"Kisame, I'm back.. Itachi-kun is?"

Kisame turned his head towards the door immediately after he heard the greeting.

"You're late, Ojou-chan. Also Itachi-san won't be joining tonight, He's doing surveillance."

"Ho? Then the crow?" asked the girl curiously, seeing the crow which was roosting on Kisame's shoulder.

"He sent us some money and requested our report," answered Kisame plainly, before handing over some bento to Mitsuki. "Oh, and he say he'll pick you up tomorrow."

"What? Why?"

Surprisingly, Mitsuki wasn't that happy about it.

"I thought you'd be happy. That's odd.." remarked Kisame.

"It's just, I've only started building the trust now, I can't just not show up tomorrow!"

"Show up? What have you been doing?"

Kisame's surprised retort reminded Mitsuki that she hadn't shared her plan with neither Itachi nor Kisame the previous night.

"Fine, we'll have to do report today anyway."

Shortly, Mitsuki told Kisame the brief version of what she had been doing and how it has progressed so far, to his confusion.

"All that effort just for one source of information? Why don't you just try to find someone else easier to deal with?"

Hearing Kisame's retort, Mitsuki shook her head in disagreement.

"If I give up so fast how do I build trust? You think the villagers don't talk to each other?"

"Well, just get more people to trust you than those who are not, they were bound to shut up eventually," commented Kisame sharply. Even so, Mitsuki refused to back down.

"Well, another reason is because I it's supposed to be my duty to help people," added the miko with a frown. "If I stop helping just because it is hard to do, then what does that say about the one I represent? That They chose who to help unfairly?"

"It's not like the world is a fair place anyway," Kisame sneered sarcastically to Mitsuki's displeasure, "Sorry kiddo, I know you are a priestess but I'm telling the truth."

Mitsuki could only sigh as she heard Kisame's statement. The fairness of the world, was indeed something that was hard to dispute. Even for Gods, a lot of times, favouring one means abandoning another, she knew that as she herself had been forced to do so recently. Even so..

"Even so.. I don't want to quit halfway.. I want to finish what I've started, at the very least," Mitsuki's respond was low spirited, and Kisame couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her.

"Good for you, kid. But you must know when to stop," advised Kisame sincerely, his voice unusually giving vibes of wisdom and maturity as he reprimanded the girl for her naivety.

"Yes. And I believe now is not the time yet.."

Mitsuki's insistence brought a smirk unto Kisame's face. With a chuckle, Kisame gave her a shrug, as if half-heartedly approving Mitsuki's decision before continuing on to the next important matter.

"So, about the report.."

"Dear, Itachi-kun..

I'm writing this report since Kisame's handwriting is… less than desirable."

Somehow Itachi could picture Kisame and Mitsuki arguing over what she had written on the thick roll of letter's beginning.. Continuing, he read..

"We'll go with the report first. Firstly, on Kisame side, he said he'd established a connection with nearby information centre and had put a request or any Orochimaru related information safely by making a deal regarding Akatsuki's mercenary service. He believes he had done a very good job and deserves a pra—

The line of the word got dragged into a mess after that, indicative of how Kisame and Mitsuki must have had a fight over the pen mid-sentence. That or just Kisame stopping the girl from saying "unnecessary" stuff.

"They seem to be doing well," muttered Itachi in his mind as the picture of the "sibling" spat surfaced on his brain.

"Anyway, he said it would only be a while until something is bound to surface, especially since Orochimaru had a lot of business in Sunagakure until some time ago, he said. For now, at least he's sure that Orochimaru had a hideout nearby, due to the frequency of which he visited the Kazekage prior based on what he'd heard."

"That makes sense," thought Itachi as he read the part of Kisame's report. And indeed Kisame had seemed to have dealt with the need of information efficiently. "Hopefully, whatever he had set up would bring result soon," added Itachi hopefully in his mind, before moving his attention towards the next section of the letter.

