Mitsuki continued sobbing silently for a while after the last time the both of them had spoken. Itachi had not spoken another word, but somehow the silence between them wasn't stifling. Suddenly, the sound of Mitsuki loudly blowing her nose into a tissue surprised Itachi. Trying not to laugh from how relaxed she had become to suddenly do that without any sign of embarassment in his presence, Itachi enquired about her condition.

"Have you calmed down a bit?" he asked, hoping that it didn't come off as impatient or demanding.

"Mmm, I'm ok, don't worry about me.." said Mitsuki with a hoarse, muffled voice. Hearing her evasive response, Itachi smiled wryly, unsure if once again, Mitsuki had withdrawn back to her shell.

"You're not going back, Itachi-kun?" Mitsuki asked in return.

"I'm in no rush," Itachi replied, vaguely. "What about you?" answered Itachi as he threw back his question at Mitsuki. Truthfully, he felt a worry that by returning to her own task in the same town, Mitsuki will keep being reminded of the three genins whom she had come to treasure, and yet, killed. Before he could stop himself, he found words spilling from his mouth.

"Are you.. still up for this?" said Itachi with hesitation in his voice. "It is more than likely that in the future something like this can happen again," he added, concern was clear in his face

"I'm fine.." said Mitsuki, "I didn't forget what staying with both you and Kisame entail,"

"Today was only because of my selfishness.. I brought it upon myself," she added.

Surprisingly, Mitsuki didn't reprimand him for those words, like Itachi thought she would. To him, it just show how bad the situation was. Then, Itachi wondered what Mitsuki's words could have meant. Would it mean that she would end up having to kill her emotion again, overwriting her feelings with logic once more? Itachi couldn't say a thing to that. After all, it was her life, her decision. Both options and choices have their own consequences, and he had no right to decide for her what was the best for her. After all, she would be the one who had to deal with the consequences in the end. As the thought filled his mind, Itachi came to a realization. The path, and the future that he had set for Sasuke, what about those? Sasuke never had a choice. It was his choice that affected the whole of Sasuke's future. The massacre, sparing his life, leaving him while playing the villain, everything was his decision. He did what he thought was the best for him, for Uchiha, and for Konoha, but what if…

Itachi stopped his train of thought. He shouldn't, couldn't allow himself to think that way. He had promised himself, and his father, that he would see through his own path with determination, unwavering. Yet again, and again, he found himself questioning his decision during his recent travels, through what he saw, what Mitsuki had experienced. Suddenly, his thoughts was interrupted by Mitsuki's word,

"Don't worry, Itachi-kun. It doesn't mean that I'm giving up on finding a path with less sacrifices," said Mitsuki with determination, yet sadness still lingered in her voice. "I.. just need to get better, wiser, smarter.. stronger.. till eventually, no one else would have to suffer as long as I'm there.."

Mitsuki's word reminded Itachi of his old self, of the dream he had long abandoned, dream of being the bringer of peace and the ender of wars. A tall one, for an individual to achieve.

"Isn't that too big to take on your own?" he asked. Even for her, or exactly because of the way she was, it would be a far too daunting of a journey. Hearing Itachi's remark, Mitsuki let out a chuckle.

"Then, join me," said Mitsuki with a bitter smile, surprising Itachi. "Help me in achieving that instead," she added, to Itachi's confusion. As she followed her words with a chuckle, Mitsuki added, "I'm joking, I know you have your own goals, like I have mine."

Hearing Mitsuki's remark, Itachi was not sure how to respond. Wondering if Mitsuki was actually serious with her offer while also subtly expressing aversion over his death plan as well, Itachi felt a sense of guilt over her. However, before he can find his own response, Mitsuki continued lightly with a faint smile on her face.

"..But seriously, when we are travelling to those impacted area like we have previously discussed, I'd be happy if you and Kisame can help me as well," she noted, with slight mix of excitement and hope.

For Itachi, on the other hand, the idea of him and his Akatsuki duo doing odd-jobs based on goodwill somehow sounded ridiculous. Yet truly, if he could be of use of the world for even a little bit more, despite the path that he took, he'd be glad.

As Itachi let off a wry smile, Mitsuki remarked quietly. ".. I think, it would help ease the burden in your heart as well," Mitsuki whispered, soft enough to escape Itachi's ear.

"? Did you say something?" asked Itachi as he heard the faint whisper.

