Months rolled by like that and Yumetsuki found herself getting completely comfortable with the role that she had been given in regards to taking care of her young godson. She didn't care what people thought about them. She didn't care if he wasn't the most perfect child. All she knew was that she wanted to raise him into a nice young boy who would do his best to live his life well.
Yumetsuki, in the eyes of the young Uzumaki Naruto, was apparently the most perfect person to have ever exist – or so he would tell her. She had always taken it lightly but she knew that she may be the only one in the entire village who went out of their way to take care of him like she did.
To Naruto, Yumetsuki was just perfect and the sweetest person, someone who cooked the best food and did everything so simply and quickly that it appeared like magic. Someone who could never do anything wrong. Someone who was just completely flawless.
"Meiko-Chan, when I grow up, you have to stay with me," Naruto told her as he would pull her face so that they could look at each other. "You have to, okay? You can't go live with someone else!"
Whenever he would say such things, Yumetsuki would smile at him but she knew that one day Naruto may learn the truth about her life. She had been such a mess even when she had lived for such a short time on this earth, and she had too much blood on her hands.
Even though Yumetsuki had slowly begun to take herself away from the world of ANBU, Hiruzen had called upon her one day and informed her that she would be taking a mission to the Land of Frost along with a small team that consisted of Kakashi, Tenzo, Itachi and Sugaru. Initially Yumetsuki had wanted to refuse but in the end, her expertise was far too valuable for her to stay back.
So, as it was decided, Yumetsuki bid her goodbyes to Naruto, informing him that she will be back home in two days and that while she was gone, she would leave her Fox Summons with him to keep an eye on him and to take care of him. She had also given him pocket money to treat himself.
"I'll have Ramen!" Naruto said excitedly as he stuffed the money into the froggy pouch Yumetsuki had gotten him on his last birthday to encourage saving. "I'll have lots of it!"
"Not at all meals," Yumetsuki reminded him. "I made you some food as well. You just have to heat it up. If you have any trouble, you may ask Amaterasu, alright, love?"
Naruto had been too excited to be 'independent' initially but when Yumetsuki got ready to leave, he had caught her skirt, looking up at her with watery blue eyes, "You have to come back quickly,"
"I will," Yumetsuki assured him, crouching down to give him a hug. "I will be back you know it, Naruto-Chan,"
Itachi had not expected himself to be the youngest part of a team that would be heading to the Land of Frost – there was going to be his team leader Hatake Kakashi, Sugaru from the Aburame Clan, and a boy a little younger than Kakashi yet long-living part of ANBU named Tenzo who had the ability to use Wood Style, a ninjutsu only the first Hokage, Hashirama, had been able to use.
That had been what he had heard but before they were to head out, Itachi had heard the door to their locker room open and almost in unison, the entrance of that person had caused both Kakashi and Tenzo to perk up – one of them smiled widely and the other one began to turn pink shyly.
"Yuren-Chan," greeted Kakashi in a voice that was so light and happy that it was hard for Itachi to believe that they were dressed in the ANBU garb. "What brings you here?"
Never before had Itachi heard that name before and never had he heard Kakashi address someone so affectionately – the suffix Chan on the lips of the twenty-year-old was a foreign thing – and Itachi could only be more shocked when he turned around to find Yuki Yumetsuki standing there.
Dressed in the ANBU garb that hugged all of her curves nicely and with her right hand on her hip, Yumetsuki looked completely different from the soft appearance of the loving godmother and the diligent Medi-Nin that Itachi was used to seeing. Her long, snow-white hair was tied back into a high ponytail and a rabbit mask with silver markings was tied to the side of her head.
"I will be joining you on your trip to Land of Frost today," Yumetsuki answered the smiling silver-haired man. "Hiruzen Sensei just informed me that you were going to depart. Good to see that I caught up with you on time. When do we head out?"
"Ten minutes," Kakashi replied. "I'm going to be leading the squad – we've got Sugaru, Itachi and Tenzo here. I'll debrief you on what our aims and mission is. Come along, Yuren-Chan,"
"Right now, I am Yukito," Yumetsuki reminded him, pointing toward her mask but still moving to follow him. "Good to see you, Tenzo-Kun, Itachi-Kun, Sugaru-San,"
Upon his name, Tenzo had blushed and hid behind his long brown hair and just as Itachi had started to wonder about this reaction, his own name had been spoken by the Yuki Ninja and he found out – hearing one's heard so softly by that voice simply made his insides turn into hot goo.
But Itachi noticed one thing for certain – Sugaru had not been thrilled upon seeing Yumetsuki and Kakashi in the corner of the room as the Hatake male talking to her. He wondered what sort of thing the Aburame Ninja was thinking about them but that didn't matter as they headed off soon after.
At the moment, the Land of Fire and the Land of Frost were in the midst of forming an alliance between each other. Yumetsuki had admitted point-blank to them that she doubted it would go through, no – she had been certain that it would not go through.
