"Mitsuki-san?" Aida called unto Mitsuki with worry in her eyes. Ever since they were back from Shin-jii's place, it seemed like Mitsuki's expression has grown dark.

"Yes Aida-chan?" Mitsuki replied promptly as she pulled herself back to the present.

"Are you OK?" Aida asked with obvious concern in her voice. Mitsuki smiled bitterly at her in response.

"No, it's just… Shin-jii-san has not gotten better, isn't he?" Mitsuki carefully selected her word as she replied.

Aida lowered her gaze as she heard Mitsuki's response. Silent engulfed both of the girl for a while, before Aida finally replied.

"Mom say that's how life is. You got old, and you got frail. She said Shin-jii is trying his best to hold on," said Aida in low voice.

Mitsuki knitted her forehead in concern as she saw Aida's expression changed. She wondered if it was wrong for her to bring up the topic. Regretting, Mitsuki tried to divert the conversation away slowly from Shin-jii's health.

"I can tell you like him a lot," Mitsuki smiled gently as she bent her body forward and tilted her head to enter Aida's field of vision.

Aida smiled in response to Mitsuki's attempt to cheer her up. "Yes, he had always been nice to me and my mom ever since I can remember it. When father passed away too, he had always helped to support both me and my mother.. I considered him my own grandfather actually, and I believed he thought of me as his granddaughter as well."

Mitsuki smiled sadly at Aida's response. "I'm glad that this village seemed to be filled by kind-hearted people."

Aida giggled, "Well, there has always been a saying in this village that we have to spread our blessings to another and help brighten up their day, to repay the sun for its blessing and light"

Mitsuki stared at her in confusion, "Spread blessing?" she asked.

"Mmhmm, sharing what we have more, sharing our happiness, especially by being kind to one another" Aida elaborated for Mitsuki.

"That sounds nice, no wonder you guys are very nice to me," Mitsuki grinned.

"Nonono, you helped me first, remember?" Aida giggled in response to Mitsuki's gratitude, as Mitsuki shook her head as if saying that it didn't matter.

"You guys are giving me more than what I gave already," Mitsuki concluded with a genuine smile, prompting Aida to scratch her cheek shyly, not sure how to respond to Mitsuki's genuine gratitude.

As she saw the chance, Mitsuki took the moment to change the topic of conversation once more. "Well then, what about the boy just now?" Mitsuki smiled innocently as her word turned Aida's face beet red

As Kisame passed the village's flower patch, a familiar figure caught his attention. The feisty kid of theirs was apparently conversing happily with another girl her age. "Somehow, she looked like a normal girl like that," he thought to himself, somehow feeling happy for her. Suddenly, Kisame saw the other girl's face turned beet red as Mitsuki grinned at her, leaving him wondering about what Mitsuki might have said to create that reaction.

"Is she… flirting?" Kisame thought, amused. He swore to himself that he won't let go of what he saw during his teasing time ahead on that night.

Itachi took another bite of a confectionery he ordered for himself. As he sat on his bench with his face covered by the Akatsuki issue hat, he observed the world around him, trying to find any sign of their cultural upbringing. He had surveyed through the village, however he found no sign of any shrine or symbol of worship. He is starting to wonder if he should take the surveillance further.

Not long after, something caught his eye. On the other side of the street, a husband left his house with loads on his back and arms, seemingly going for a long travel. As the wife waved him goodbye, after they parted, the wife looked up to the sky as she clasped her hand, before closing her eyes in prayer.

"Just like what was written in the text," Itachi thought to himself, surprised at how subtle the gesture was. He wondered if that was why he hadn't noticed it up until then. As he sipped his tea, he decided to continue observing. Even if it wouldn't bear any fruit, it wouldn't hurt to expand his knowledge and understanding as much as he could to have a broader perspective on everything.

"So, so, so?" Mitsuki grinned, "Was that what you meant by different kind of like?" she added. "And, what do you mean by sw..swing?" Mitsuki tilted her head, questioning the unfamiliar terms.

"AAAAAAA" Aida interrupted Mitsuki with a scream. "S..stop saying that Mitsuki-san, I'm embarrassed!" said Aida as she covered her face in embarrassment.

Mitsuki furrowed her eyebrow as she narrowed her eyes, tilting her head in confusion.

"Ok, listen Mitsuki, the other kind of like that I mean is for romantic love*!"

"Romantic love?" Mitsuki tilted her head, not sure if she understand.

"You know, like those between couple? Husband and wife? It tells you that someone is special when you felt this way," Aida added with a surprised expression at Mitsuki's lack of romantic awareness.

"Eeeh, I somehow got it but I don't really understand," Mitsuki's forehead still frowned as she seemed to be racking her brain over it.

