Few days has passed since the trio arrived to the continent. The three finally reached another stop point, another small village in inconspicuous location with lack of shinobi surveillance. Mitsuki felt like she could finally breathe easy. As soon as they reached the stop point, the masked figure stopped following them and took another path, away from the village.

"Hrggghhhh…"

"Why do you seem so tired lately, kid?" Kisame asked as he laid down the futons in their newly assigned inn room.

Mitsuki groaned. She didn't know how to tell Kisame about what she noticed and if it's of a relevance. If it was someone from Akatsuki, surely Itachi and Kisame would know right? If they didn't know, then why someone from their own organization would follow and observe them secretly like that? If it's supposed to be a secret, should she really tell them? Will it make them fail the test somehow? Mitsuki frowned. It was of no use, no way for her to be able to tell about what's going on at this point. Mitsuki decided to hold onto the truth a bit longer.

"I've pushed myself too much in training, I guess.."

Kisame let out a scoff as he finished up setting the room for the three of them. "Oh well, you should rest until Itachi-san is back."

Hearing the name, Mitsuki sat upright on her futon and faced Kisame with a serious face. "Speaking of Itachi-kun, do you think I've offended him somehow?" she asked. If anyone would know what's going on in Itachi's head better than her, it would be his long-time partner, Kisame.

"Huh? How would I know? Not that he will tell anyway." Kisame shrugged to Mitsuki's annoyance. "Why would you ask though?" Kisame threw back a question to Mitsuki.

"Huh? I dunno, he seemed a bit.. off, lately? A bit distant?" Mitsuki tilted her head as she recalled the past few day's interaction. It was not like he was exceptionally cold towards her or avoiding her altogether, but.. Scenes of Itachi cutting the conversation short unnaturally, or totally disengaged in their banter even more than usual flooded Mitsuki's mind. Not just that, lately their training had been.. boring? A repeat of basics and skill refinement.

"Hmm? Is he?" Kisame frowned as he thought back. "Nah, that's usual, I think?"

Mitsuki narrowed her eye as she glared towards Kisame with a mixture of annoyance and disappointment, as if saying "You're useless."

"Oi, I can feel your insult through your eyes," Kisame remarked. "If you're worried, then ask him directly?"

"Ugh.." Mitsuki scowled. Somehow she got the feeling that Itachi didn't want to talk about it for the past few days, so she had been restraining herself from asking. ".. maybe I'll try later.." she sighed as she laid her head down on the pillow, relaxing.

"I'll go out a while, go rest or something while you're at it. You looked like you haven't been sleeping well for a while, did you got too used to staying at nice inn or something?" Kisame commented as he shifted away from his bad.

"Thatsnyotit.." Mitsuki answered half-heartedly as she smothered the pillow with her cheek.

"…. OK, see you later then, Kiddo." Kisame gave up on the conversation as he saw Mitsuki slowly drifted to a sleep.

"…mmm" Mitsuki replied with a mumble as her consciousness fade away to the dreamland.

"HUH!?" Mitsuki roused abruptly from her futon. She had fallen asleep before she realized it. Her hair sticking out everywhere from her head. It seemed like the strain on her mental state had exhausted her more than she thought. As she sensed a presence beside her, Mitsuki turned her gaze to her right side. On separate futon, Itachi was sitting quietly with book in his hand.

"Good mor..ning?" Mitsuki greeted, still half awake.

Itachi turned his head to meet Mitsuki's eye. "Un..,"He answered as he tried not to laugh at her bed hair and pillow imprint on her face.

Mitsuki blinked her eye twice and rubbed her eye open. "Ah, you're back.." Mitsuki noted surprisedly.

"Huh? Yeah.." Itachi responded, not sure what she meant.

"..to normal I mean," Mitsuki thought internally as she smiled in relieve.

Itachi blinked at her silent response.

A quiet moment after, Mitsuki seemed to slowly drift back to dreamland as Itachi seemed to be getting lost in thought.

"Mitsuki," Itachi called with a serious tone on his voice,

"Y..YES!?" Mitsuki snapped back to reality as she heard Itachi call her name.

".. do you need more sleep?" ask Itachi, unsure if it would be a good time to bring his topic out.

"YES, I MEAN, NO, SIR!" Mitsuki exclaimed as she tried to straighten her posture and snap away from her sleepy delirium. As Mitsuki tried to slap herself gently awake, Itachi smiled slightly as he continued.

"Good timing, come follow me for a while," Itachi said, as he stood up and opened the window.

"Window again?" Mitsuki said internally as a she smiled wryly.

Soon after, the two traversed out of people's sight towards the depth of the forest whence they came out from.

"Are we training?" Mitsuki asked with hesitation as they reached a quiet area of the forest.

"Not quite." Itachi answered, "Take a seat," he continued as he sat down under one of the tree.

Mitsuki was not sure why, but somehow the situation and the serious look plastered on Itachi's face made her nervous. "Is this how it feels for a child to be called by their parents for a scolding?" she thought as she slowly sat down in front of Itachi, kneeling.

