Several more weeks has passed since the night Mitsuki discovered Itachi's condition. Step by step, Itachi's condition seemed to have improved, on the surface at least. With his fever and fatigue gone, Itachi had slowly regained his mobility and focus back. Therefore, sometime, he would let himself stroll around the area, or do simple training to keep his body condition up. And during those times, Itachi had noticed that Mitsuki had been keeping a close eye on him, more than she'd like to admit. From time to time, she seemed to be lost deep in her thoughts, and accidentally revealed herself through clumsy mistakes. So was that day, as Itachi took another stroll within their resting ground, Mitsuki had somehow managed to stumble her feet upon a merchant's supply, catching Itachi's attention. Seeing this, Itachi decided to approach the fallen, grovelling girl. Seeing Itachi's shadow, Mitsuki lifted her heart and smiled bitterly.

"Ehehe, Itachi-kun? What a coincidence," said Mitsuki, attempting a half hearted lie due to the ridiculousness of the situation.

Hearing her sorry attempt of a lie, Itachi was not sure on how he should reply. In a spur of the moment, he blurted, "Do you want to join for light training?"

Mitsuki couldn't believe what she heard. For a while, she thought that Itachi would reprimand her, either for her clumsiness, or for her constant surveillance lately.

"Un, I do!" she answered quickly, sense of relieve reflected clearly in her eyes. Seeing those eyes, Itachi turned his back and continued on his path, slightly smiling. He found it hard in him to reprimand the girl, as her intention had always been very clear. There was also the matter of her honest gaze that she had been showing him again and again, to the point that it was very hard to believe that those are the eyes of the same girl who cried crocodile tears to lure the hunter-nins away some time ago. To him, it had seemed that the girl was keeping her vow on being truthful to both Kisame and himself, despite the small lies that she uttered from time to time.

Led by Itachi, the two found their way to a secluded, open space, perfect for their training session

"You said light practice?" Mitsuki said, panting as she tried to recover herself from the aftermath of Itachi's barrage of attack. For her, it really felt like he was trying to push her limit again and again, testing her reactions and reflexes with barely enough time for her to counter or nullify the incoming attacks. Upon her retort, Itachi chuckled silently.

"How about we rest for a bit?" said Itachi as he positioned himself within a tree's shade, slightly smiling.

"Yes, please," Mitsuki exclaimed lightly with her exhausted voice as she approached Itachi and sat under the tree as well, facing another side.

As the time goes, only silence drift between them as they both immersed themselves in the fine day that it was. As the bird sang, the leaves rustled lightly, shaken by the gently blowing wind. As the pair enjoyed the refreshing blow of the wind, Itachi heard a gentle hum. Glancing at the source, he found Mitsuki lightly swayed herself as she hum, her voice floating lightly through the air and reverbates as the wind carried it. Hearing the cheerful, yet gentle tone, Itachi closed his eyes as he leaned his head back on the tree's bark in a comfortable silence, enveloped by the song.

As Mitsuki finished her humming, noticing the quiet, she called lightly.

"Itachi-kun?" Mitsuki asked gently. Receiving no answer, she then bent her body to peek at his training's partner face. Finding that Itachi had quietly fallen asleep peacefully under the tree, Mitsuki was pleasantly surprised. Not breaking the silence, she gently rolled over, and lay upon her stomach as she propped her head up while keeping her eyes on Itachi's sleeping figure. As she took in his peaceful sleeping face and gentle, rhythmical breathing, Mitsuki couldn't help but smile.

"I want this moment to last," Mitsuki thought to herself as she watched the wind carress Itachi's sleeping face and swept his bangs lightly of his face, strengthening Mitsuki's resolve to do her best for Itachi's sake, and her sake as well. As she continued to admire Itachi's beautiful feature, his long eyelashes, his soft and silky long hair, and his lightly muscled frame, Mitsuki could feel her heart beating slightly faster as her cheek started to flush.

"Mitsuki?" a voice called unto the girl. Mitsuki could feel a light tap on her shoulder, prompting her to open her eyes.