"Hmmm," Aida stared at Mitsuki with an awkward smile. It seemed like the girl in front of her was still completely oblivious about love. "How to explain huh…"

"Your heart skips a beat when you see him, you want to be around him longer and longer.." Aida answered as Mitsuki listened to her attentively. "You want to touch him, hold his hand, kiss him, and eventually, get married, and…" Aida's face got redder and redder as she continued, eventually stopping her speech as she covered her face in embarrassment once more.

Mitsuki giggled as she saw Aida's face, "Heee, I don't really understand, but.. so you want to do such things with that boy just now," she teased.

"Mi..Mitsuki-san, how about you? Do you have someone like that? Someone you think is wonderful and you can't take your eyes off him?" said Aida, as she attempted to divert the conversation once more.

Mitsuki thought real hard about it as her face crumpled. "Wonderful person huh…" the image of Itachi appeared in her head. "Someone I want to keep being with?" she felt like she wanted to keep being with Itachi and Kisame as a team. "Someone I want to hold hand with, touch, and kiss…?" Mitsuki narrowed her eyes as the ridiculousness of it darkened her expression. "I guess there's not?" Mitsuki answered Aida with a disturbed look on her face, causing her to wonder about what happened in Mitsuki's mind.

"I have someone I think is amazing, and I want to keep travelling with my squad, but other than that.." Mitsuki added as she tried to explain further to her new friend. "Even more, I don't get why you would want to specifically touch, hold hand, or kiss anyone?"

"Wah, you're even more pure than I thought you'd be," Aida retorted.

"Then, why?" Mitsuki demanded with annoyed face as she couldn't get Aida back for what she said.

"I… It's instinct I guess? You know, people will eventually get together with their chose one and create a family together? Get married and make.. children.." Aida stuttered as she blushed.

Mitsuki blinked her eyes at the information. She knew that human marries and creates family, but.. "How do you make c…"

"GAAAAAAH" Aida interrupted with a loud scream, shocking Mitsuki from hearing such a loud shout coming from the shy, gentle girl in front of her. "T…That's too fast for you, I won't answer that!" she deflected the question in an attempt to avoid having to educate Mitsuki further in that matter. Noticing that her shout might have turned the head of the people around her, Aida looked around and muttered an apology in silence.

"Huh? But you knew about it already… Oh well, and then why would holding hand and kissing be related to this?" Mitsuki gave up on getting a direct answer for the previous topic as she moved on to another clue that she caught on.

"Hmm, I guess when you're in love, whenever you touch that person, your heart will beat faster, and you'll want to experience it more and more…" Aida tried to maintain her composure as she explained.

"Heart beats faster huh?" suddenly a memory of the recent event came up in her mind. The moment Itachi helped carry her across the water and she gazed at his features, her heart definitely skipped a beat. Realising, Mitsuki's face unknowingly turned red, just like that time.

"I..It's just that I think he's beautiful, that's all!" Mitsuki quickly explained without context, as Aida questioned in her mind, "Huh? Who is?" thought Aida.

"But, holding hands, kissing? Naaaah…" Mitsuki's face darken once more, unable to grasp into that concept yet.

"Then what about the swing thing?" Mitsuki asked again as she regained her composure and curiosity.

"Oh, that.. Some woman might feel it with another woman, and some man might feel it with another man too," Aida answered briefly, glad that Mitsuki let the topic past. "But I guess they can't make child, though.." she added secretly in her mind, not to drag Mitsuki back into that topic.

"Ah, so you thought I felt that way for you?" Mitsuki put a mischievous look on her face as she confirmed, causing Aida to cover her face in embarrassment.

"Hahahah its ok, I don't fully understand yet, but it's definitely not that," Mitsuki giggled at her embarrassed friend. Then another question popped back in her mind.

"Then, you "like" that boy?" she asked, prompting Aida to cover Mitsuki's mouth once more.

"D.. Don't say that anymore, Mitsuki-san!" Aida begged in low voice.

"Huh, why?" Mitsuki asked softly as she put away Aida's hand from her face.

"He.. he have a fiancée, after all.. Oh, it means someone he intends to marry and also intends to marry him." Aida quickly added as she explained.

"Hmm, then change his mind? Have him choose you instead?" Mitsuki responded innocently.

"Eeeh, that's not a good thing to do, Mitsuki-san!" Aida quickly stopped Mitsuki, causing Mitsuki to stare at her in a questioning gaze.

"I mean, they both love each other. I don't want to destroy their relationship.. I can't imagine how sad the fiancée would be as well. His fiancée is also a nice person, you know, I can't do that to her," Aida explained sadly.