.. And they both stayed in silence for a few moments. Mitsuki glanced around nervously as Itachi seemed to be lost in his thought again, perhaps selecting his words.

".. I'll just be straight," Itachi broke the silence as Mitsuki quickly straighten her gaze toward him nervously. "Why did you decide to kill the tracker girl?"

There were no anger in his tone, Itachi was as calm and collected as ever. However Mitsuki felt a tinge of pain in his soul. "Sadness, again?" Mitsuki tilted her head. "So this was why?" Mitsuki deduced.

Strengthening her resolve, Mitsuki answered past her nervousness. "She were about to set off a flare and call back up, or send a code. I thought it would be bad if other bounty hunters figured out that you guys are here."

"That's why you killed her?"

"That's not it. Other thing is that with the tools at my disposal, there's none that can handle such a time sensitive matter." Mitsuki answered nervously. Now it was clear what caused Itachi's upset look few days before. "Was it.. wrong decision?" She asked worriedly.

Itachi didn't immediately respond, causing Mitsuki to wait nervously as if she was on a cliff's edge.

"Then, why didn't you kill the two hunter-nin?" instead of an answer, another question came out of Itachi's mouth.

Mitsuki knitted her forehead as she recalled. "They hadn't caught on to you and Kisame. The main objective was just to stop them from boarding the same boat as ours, and to be honest, killing them would just spark more investigation about the perpetrator." Mitsuki answered straightly, slight frown on her face. "Why is Itachi-kun asking me this?" she thought.

A perfectly logical answer, Itachi thought to himself. If she was a shinobi, she would pass with flying colour. However, a sense of discomfort stayed within his heart. Even though he, himself, was a shinobi, Itachi had always hated discourse and fighting. He had always avoided unnecessary killing as much as possible, but sometimes, there were moments where he had to be decisive and make a choice. More than anything, he realised that this resolve of his was made possible by his own exceptional quality. As for the girl..

"What should I say?" Itachi thought to himself.

It was never his intention to judge the girl. Him, more than anyone, knew how circumstances can affect a person. The girl had an unusual.. childhood, if he can call it that. Living as a hunter with a loner old-man, all she was taught about was that it was either kill or be killed and that might be the root of her idea about life. So does her manipulative streak. The girl had always been observant, but instead of being taught more about humanity, she was taught about manipulation. It was often the same with shinobi, Itachi thought sadly.

Itachi recalled his childhood, living among shinobi, everything revolving around him was about shinobi, missions, and duty. Clash will always be unavoidable as one, but with exceptional ability, unnecessary casualty can be prevented, or so did Itachi envisioned before his dream was crushed before his eyes. However, even after he left Konoha and joined Akatsuki, he still wished for a world without war, and he would be glad if his existence can reduce the amount of discourse in the world, even by a bit. Itachi was reminded of his previous teammate during his time as a genin in Konoha, Shinko*. The moment that Shinko told him that she quitted being a shinobi because of him, Itachi felt happiness in his heart. Less ninja meant less fight.

Suddenly, he recalled in his mind with a pang of pain in his heart. "Izumi.." a name popped on his head. A girl that looked up to him. A girl that wanted to walk the same path with him. He was the reason she wanted to continue being a shinobi. Of course, Mitsuki was not her, and their circumstances are different. However, a worry appeared in his heart on how he would affect the girl that sat in front of him.

Mitsuki noticed the slight change in Itachi's energy as he got lost once more in his thought, and she dreaded the overdue, long silence between them. As she swayed her body around in waiting, Mitsuki scowled at Itachi's thinking face. She had never been the patient one, and surely she never would have enjoyed waiting on a cliff's edge. She wished that he would just drop the bomb already. Mitsuki narrowed her eyes in annoyance as her impatience took over.

"What is it, Itachi-kun?" she asked, pressing.

Itachi looked her straight in the eye for a while to meet her demanding gaze. He took a time to consider how he should approach the topic before selecting his words. "What are you intending to do from now on? Are you following me and Kisame because you are interested in being shinobi?" Itachi asked warily.

Surprisingly, Mitsuki's face turn into an annoyed scowl, catching Itachi offguard. "Huh? Why would I?"

Itachi returned her stare with a perplexed gaze.

"I don't have chakra, and let's admit it, I'm not very good at combat. And besides.." Mitsuki sighed as she continued. "There's a lot more in this world other than shinobi and missions right? For example, people, culture, clothing, and food?" Mitsuki grinned as she mentioned her beloved item. Itachi didn't know how to respond. It was not the answer he expected, even though he himself wished that his speculation wouldn't be true, judging from how she practiced so hard this far, he thought that the girl had an inkling of interest in life as a shinobi. Mitsuki frowned at Itachi's confused face.

"Did you forget? I'm looking to find out about myself. If I pursue shinobi path, where it is obviously not who I am, or was, how am I supposed to learn more about myself? That's why I told you I wanted to see the world for what it is, didn't I?"

Seeing as much as she could, and decide on her own, and figuring out about her past and walk towards the future. Since the start, her goal had never changed.