"Nuh-uh.. don't worry, I'm not as naïve to think that I can save everyone on my own," answered Mitsuki, smiling lightly as she continued, "But I want to do whatever is in my power to do, with as little mistake as possible.." said Mitsuki, as she finally turned her head back to glance at Itachi, her eyes were already swollen from all the tears she had shed. ".. and that's why, I'll need your help," she continued, prompting Itachi to meet her gaze as he noticed that Mitsuki had finally turned to face him. Not sure about what was the intention behind Mitsuki's word, Itachi gave Mitsuki an enquiring gaze, prompting her to open her folded fan and hid her embarrassed face behind it.

"After all, two.. or three heads is better than one, right?" she added, while peeking slightly from beyond the top edge of her opened fan with smile reflected in her eyes. However, upon seeing Itachi's confused face gazed back at hers, Mitsuki hid her face once more and turned around.

"Don't stare at me like that, my face is still so messed up right now," said Mitsuki with obvious embarrassment apparent in her voice's tone. Somehow, Itachi couldn't help but felt amused of Mitsuki's fine line of what she considered as maintaining her dignity. Thinking of it, he noticed that Mitsuki had always been one to care a lot about her own appearance, at least when she was awake that is. Somehow, that side of her was surprisingly feminine, despite the opposite end of her personality that was the bane of Kisame's existence. Upon recognizing it, a gentle, complicated smile crept unto his face, unnoticed.

Some moments after, Mitsuki was back in her inn room, alone. During the last minutes of their discussion, both Itachi and she had agreed to continue upon their planned route, with minor adjustment on Itachi's and Kisame's route to accommodate the information that Kisame had given him previously. Noticing that they haven't finished discussing the route change previously before Kisame left, Itachi also tasked Mitsuki in finding Kisame to convey the updates to him. Secretly, Itachi hoped that it would give Mitsuki another thing to do to prevent her from remembering the burden of her action, even if just for one bit.

In all honesty, it would be a lie if Mitsuki said he had no longer felt bothered about the turn of event. The guilt that she felt had rooted deeply in her heart, no matter how she had tried to reframe her thoughts about it. Her thoughts were still plagued by what she could have, should HAVE done, but in consideration of Itachi's kind words and consoling effort, Mitsuki tried her best not to dwell on it. As Mitsuki lay down upon her bed, she let the wave of tiredness washes over her slowly, guiding her to her sleep.

That night, she had a nightmare. In her dream, she saw the soul of the three genin, looking at her in anger, disappointed in how she had deceived them and took their soul after the moments that they had shared together. In the field of her dream, the children cried as they grieved over their future, cut short. Beside them, appear the nameless, featureless silhouette of adults, who mourned upon the dead body of the children, cursing those who had bestowed the horrible fate upon their children, condemning them eternally.

Mitsuki woke up with cold sweat. Her breathing had turned ragged from the torture of her nightmare. Wiping the sweat off her face, Mitsuki frowned. She could imagine how horrible she must have looked that morning. Puffy eye with dark circle under her eyes, soaking wet with sweat.

"This is bad," she thought to herself. She felt like if she continued to let herself stuck in such a rut, alone, more and more unpleasant memories and feeling will surface in her thought. Determined to ignore it, Mitsuki took her towel and left the room to head towards the closest public bath.

Taking her time soaking in the hot water after washing herself thoroughly, Mitsuki pondered, Previously, she had planned to give the library another visit, now that she had gotten an inkling on what to search about. However, after last night's turn of event, she felt like she didn't have the heart to do that just yet. She knew for sure, being there would just bring back her recent memory, obstructing her search. After minute consideration, Mitsuki decided to go ahead and deal with the task that Itachi had asked her to do the previous night.

"At least, with Kisame around, it would be easier to keep my mind of things.." she thought as she quickly took her leave from the hot bath area.

DON! DON!

A loud knock woke Kisame up. As he had planned to spend his night gathering information once more, Kisame had decided to take a longer rest through the daytime. Wandering the city in bright daylight would not be beneficial for him anyway, not after the fact that the information about their where being had somehow reached the ear of Iwagakure's ninja so quickly.

Grudgingly, Kisame propped himself up from his bed, unsure what might have awakened him from his rest.

DON! DON!

There was that sound, again. Noticing that it came from his window area, Kisame had an inkling on who might be behind the sudden noise.