Mitsuki frowned as she heard Aida's response, "Huh? I don't get it… You said you want to marry him and create family with him, but now you are saying otherwise?" she asked in frustration.

Aida giggled at Mitsuki's response. "Well, I guess, this is also love. Other than me being happy at another's expense, I'd rather him be happy and lives a fulfilling life, even if he was not mine to be. I think, I'll be happier that way," Aida smiled wryly as she responded to Mitsuki's enquiry.

"Huh… I still don't understand. Oh well, let's quickly eat and get back then!" Mitsuki said with a frown as she opened her given bento, Aida smiling in gratitude towards her as she let the topic go.

"Hey, hey, Kisame, I learned new things today," Mitsuki smiled smugly.

"Oh, ya? Not interested," said Kisame, as she picked up one of the bento that Mitsuki brought back. Mitsuki quickly slapped Kisame's hand, to no avail.

"Oi, wait for Itachi-kun to come back first." Mitsuki glared in annoyance.

"Huh? But I'm hungry. Who knows what time Itachi-san will come back," Kisame answered. Noticing Mitsuki's expression got increasingly more annoyed, he decided to give in to the girl's request before she start throwing another tantrum.

"I want to touch him alright, with my fist that is!" Mitsuki thought secretly in rage as she watched Kisame put back the box with a frown on her face. Sighing, Mitsuki tried to let go of her anger. After a few seconds of silence, Mitsuki decided to drop the bomb.

"So, do you have someone you "like", Kisame?" Mitsuki asked with a playful smile.

"Heh, where did that even came from kid? Oh, thinking about it, I saw you flirting with a girl just now!" Kisame exclaimed as he remembered.

"Flirting? Oh, nono, that's my new friend, Aida-chan. We were talking about like and love just now," Mitsuki answered with a happy smile.

Surprised by how unfazed Mitsuki was, Kisame decided that it was useless to tease her further about it and decided to answer her instead. "Not really, I think? Why kid?"

"Oh, I thought it might be Itachi-kun," Mitsuki giggled. Kisame almost choked at his own saliva hearing her accusation.

Outside the door, Itachi's hand twitched as he stopped himself from opening the door.

"What the, why? Sorry to say this, but I'm a straight guy, OK?" Kisame answered in frustration.

"Because you treat him with so much adoration and respect," Mitsuki laughed, ".. unlike towards me, you mean shark…" she added as her eye twitched in displeasure as she recalled Kisame's treatment towards her.

Somehow, Itachi didn't feel like he could come in now, at the risk of getting dragged into their ridiculous conversation.

".. I think that's a you problem, kid. Even though I admit I do look up to Itachi-san, heh," Kisame replied with a smug grin on his face. "I thought you might be the one who "like" him. He is popular with the girls after all, and you kept following him like a puppy too."

Mitsuki's face scrunched up once more as she tried to rack her brain to think about it. Aida's words about holding hands and such came back to her.

"Nah, don't think so," Mitsuki answered wryly with a deadpan look on her face, surprising Kisame as it was not the reaction that he expected.

"Oh well, I guess you're still too much of a child, after all," Kisame teased as he looked forward to what lies in the future, leaving Mitsuki with displeased look on her face.

"Bleh," Mitsuki jeered towards Kisame in annoyance, as she continued, "..and welcome back, Itachi-kun!" she said.

Itachi's finger twitched again. Sometimes he forgot how sharp the girl's senses are, as he already tried his best to hid his present ever since he heard their conversation midway just now. Ashamed of getting caught red handed, Itachi opened the door.

"I'm back…**" He said in reflex, as he tried to hide his own embarrassment.

"Ah," Mitsuki and Kisame remarked at the same time.

"?" Itachi stared back, questioning.

"He said it," said Mitsuki to Kisame with a smug look on her face.

"He said it, alright," Kisame responded to the girl with a grin on his face.

Itachi resisted his urge to face palm himself for getting caught off-guard as he entered the room, closing the door behind him.

Author's note:

Heheheh, I enjoyed writing this chapter so much, so many dynamics hehehehe :D Also, uh, Mitsuki = Kisame x Itachi shipper? X'D jkjkjkjk hahahahah

Their relationship is cute tho NGL kek x'D

It will still take some time for Mitsuki tho to grow a special feeling like that :3

Extra note:

(*) actually as explained in earlier chapter hahaha, but the words used here is more of 恋(koi) instead of 愛(ai) to tighten the context into romantical love.

(**) Itachi finally said tadaima here by accident x'D it was an accident as he was caught off guard, but since he had done it even if it's just once, he figured there's no more need to keep up the attitude he had anymore (also to save his own face from embarrassment of making such a silly mistake xD he is quite prideful after all to some extent despite his humble nature)