurry, it's not even two days yet," she asked Kisame with slight excitement in her voice.

"Huh, are you scared? Have you been slacking, ki.. I mean oujou-chan," teased Kisame.

Sulking, Mitsuki grumbled as she opened her own map that she copied from Itachi's as she protested, "Of course not, who do you think I am? I have my information too!" Seeing the map on Mitsuki's hand, Kisame scuttled closer to observe.

"Hooo, you copied all that? What are all those lines?"

"Those are our routes, I figured I should note them all in case of emergency," said Mitsuki as she traced over the line. "Ah here it is, Itachi-kun should be around here. As long as we can get within this range it should be close enough to signal him remotely."

"Then, shall we go?" said Kisame with a grin as he readied his stance.

Itachi could feel something wriggling in his pocket. Focusing back his consciousness that was drifting away in his sleep, he took out the seed pouch that Mitsuki gave him. Wondering what was up, he untied the pouch slightly, letting the vine peek out through the small opening.

As the vine insistently pointing to one direction, Itachi understood the signal's meaning. With calm haste, he opened his room's window and jumped out, following the direction to which the vine pointed to akin to a compass.

"What's wrong, Mitsuki, Kisame?" said Itachi as he jumped down towards the two familiar figure.

"I don't know, Kisame said he got some info to tell you," Mitsuki shrugged.

"I've gotten myself some nice information," Kisame added, grinning. Following, without delay, Mitsuki sharpened her perception to check for threats.

"I'll keep watch while you guys are at it."

As the three positioned themselves, Kisame started conveying the information that he had just gotten that night.

"I see. Are you sure they say he was there?" asked Itachi as Kisame pointed the position in his map.

"To be honest, the guy was not sure if it was the Four Tail or Five Tail, he only said that it was a very tall guy, but I guess whichever it was, it wouldn't hurt to know." Hearing Kisame's description, Mitsuki recalled the information that she had digged up from the genins.

"If it's a very tall guy, it should be the Five Tail. It's not our target, what do we do?"

The confidence in Mitsuki's voice surprised both Itachi and Kisame. As both of them turned their head towards the girl, the girl caught their gaze and smiled smugly.

"I heard it from some Iwagakure genin that I got to know in the town today. Told you I did my work~" Mitsuki bragged with pride.

"Hoo, fast aren't you?" said Kisame with a grin, prompting Mitsuki to chuckle mischievously.

"Then, we will have to rework our route," said Itachi calmly, as he tapped the map lightly, calling both Kisame and Mitsuki to him.

As the three reworked their route, something caught Mitsuki's attention.

"SSH!" Mitsuki signalled the two to stop as she brought her finger close to her mouth.

"Someone entered my tracking range, they are quite fast.."

Hearing Mitsuki's word, Itachi and Kisame was put into alert mode.

"Eh? Oh?" Mitsuki's expression changed rapidly as if realizing something. The sudden change confused Itachi and Kisame as Mitsuki's expression changed from tense, to relaxation, then hesitation.

"It's the three genin from this morning, what should we do, Itachi-kun?" Mitsuki turned her head to Itachi, slightly pleading. She wouldn't want to harm the kids if possible. Catching the emotion in Mitsuki's eye, Itachi responded calmly.

"Let's lay low and hide our presence for a bit. Engaging in pointless conflict will bring nothing but trouble."

"Well, they are genin anyway. It's unlikely that they are sent after us. I don't think Iwagakure will be that desperate." Kisame added as he relaxed his stance.

Itachi's response put Mitsuki's heart at ease. With Itachi around, she believed that avoiding unnecessary fight would be possible.

"Sssh, they are coming," Mitsuki whispered as the three souls came closer. On Mitsuki's notice, the two suppressed their presence by suppressing their chakra, their breathing, and heartbeat. Trying to follow the two, Mitsuki calmed down her breathing. However, she couldn't put her heartbeat under control.

"Please just pass, please just pass," she thought over and over in her head as the presence closed in. Soon, the three entered Mitsuki's field of view.

Contrary to Mitsuki's wish, the three halted after whispering to each other. Suddenly, Kon shouted.

"We know you guys are here! Come out!" Kon shouted loudly.

"Shit!" Mitsuki thought in her mind as she hurriedly glanced at Kisame and Itachi. Wondering what could have tipped them off, Mitsuki panicked as Kisame started to reach unto his Samehada.