"What is it, ki- I mean, oujou-chan?" said Kisame, frowning as he opened both the curtain to his room as well as his windowpane. There goes his rest time, he thought as he let Mitsuki inside.

"Itachi-kun told me to relay the rest of the route change to you," said Mitsuki as she jumped in through the window, just like how Kisame did the previous night. Unlike her usual looks, Mitsuki had tied her hair loosely into a bun, and despite her attempt of freshening up, the puffiness in her eyes and her dark circle had barely reduced. Despite not being as insightful as Itachi, nor the girl, Kisame quickly caught unto the state of her mind, and the reason behind Itachi's assignment for her. After all, if he needed to tell him anything, he could have just sent his crow over instead.

"Itachi-san, don't tell me you meant for me to take care of this girl?" thought Kisame candidly. Actually, he was just overthinking it, as Itachi had never expected that he would do such thing. However, as it turned out, Mitsuki had decided to latch herself unto him that day, for her own benefit.

After Mitsuki finished her task of relaying the information, the two sat down in silence for a while. Despite being as relaxed as he was, Kisame couldn't help but felt that he needed to tread carefully that time. Honestly, he didn't know what was wrong with the girl. During their time together previously, he had never thought of her as someone who would let her emotion ran amok during a mission. If anything, she had always seemed so logical and decisive in her approach. After all, she was the one behind many disappearances of the construction team and the investigation team, even before she had met Itachi and Kisame, and she had dealt with the two hunter-nin and the tracking ninja on her own volition, without needing any instruction. Silently, he wondered if she would be alright, considering the direction of her growth.

"Kisame," Mitsuki called out to Kisame, breaking the silence.

"What is it, ojou-chan?" he answered briefly, curious on what would she be asking him in her current state.

"Is it common, you know.. children being assigned to a potentially dangerous mission?"

Hearing Mitsuki's question, Kisame was at a loss. "It's indeed about the previous three genin, oh my.." Kisame thought as he grinned bitterly. Holding back his urge to make fun of the girl as he saw the puffiness and the dark circle under her eyes, Kisame answered seriously.

"Now it is not as bad anymore. Back in the past, during the wartime, genin are often sent unto the frontline. I'm not sure how it was for Itachi in Konoha, but on the Kirigakure's side, let's just say that it was not a pretty sight."

"You were there during the recent war, Kisame?"

"Well, barely, it had been quite a while after all, and I was still very young," said Kisame, as he recalled the cruel training that he had undergone in Kirigakure in its Bloody Mist ag, before being sent to participate in the war, and his time as the seven shinobi swordsmen. Wondering if Mitsuki's true interest lies with Itachi instead, and not knowing the extent of what Itachi had shared with her, Kisame added, "As for Itachi-san, I think he was too young when it happened."

"I know," Mitsuki uttered quietly in her mind, unwilling to reveal too much to Kisame against Itachi's will.

Unable to hold unto the awkwardness once more, Kisame decided to give Mitsuki a piece of his mind.

"You are bothered with what had happened last night, after all," he spouted to start the conversation, prompting Mitsuki to shift her gaze towards him.

"Listen, Oujou-chan," Kisame added as he saw the frown on Mitsuki's face, "You knew that being emotional won't get you anywhere right? We did what had to be done, that's all. I know you are not a shinobi, but as long as you tagged along with us, more of this would be inevitable. There are enemies out there that would prove to be a hassle if we let them go after all."

As Kisame ended his long speech, the frown in Mitsuki's face grew deeper.

"Shut up, I know that already," Mitsuki answered, withholding her shame as even Kisame thought that it was necessary for her to know such obvious thing.

Wondering if Itachi had already taken his time reprimanding her on the previous night, Kisame sighed.

"I don't know what happened to you during your journey, but it won't do for you to get softer now. After all, our true mission had only just begun, and for sure, we would face even more resistance than what we had previously." Kisame almost couldn't believe the words that came out from his mouth. Usually, he felt that it would be Itachi's role to keep the party in line, like he had always done for him before. "It seemed that unconsciously, you had affected me a lot, Itachi-san," Kisame grinned as he silently thought in his mind, slightly proud of himself upon his improvement. Coincidentally, he wondered if it was purely because of his growth as a person, or was it because he no longer was the junior, loose arrow of the party anymore, now that the girl had taken unto the role. Either way, Mitsuki had chosen to stay silent as she avoided Kisame's gaze.