"If you're wondering why I have been so insistent at practicing, I told you already. I don't want to be a burden to you and Kisame. I want to be able to defend myself and stand on my own. It's not that I want to be a shinobi or anything." Mitsuki shrugged with a frustrated look on her face. Itachi nodded internally. He could understand her feeling, and besides it was true that it will be good for her, and that was why he had helped her with her shinobi practice. After all, there might be time when he couldn't protect her, during their journey, or after. Suddenly, Mitsuki smirked mischievously.

"Besides, I still haven't got back at you for that time," she continued with a sneer.

"That time?" Itachi pondered. Their first meeting, or.. their previous spars?

"You are smart, that's why. It made me wonder if I can outwit you one day. It's fun thinking how I can get back at you and catch you offguard." A devious smile spread on Mitsuki's face.

Itachi unwittingly let out a relieved sigh that soon turned into a suppressed laugh. Why he did, he was not sure as well. Perhaps because the talk went smoother than what he thought it would be. Or perhaps, her disinterest in the warring world was what caused him relieve? Maybe it was also her reaction that somehow made his worry seemed ridiculous from the start.

Mitsuki glanced towards Itachi with a complicated smile, followed with a breath of relieve of her own.

"So that's why you have been distant these past few days huh?" Mitsuki stated.

"Distant?" Did he? Itachi asked himself. It's true that her action was weighing his mind, but.. "Oh," he realised. With unreadable look on his face, he turned his head as he gazed into nothingness.

"Or not?" Mitsuki added as she observed the change in Itachi's expression. "Could it be, you know about that guy?" Mitsuki asked hesitantly as her face turned serious once more.

Surprised, Itachi turned his head to look at Mitsuki's face. Tension and worry was clearly etched on her face.

"So you realized?" Itachi remarked in serious tone, wondering if she meant what he thought she did.

"That guy was after us, after all? Is he from Akatsuki too?" Mitsuki asked as she lightly nibble on her lips to stop the discomforting feeling to rise up within her again. Clear dislike showed up on her face.

"So she did realize. She's quite sharp.." Itachi thought as he wondered why she had never brought it up and since when did she realize. Looking at the girl's worried face, Itachi wondered what did Mitsuki see in that guy to make her put on that face, yet he chose to stay quiet. As silent strike again, Mitsuki couldn't help but worry. That guy's presence had gone away, but still, if even Itachi is being silent about it, there must be something more than what is let off.

"Mitsuki," Itachi's call interrupted Mitsuki's thought.

"Yes!?" Mitsuki almost yelped in surprise.

"I'll help you with your objective. However, while we are at it, can you keep the fact about both of us realising that guy's surveillance a secret from Kisame? As well as the full detail of your ability?" Itachi continued with a serious look on his face. He had been considering his option seriously during the whole time they journeyed together. Somehow he had come to feel responsible for the girl in front of him, and it was still true that wanted to know more about her ability as well for the sake of his curiosity. However, if he were to do that, in order to protect both her and his own intention from Akatsuki, he needed to be at least this honest with her. At least, knowing the girl's sharp and thoughtful nature, he believed that she would understand and cooperate.

Mitsuki wondered why, but knowing the guy in front of her, he must had had his reason. Mitsuki nodded in silence, secretly happy that the distance between her and Itachi seemed to have shrunk once more. She felt that she was one step closer to understanding the figure in front of her. "If I can understand him, can I understand myself too?" Mitsuki scoffed at the ridiculous notion. "As if it would be that simple," she thought. Itachi and herself was different after all, so was Kisame, fellow monsters as they were. Somehow, she found it funny that she would come to think of the two of them as more of a monster than she was during their journey together, albeit good ones. Somehow, it made her heart felt lighter. Seeing the smile that bloomed on Mitsuki's face, Itachi couldn't help but wonder about what she was thinking. Noticing Itachi's gaze, Mitsuki turned her head and smiled at him. Mitsuki realised that even though understanding the guy in front of him might not help her with her own pursuit, but at least she knew in her heart, that she was genuinely happy at that moment and time.

Author's note:

Again, Another part that is hard to write, since it's the first time Itachi took initiative to start a conversation out of concern for the girl's mental state as well as his sense of responsibility. Same with Mitsuki, Itachi had always been curious and observant, even though he usually prefers to keep his distance to stay objective, unlike Mitsuki. However in Mitsuki's case he will be forced to ask, as she had proven to be an enigma both in her ability and her way of thinking, it's not something he can solve by speculation based on logic alone. Slowly, he will be forced to be more and more honest about his true self as he help Mitsuki with her quest as well.

I hope I managed to convey Itachi's personality well, to be honest I'm afraid that I've revealed too much of his kindness, too fast. But considering this is the guy who felt sorry and commended an enemy genin and calmed him down as he had to assassinate him for his mission, I hope this won't be too much. Gosh he is such a beautiful soul… F Danzo really :(

By the way, during the whole conversation, she had never fixed her bedhair yet x'D gosh the embarrassment when she realised later on hahaha

Additional note:

(*) read Itachi shinden, book of light