"As for mine, I'm still in process of building a rapport with the villagers, but from what I've heard so far, they had always been wary of the outsiders so far. Apparently due to their geographical location, those who passed and stayed long time (means they are not simply a passing traveller) usually had something relating to war in mind, or worse, planning on plundering them after the conflict, or even criminals evading authority and staying near the multi-border for that reason"

That far had mostly been within Itachi's knowledge. After all, he had chosen the village for a long stop exactly because of that reason. The village might indeed have suffered for their location's quirk, but honestly, in return, some of the escapee had also become the village's source of income as well, along with the normal, border crossing traveller. The fact that Kisame had managed to find an information trading centre nearby that was knowledgeable enough about Akatsuki's side job as mercenary, could probably be attributed to that too. After all, for desperate rogue ninja, information trading and mercenary's underground job can be a reliable source of income as well.

"As for the ceremonial thing and suspicious group two nights ago, they call themselves Children of Rain. They mostly demanded some ration and harvest in exchange for their "rain prayer", but recently they had escalated and occasionally asked for a few women to pick from and brought to who knows where and what for. Kisame said there's a chance that it might be slave trading or human trafficking, or own use, whatever that phrase means (he won't explain it :)."

"…" Itachi was both thankful he was not there for the debate and slightly felt sorry for Kisame who Mitsuki must have pestered for explanation. On the other hand, that information would indeed mean something for Itachi's search's continuation. After all, considering how they must be keeping their picks and loots inside their hideout, the hideout must have the required water access and a form of temperature regulation somehow. If not, the extreme temperature change of the desert would probably be detrimental for them, and their stocks slash prisoner. That would bind to eliminate a few possible locations of short term bases that Itachi had scouted previously. Another possibility as well, was to find whoever it was who helped the distribution of the human resources. After all, to move a group of people for quite a distance wouldn't be easy without any additional transportation method. Hence, Itachi concluded that either the rogue group would have some kind of transportation ready, or would have arranged themselves pickup once in a while. If only Mitsuki could get more specific information about the frequency of such trade happening as well.. Noticing that the message hadn't reached its end yet, Itachi continued reading.

"Also, Kisame said you will pick me up for tracking tomorrow? I still got something to do, so.. can it at least be in the evening? I feel like I'm in a crucial moment now.."

Nowhere in the letter had Mitsuki explained about what she were doing, specifically. Deciding to check with her personally later when the chance arises, Itachi burnt the letter in his hand and dismissed his crow. Judging from the information that he had gotten, the place he was then staking on seemed to be not the correct place. However, within the few hours he had been observing, he did notice some kind of activity in the area. Shinobi entering and exiting was one of the things he witnessed, but whether it was the same group or different one all together, he couldn't be sure. Nevertheless, there was no harm in finding out. After all, he was looking not only for the scammer's hideout, but also Orochimaru's in addition. For that, he wouldn't spare any effort in finding out.

The next day, Mitsuki was ready to tinker again with the mechanism. This time, she thought of increasing both the load and durability of the mechanism, enough for her to leave it without supervision for few days at least. After all, who knew how long the tracking would take, at least basing on her search previously with Kirika alone and the vastness of the dessert this time round.

"You're here so early," a voice called out from the top of the slope. Upon checking the direction of the voice Mitsuki quickly recognised the source of the voice as Shun. Turning her head to check up on the visitor with her eye, Mitsuki saw Jin running towards her.

"Miko nee-chan!" shouted the little boy excitedly as he ran into Mitsuki to give her a hug.

"Jin! Did your mom allow you to be here?" said Mitsuki as he gave the hugging boy a head pat.

"Nuh-uh, Mommy is out!" said the boy unapologetically.

"Egh.." the baffled priestess looked towards the elder one of the brothers for explanation.

"He pestered me and won't shut up about it," said the older brother in exhaustion, shrugging lightly.

"Miko nee-chan, tell me more story!" demanded the boy with excitement as he skipped around the priestess.