"Mmnn?" she mumbled lightly as she opened her eyes slowly and turned her head towards the voice.

"Let's go back, the sun is setting," Itachi called as he squatted beside Mitsuki's sleepy figure, casting his eyes downwards to meet Mitsuki's sleepy gaze.

As Mitsuki saw Itachi's figure and his gaze, with his back facing the sunset as the sun cast it's warm, daybreak light over his outline,

Mitsuki whispered lightly in her sleepy stupor,

"So pretty…" Mitsuki said as she smiled in admiration and joy upon seeing the scene.

"? What is?" Itachi questioned with a concerned look on his face as he heard her sleepy, faint whisper. Hearing Itachi's response, Mitsuki jolted awake, realizing how she had accidentally verbalized her thoughts.

"AH! Since when did I?" Mitsuki said as she quickly sat up from her position with great force. Seeing the shock in her eyes, Itachi chuckled softly.

"It seemed like we were both exhausted after all," Itachi added with a faint smile as he stood up. Seeing that Itachi didn't press further for answer, Mitsuki sighed a breath of relieve inwardly as she followed Itachi's action and stood up, smiling.

"Today's your turn to get dinner isn't it?" Mitsuki asked cheerfully as she rushed to Itachi's side, and matched his walking pace.

"Un," Itachi answered briefly with a light smile.

"Will it be another Teishoku*?" Mitsuki guessed teasingly.

"Seems so**," Itachi answered with a light, awkward smile as Mitsuki guessed his plan correctly.

"Heh, I thought so," Mitsuki followed up with a chuckle as she took a light stride ahead.

Earlier in the day, as Itachi woke up from his short nap under the tree's shade, Itachi was caught offguard by his own defenselessness. Previously, before him realizing, he had fallen into a deep sleep lulled by the gentle humming accompanied by the nature's sound and the relaxing caress of the breeze. It felt so long since he last had such a peaceful sleep. Feeling oddly refreshed, Itachi turned his head and saw the girl who had then fallen asleep on the ground beside him, kissing the ground. Seeing thus, Itachi put on a complicated smile with a slight frown on his forehead as he tried not to laugh at the girl's odd choice of sleeping position.

Recalling, Itachi felt an odd warmth in his heart. It has been a long time for him since he had someone cared for him in such way. Being shinobi, weakness means death. Everyone was responsible for their own life, their own consequences. Especially within Anbu, or Akatsuki, without any medical ninja assigned for the mission's efficiency, oftentimes they will be expected to take care of their own selves, or even choose to ignore your team's safety for the sake of the mission. That said, he found that Kisame's oddly caring nature despite being a member of Akatsuki himself had been an odd one for him as well. It was as if, him being in Akatsuki at that point of time was a small blessing in disguise.

Even from his childhood, he couldn't remember when was the last time he had allowed himself to be spoiled as he drowned in his own weakness."Last time was.. Mother's, was it?" Itachi thought as he tried to recall his long gone childhood. It was far too long, that it seemed like he had completely forgotten about it. Ever since he was very young, he had been exposed to the bitter truth of Shinobi world. War, life, death, weakness, strength. At some point of the time, he had always tried his best to stop himself from displaying any kind of weakness, as he chased endlessly towards his goal of being the strongest Shinobi in the world and put an end to all war. Even his mother, at some point, had stopped spoiling him as he had been assigned the role of the Uchiha's clan prodigy. And his father, he was the one who showed the world's harsh reality to him, ever since he was still a young, four years old boy. "Being exceptional meant being hated and alienated," or so did he told Sasuke back in their early years, as no one but a select few of people wouldn't be deterred by his talent and difference in level, a thing that he knew Sasuke had been through as well during his childhood. However, Mitsuki..