"Wait, wait, wait! Can you let me handle this first?" Mitsuki whispered frantically.

On the field below, Momo and Yuko whispered in panic.

"Stupid Kon, what are you doing? Teacher told us not to engage if we find anything!" said Yuko, shaking Kon's shoulder.

"But, I don't want them to downplay your contribution later, Yuko! You know how unreliable our teacher is!"

"But, what if it's really.." Momo intercepted hesitantly.

"Yo!" said Mitsuki loudly as she jumped down, trying to bring the kids attention towards her.

"Mitsuki nee-chan!?" Mitsuki's sudden appearance surprised the three genins. "What are you doing here?"

"How about you three? Why are you three out here so late at night?" Mitsuki redirected the question back at the kids.

"Urm.. we suddenly got an emergency mission.." said Yuko hesitantly. Hearing her spilling about their mission, Kon interrupted.

"Yuko, I thought you said shinobi shouldn't share about their mission to others?"

"But, I think it's best if we let Mitsuki nee-chan know.." said Yuko with a worried expression on her face. "Nee-chan, you shouldn't be here, we heard that there are some suspicious figure running around here lately."

Mitsuki's heart skipped a beat.

"Suspicious figure?"

Somehow, Yuko seemed to catch unto Mitsuki's subtle worry even as she didn't let it show on her face.

"Mitsuki.. nee-chan?" Yuko asked hesitantly.

"Yea, we heard there's some criminal spotted around here. Remember? The one we told you caused a ruckus in another village just recently," Kon added. Meanwhile, Yuko whispered nervously to Momo.

"Eh? Is that so? Don't worry, I'll be careful," Mitsuki smiled gently, internally realizing what was going on. She knew by then, that she couldn't let the kids spot Itachi and Kisame, no matter what. However, suddenly, Momo asked.

"Mitsuki nee-chan, are you here alone?"

Noticing something was behind Momo's question, Mitsuki didn't directly answer. Instead, she answered with a question.

"Why do you ask?"

Momo's eyes grew suspicious from Mitsuki's evasion. Selecting his word carefully, he proceeded.

"Are you with someone?"

Noticing that something was up, Kon's stance grew tense as well. Seeing how Mitsuki frowned quietly without giving a clear answer yet, Yuko decided to give a little push.

"You see, Mitsuki nee-chan.. We were given the mission to search for the cat because of my tracking quirk. You see, I have a very sensitive hearing as well as presence detection. However in the crowded town, it was rendered useless, hence the mess.. But this time, we were asked to help with this mission because of my specialty as well, and.."

"Is that why.." thought Mitsuki. Then, it was clear why the three were concerned, after all, they should be able to sense Itachi and Kisame's presence as well. Also, it was likely that she could hear the change in her heartbeat clearly in such a quiet night.

Atop the cliff, Itachi and Kisame couldn't help but feel the tension growing as well. However, in regards of Mitsuki's wish and his trust in her, Itachi signalled for Kisame to wait.

"Erm, I'm with my teammates.. Why?" Mitsuki's face didn't betray his emotion, but it didn't ease the three young shinobis as well.

"Mitsuki nee-chan.. Didn't you say you were alone?" Momo pushed once more.

"I was alone then, we are meeting up now," Mitsuki smiled wryly, as if trying to convince the kids that they were just overthinking it.

"I thought you said you were about to rest, we even saw you enter the inn," Yuko continued to push as well. "What's so urgent you had to go out and meet here at this hour, right when there's rumor about criminal running around?" Hearing her words, the other two shifted their stance, as if preparing for battle

"Hmmm, we heard about the news as well, so we wanted to plan on how to go forward with our mission," Mitsuki lied with a light expression on her face, unmoving.

"Please, just let it go…" Mitsuki wished in her heart. However, as if ridiculing her wish, Momo dared himself to speak, even with hesitation and fear in his heart.

"Then.. can you call them down to meet us, please?"

Mitsuki knew there was no more escaping it. Without moving, she commanded the plants around them to bind the three genins while she swiftly threw her paralyzing needle unto their body, catching them off guard without any time to react. As the three collapsed onto the ground, Mitsuki lost the power in her legs as well and fell into a kneeling position due to her nervousness. Swiftly, Itachi and Kisame jumped down to join her.

Hearing her comrade's movement, Mitsuki looked back towards them, pleading. "What do we do, Itachi-kun?" asked Mitsuki with horror in her face.