"Wait a while Jin, I have to finish something first," said Mitsuki apologetically, before shifting her gaze towards the older brother. "Shun, can you keep an eye on him in the meantime?"

With a sigh, the older brother nodded before he headed down the slope for his little brother.

Somehow, Mitsuki had ended up teaching the two brothers on how to braid a rope from plant fibre. In some way, it was beneficial for her as their help hastened her progress by quite an amount.

"Anyway, how come you're at home also today? Shouldn't a guy your age be out to play around this timing? Or at least, help your father with his farm?"

Mitsuki's enquiry didn't surprise Shun. After all, he was aware of how odd it was for a male young adult of his age to be cooped at home all the time like he did.

"Ah," his voice sounded a bit reluctant as he spoke. "My health is bad, so I can't do any strenuous physical activity."

"Hmm? Bad how? Yesterday you seemed to be doing fine when pulling the harvest's load.." besides that, unlike Itachi, Mitsuki didn't see any sign of immediate danger or any mark to his soul, thankfully.

"Static activity is still fine, but I tend to have problem breathing when I'm tired.. or stressed.."

"Hmm," Mitsuki mumbled while glancing at the young man. It seemed like something solvable, but she might need more information about it before she could do anything.

"That said, your mother seemed to be limping also, is she fine?" added Mitsuki, remembering the mother's slow and slightly dragged step.

"She injured herself some time ago. Medical nin treatment is expensive so she had insisted to let it heal on its own. Why?" Shun was surprised that the priestess was paying attention towards his mother as well despite having being accused by her the previous day.

"Nothing, I'm just checking up," stated the priestess. Honestly, she would like to see if she could somehow treat the two of them with her knowledge, but honestly, she might not be able to do anything yet unless the mother trusted her enough to do the treatment. "Anyway, I'm done with this plank, can you help me tie it up with that rope?"

Without any word, Shun followed the priestess's instruction.

"What are all this for, anyway?" asked the elder brother inquisitively. Hearing him, Mitsuki let out a prideful chuckle as she found herself a chance to brag.

"I call this, system upgrade 2.0!" declared the Miko with glimmer in her eyes. "More durable, more load, less hassle!"

"Not understanding and don't want to know the detail.."

Shun's cold, disinterested response disappointed Mitsuki. Inside her mind, she wondered how Itachi would react in Shun's place, if she had told him about the mechanism. Would he even offer some advice to improve on it even more? Possibly, she thought, smile surfaced on her lips upon remembering how she'd be able to do just that with Itachi that night. Humming cheerfully upon the anticipation, Mitsuki shifted her attention back towards the mechanism, to Shun's confusion and Jin's excitement as he joined in humming to the children song.

Mitsuki stood proudly in front of her creation. She had done basic check on the integrity and durability of the mechanism, and so far it seemed very promising. Excitedly, she called upon Shun and Jin down the slope before jumping onto the load carriage.

"There! Try turning that thing in one direction!" she said confidently, as if a child who had just figured out her new toy. Unsure of what the girl had in mind, Shun turned the wheel as instructed. It's heavier than he thought it would be, but he managed to do it nonetheless. And with it, the carriage moved up, supported by the intricate system.

"Yes! I did it!" the girl shouted in joy as soon as the carriage started climbing the slope without hitch despite carrying her body weight. Even Shun seemed to be equally impressed.

"Either you weigh a lot less than you look, or that worked really well.." he stated, clearly amazed at the ease of the process, considering how the mechanism was actually carrying the priestess's body up the slope. His word however, evoked some kind of strong reaction from the priestess herself.

"… what do you mean?" said the priestess while tilting her head questioningly, her eyes deadpan as if challenging the guy to repeat what he just said once more. "Do YOU mean I look HEAVY?" she challenged, confirming.

"… uh… no?" said Shun hesitantly as Jin hid behind him, noticing the priestess's deadly expression.