Mitsuki was different. It was as if she had seen him, and Kisame, not as a dangerous, talented shinobi to be feared or respected. Instead, she saw them as humans, flawed and riddled with contradiction, like her own self as well even as she called herself a monster. She had never categorized them and set them apart from anyone she had met, and always treated them as themselves, the same as she would do anyone that she cared about, no matter shinobi or not. Her friendship with Aida was the prove of her genuine care, and her sincere attempt to understand those around her. "Maybe, to her, being a shinobi meant the same as being a merchant, or a farmer," Itachi thought, smiling as he saw the wind blew a stray, short hair on Mitsuki's bedhair upwards. Around her, he felt like he could be allowed to be a normal, 18 years old, Uchiha Itachi, a human and a shinobi. Not playing his role as a member of Akatsuki, not the spy of Konoha, not as deranged maniac who murdered his entire clan, and not a sacrificial piece of Konoha's darkness.

Leaning back against the tree once more, Itachi thought about why the affection that the girl gave affected him deeply. It was not as if he was lacking affection himself. Even as detached as he was, with his skill and how he looked, he had been aware of some affection throwned his way, particularly by the member of the opposite gender, including one who he had admittedly came to care about, as much as he tried to deny it. However, as he was, deep into his own goal and the issue that he had been dragged in, it was not something he would be able to embrace, and in the end, he was forced to make a cruel decision. Even without that, he knew that to accept such affection were to give something in return, something that he couldn't afford to give, not before he was closer to his goal. That's why he had always maintained a distance, and even lied to himself, as Shisui, his bestfriend, said, for objectivity require unparticularity. The only one who he had let over the walls that he set around himself are either dead, either by him, or because of him, and the only one left was Sasuke, who he could never bring himself to sacrifice, who'd he do everything to keep him safe, even at the cost of everything he had. Realising that, he had been even more hellbent in keeping everything out. However, it was as if it was all for naught recently.

Kisame had always been a weird one. Despite his violent and sadistic nature during battle, he had shown him loyalty and respect as a partner. Despite warning him about the possible nature of his assignment, he had been one to worry about him and kept an eye on him with sincerity. And Mitsuki, Itachi chuckled, she was more of a storm. No matter how many walls he had built, she would always find her way through, or around it, undeterred. Not just with him, but with Kisame, as well as the people she met during their journey. She had a way to work into people's heart, and she would argue that by getting close to someone, she could see their true color and understand them better, better than being a distant observer as she was, and as Itachi had also been. And it was true. Indeed, some things will remain unseen from the distance, people's true personality and motivation, for example. Only by overcoming those wall that people built around them, can their true selves sometimes be revealed. However, by doing so, it would often mean opening up towards them as well in return, a risk that Mitsuki had decided to take knowingly. Itachi could't help but wonder, what the girl had seen in him so far after breaking so many walls. He was almost tempted to let her in and ask her about what was it within him that she saw with her piercing, honest eyes. Unconsciously, Itachi's hand hovered over Mitsuki's head, seemingly about to give her a gentle pat. However, he stopped himself from doing so, as heavy feelings filled his heart.

To care deeply for someone, meant to open up your heart to a chance of being hurt, to be vulnerable as you revealed your deepest self unto that person. And from love, hate and hurt could be born, giving rise to the circle of pain. That meant, by exposing herself to various emotion and as she got attached to various people, she would also risk herself on being hurt. Somewhere in his heart, Itachi wondered, if one day it will come the day where Mitsuki will dread the day the three of them met because of it. And when that day comes, he might once more be the cause of someone's suffering, as he had inflicted upon Sasuke. Realising this, Itachi shifted his hand towards Mitsuki's shoulder instead, and patted her to wake her up.

Author's note:

Ehe, slowly, complicated feelings heheheheheh~

BTW even though Mitsuki mostly blushed when she caught onto Itachi's handsomeness (heh, who doesn't?) ofc that's not her only reason xD it's just that her concept of attraction is still a bit skewed now, but she will come to understand her own feeling soo..n enough :x *its still quite a way ahead cough I'm sorry*

Extra note:

(*) Teishoku refers to simple, traditional Japanese style cooking, usually involving rice and a variety of side dishes, usually including meat as main side dish, vegetables as secondary side, soup, and pickles.

(**) Here Itachi's answer is more like "Maa na.." It's kinda a non answer, can be interpreted as seems like it, maybe, who knows… Itachi kinda use this a lot to avoid answering hahahaha, how cute.