"It's just.. Adults know what they were getting into. But those kids.." Likely, they didn't even know what was coming for them. That was why they dared to challenge the danger head on.

"The moment they graduated as a shinobi, they are considered adults, and they are responsible for all of their action during a mission. Despite the mission ranking assignment system, no one will ever know what could happen during one's mission. Such is the world of shinobi," said Kisame. As much as he hated the world he lived in, one that was filled with deceit and lies, it was an unchangeable fact that he had to eventually accept. He too, had been lost, searching for his purpose in the cruel world, and the place he belonged, ever since he was forced out of Kirigakure after being accused of plotting to overthrow the government.

Catching the unusual spark of sadness within Kisame's soul, Mitsuki stared at him with concern. She couldn't help but wonder if something had happened to him too, just like how Itachi was plagued by the burden of his cruel fate.

"Hmmm.." Mitsuki mumbled as she closed her eyes, frowning, unsure if Kisame would be willing to entertain her question a little bit more. Seeing the complicated look on Mitsuki's face, Kisame decided that he had enough for the day and yawned as he continued. Like Mitsuki, he hadn't gotten much chance to sleep the previous night, after all.

"Well, if that's all you have to ask, I'll go back to sleep. I got a whole night ahead of me," said Kisame as he threw his body back to his bed.

"Eeeeh, entertain me a bit more, I've come all the way here after all," Mitsuki complained as Kisame turned his back against her, facing the wall as he laid comfortably on his bed.

As Kisame continued to ignore her, Mitsuki decided to give up and leave Kisame to his rest grudgingly.

Based on the information that Kisame gave him, Itachi went ahead to the town where one of the jinchuuriki had allegedly been spotted. If Mitsuki was correct, it was unlikely to be their target, Roshi the Jinchuuriki of Four Tail. However, he ought to be taking this information seriously, and act accordingly.

As much as he didn't want the Tailed Beast to fall into Akatsuki's hand so easily, he had to maintain his reputation and impression within the organization. It was not long after his intentional failure of procuring Naruto from Konohagakure. Thankfully, he had Jiraiya's involvement as an excuse, and because of that and his physical condition, he had managed to delay his mission sufficiently. Everything turned out to be the best for Konoha, but it doesn't cover the fact that his upfront, direct attack, towards the heart of Konoha had compromised the information on Akatsuki. Even though it was all within his intention, he couldn't help but worry that he wasn't being subtle enough, and it might soon brought upon some suspicion unto him. That's why, this time, he had to at least accomplish something for the sake of Akatsuki, in order to avoid further suspicion. With that in mind, Itachi went on to survey the city while activating his Sharingan, looking for signs of abnormally large amount of chakra.

Mitsuki roamed aimlessly on the street of the city where Kisame was assigned. It wasn't within her jurisdiction, so she had no interest in going about her information gathering that day, as she was not in the correct mental state to be dealing with such thing. Somehow, it made her feel guilty as she went along with her whim. It felt like she was slacking, and somehow it bothered her sense of duty, but she really couldn't care less about anything as of then.

"I have to do something, else I'll be driven crazy," thought Mitsuki, as she tried her best to push her gloomy thoughts to the back of her mind.

Letting her own feet took her, Mitsuki found herself out of the city, back into the embrace of nature. Unsure of what else to do, after making sure that no one was around, Mitsuki called unto her divine form and performed another restoration ritual.

During her ritual, without anyone around to let her anchor her attention to, her mind couldn't help but wander.

She realized more than anything, that the ritual of that day was more for her to alleviate her guilt than performing her holy duties. The guilt of taking innocent lives.. She had never felt it as strong as she did then. She couldn't help but wonder why, and she searched for the answer within herself.

Even after she had realised the weight of a life for the first time, the death of the tracker girl was easy for her to let go, despite the guilt she felt when she finally understood it. So does the life of the construction workers, the shinobis, and Old Man Bocchon. Why? Mitsuki thought real hard about it. Basing on time spent and closeness alone, logically, Old Man Bocchon's death on Mitsuki's hand would be the most painful for her. But it was not.. Even then, when she thought about it, there was regret, and sadness over the outcome but..

Mitsuki thought back about how she felt. Towards Old Man Bocchon, her observation of him, their final moments together. His view of life, what he had taught her..

Author's note:

pats Mitsuki* It's called depression, my dear daughter..