As Mitsuki's threatening stare slowly turned into an approving bitter smile, she jumped off the carriage and moved down the slope once more on her feet.

"Well, when you're done pulling the carriage you tie the wheel like this to lock things in place.." said Mitsuki as she demonstrated it to both the elder brother and younger one. "Be careful ok, Jin? Don't play around the cart recklessly!"

Hearing the priestess warning, the young boy gave a short nod of agreement accompanied with a smile.

"Tomorrow and for a while I won't be coming by, I have something to do so.. You let me know how everything goes when I'm back OK?" Mitsuki aimed the request at the eldest son, subtly notifying him of her incoming absence. Hopefully, by the time she could come back, the mother's attitude towards Mitsuki would have softened up already.. Then, she would actually be able to see if she could indeed treat both Shun and her mother.

"Huh? I'm not your lackey, why should I?"

Mitsuki groaned at Shun's clever reply. Exhausted, she retorted back with snide.

"Tell me, don't tell me, whatever you want.. ughhh.." said the priestess, with a twitch on her eye.

The priestess' complaint brought a sneer on the eldest son face as he watched the Miko went to sit dejectedly by the lower end of the slope.

Itachi arrived at Mitsuki's location a bit earlier than planned, just on time to witness the trial's shenanigan.

"You know what, it would have been more practical if this thing can carry the cart up along with its content other than manually moving it off and back the cart," stated the eldest brother, to Mitsuki's annoyance.

"You know whatttt, it would be great if you give me that idea BEFORE I finished building this!"

"Just saying," the older brother said with a smirk that made Mitsuki wanted to throw a jab at him. If only she was not using her divine form, at least. After all, it wouldn't be good for a priestess to be acting that violent, wouldn't it?

"Calm down, Mitsuki.. A priestess should be graceful and patient…" she muttered softly with a sigh as she moved on to place the cart's load unto the carrier.

"That's the last one, and.. spin!"

Itachi watched curiously as the farmer and the son gave a spin to the static wheel.

"Ooooh, not bad Missy! This is doable!"

"HEHEHE, amazing right! It's human ingenuity!" bragged Mitsuki as she pushed the farmer's empty cart up the slope.

The group then bantered lightly as they continued to move the load up on the slope, and back unto the awaiting cart. As Jin had go back earlier into their house along with the mother's homecoming, the three of them alone then had a little chitchat just after everything was loaded back into the cart.

"No need for tea or anything today, I have to get going now," said Mitsuki cheerfully while lightly patting down the dirt off her clothes.

"Why such rush? You could rest for a while, it's still quite early now since we managed to move things up rather quickly," said the farmer with disappointment. After all, it seemed that he had really won the bet with his wife this time.

"Haha, I got things to attend to," answered the Miko apologetically. Besides, she had noticed Itachi's presence's arrival from quite a while ago, so she wouldn't want to make him wait even more.

"What business even, it's not like anyone else in the village is listening to you.."

Mitsuki's smile twitched upon hearing Shun's snide remark.

"You.. what grudge do you have against me, really?" the priestess asked, still with a smile on her face, albeit a forced one. Somehow, the elder brother had been constantly teasing her that day, despite her not treating him differently from before, and it baffled her. "Anyway, I gotta go now, so see you guys in few days, I guess?"

Saying her goodbye, Mitsuki quickly turned her back and rushed towards the slope's descent, ready to find Itachi who was waiting for her from within the cliff's shadow. However suddenly, the farmer called out to her once more.

"Wait, Missy!"

The farmer's call stopped the priestess movement.

"This might be a bit overdue, but.. You haven't told us your name,"

Honestly, Mitsuki was totally fine with being addressed as Miko, or Missy, or whatever. After all, she would just be passing by for a while and she had never intended to stay long enough that remembering her name would be necessary. No one in the past had bothered to ask for her name as well, due to her role and their respect. Somehow, having her name asked felt.. personal.

And she didn't hate it. But..

With a sigh, she decided on what name to give them. After all, she had a complicated situation. And the conclusion that she had arrived to, was..

"I'm Amaterasu's priestess, Tsukino Inaba," answered the girl with a smile, before dashing and turned behind the cliff, disappearing from the farmer's and son's sight.

"Itachi-kun, sorry to make you wait," Mitsuki remarked in half whisper as soon as she managed to hid her figure behind the cliff, and quickly dispersed her divine form. From behind one of the tree, Itachi revealed himself.

"… Good work today.." he said as he stepped out of the shadow. Somehow, he was not sure what else to say to the girl as he didn't quite get the gist of her situation. Instead, he kept his focus on the task ahead.

"Take off your kimono," demanded Itachi, as he summoned a pair of sand colored cloak from what seemed to be a scroll. Another neat trick of the shinobis that Mitsuki couldn't wrap her head around somehow..

"Seriously how does that work, even? Can you also store my kimono there?" asked the girl curiously as she quickly went through with the given instruction, leaving only his shinobi training clothes to wear under the camouflage cloak.

Hearing Mitsuki's question, Itachi gave a nod and extended his hand, signalling Mitsuki to hand her kimono over.

As Itachi somehow stored her Kimono within the scroll, Mitsuki's eye sparkled with awe.

"Hooo, that's very practical. I wish I can do that too," she remarked with a smile.

"Aren't you doing the same with your ritualistic tool? You don't even need any written seal.."

Itachi's question surprised Mitsuki, before she finally remembered how they both might be seeing different things after all. Nevertheless, they both ought to depart soon before the sun started setting, so their conversation would have to continue during the journey ahead.

Along the way to the desert, Mitsuki briefly explained to Itachi about how her spiritual tool worked.

"Are you saying.. I won't be able to touch them?" his tone filled with curiosity. As Mitsuki had expected, the topic was indeed intriguing to Itachi.

"Yes, like shinobi, I guess, we are able to manifest stuff to some extent. But they are of the spirit realm, and they wouldn't be able to affect the physical object of mortal realm."

Mitsuki was happy to explain. After all, she and Itachi hadn't been having casual talk for a long time. Either it was her turn being in a mess, or Itachi's.. they barely had time to talk about anything else that was not.. depressing.

"Yet you can touch them, and I can touch you?" questioned Itachi with a frown.

Somehow the mention of the world touch made Mitsuki nervous. After all, she was reminded about her idea to try and hug Itachi to see if there's any measurable difference compared to hugging another. Quickly, Mitsuki shoved the intrusive thought aside while clearing her throat.

"Hrm, yes.. because I'm a special case. The Tsukuyomi clan was mortalized once, you remember? Yet I've also gotten my divinity back while I was already born in what is technically, a mortal body." She explained briefly with pride, bragging lightly. "That is also why divinities worked their miracle through their priest and priestess you know? They need a physical representation in the mortal world to do their work."

Hearing her statement, Itachi brought his finger to his lips and pondered, before asking in pure curiosity.

"So, if I were to try and touch your brother, for example, I wouldn't be able to?"

Itachi's speculation was spot on, yet it also scared Mitsuki, in many ways than one.

"In a lot of meaning, yes.. Please don't do that though, he'll kill you…" stated Mitsuki with horrified smile. After all, who knows how that brother of hers would react if any of the human he didn't like dared to try and touch him. Yet, it was all the more amusing for such curious boy as Itachi was. Then, he was reminded of something, something with the same odd property as what Mitsuki had described.

That other technique that had awakened along with his Mangekyou Sharingan.

"Mitsuki," asked Itachi in serious tone which instantly draws Mitsuki's attention towards him.

"You shared a story about Susanoo to the village's kids before.. Are you.. in anyway familiar about Yata Mirror and Sword of Totsuka?"

Mitsuki's eye widened upon hearing the name, and that was indication enough for Itachi.

Author's note:

Basically, I will add lore for Itachi's spiritual weapon :3