That was exactly what ended up happening – the dead bodies of their comrades lay in the valley ahead. Land of Frost Shinobi had killed them. The alliance was to be made official ten days later, and they had been in the middle of a mission to exchange letters stating the final terms, when the Ninjas from the Land of Frost suddenly bared their teeth.
Just as Yumetsuki had told them, the enemy had been uninterested in an alliance from the start. Four Konoha Ninjas up against twenty from the Land of Frost. Outnumbered. In the blink of an eye, the Konoha Ninjas tasked with the duty of receiving the letter had been killed.
If they witnessed the breakdown of negotiations, they were to exterminate the enemy: that was the mission that the Konoha ANBU team had been given.
In other words, they were not to move until the situation was clear. Thus, their initial response had been delayed, leading to the annihilation of their allies.
The moment twenty Land of Frost ninjas appeared – a suspiciously large force – it had felt very much like a breakdown in the process. If the ANBU had leapt out at that point in time, their comrades might not have died. However, even if Itachi had been leading the team, he couldn't have moved until all four were wiped out.
"So, this is how it's going to be, huh?" Kakashi muttered, having returning to his seriousness as he took the role of the head of the squad. "You were right after all, Yuren-Chan,"
"I have no pleasure been correct in such circumstances," Yumetsuki replied quietly and Itachi noticed that while her expression was completely clear, her unearthly blue eyes were sorrowful.
But then, Itachi also wondered if he was projecting himself onto her and those were just his feelings being reflected back at him.
Just at that moment, Kakashi, his team leader, the lower half of his face covered by a black mask, and Yumetsuki, who had not bothered to wear her rabbit mask at all, were both already gone. Itachi jumped off the cliff after the pair of them hurriedly.
Ahead of him, Kakashi landed in the midst of the enemy, his right hand already piercing one of the Ninjas. A stream of blue lightning enveloped his arm, Chidori overtaking his limb. By the time his team leader was pulling his arm back out, Itachi had landed dead centre among the enemy.
Itachi had not meant to do that in the slightest – the problem was that he had been distracted. He had been distracted by the sight of Yumetsuki fighting by herself against ten of the Frost Ninjas.
Resembling a ritualistic dance, Yumetsuki fought so seamlessly and with such control that it was hard to think that this was the same person whose smile halted all breaths in a room. She appeared one with the snow, and it was the first time Itachi had ever seen an Ice Ninja fight like this.
Within seconds, every single one of the Land of Frost Ninja that surrounded Yumetsuki had been reduced to nothing around her, their blood bright against the Icy spikes.
"Konoha ANBU!" shouted one of the remaining Shinobi's from the Land of Frost, rushing to attack Yumetsuki with his Kunai at the read. "They've got the Akayuki!"
In the next instant, a thick tree branch tangled up around the man's throat and tightened, like a snake. Unable to push back against the incredible force of it, the man expired, long tongue lolling from his mouth. Tenzo had arrived on the scene.
"Konoha never had any intention of making an alliance with us, hm?" spoke another enemy said to Kakashi. "To think they even brought the Akayuki!"
"You came at us first," responded Kakashi and he didn't bother to wait for the other man to argue the fact; Chidori dug into the enemy Ninja's stomach.
Something told Itachi that his squad leader had not liked the enemy Ninja mentioning Yumetsuki, even if it was through a rather morbid nickname.
Itachi heard a shriek from behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw an enemy hurtling toward him, a long sword held up above his head. Itachi turned around. The sword closed in on the top of his head. He quickly lifted his arm, and grabbed the wrist of the enemy's hand on the hilt.
"Give it up," Itachi advised, still clutching the man's wrist.
Unable to bring the sword down on Itachi, the enemy glared at him, cold sweat popping up on his forehead. His enemy shuddered violently on the sight of his Sharingan, and then completely relaxed. Like a marionette with its strings cut, the man had started to droop and fall toward the ground, when his head rolled off into space before Itachi's eyes.
A ninja blade glittered to the rear of the enemy. Sugaru had appeared on the scene, murmuring in a voice that was only loud enough for Itachi to hear, "The mission from Hokage-Sama is the extermination of the enemy,"
Sugaru had seen through Itachi's secret plan to trap the man in Genjutsu with the Sharingan, and make him pass out. There was no need to exterminate the enemy. Whether their envoys returned or not, the incident here would soon be known to the Land of Frost.
It was vengeance enough to take out the ones who had murdered the four Konoha Ninjas. Letting the others live, and return home to relate the true power of Konoha, would be a more effective check against the Land of Frost.
"I know," Itachi told Sugaru's back, as the man was already turning toward a new enemy; then, Itachi set his sights on a new target.
There were four enemy Ninjas left. They had already lost the will to fight. Sugaru's blade flew toward the neck of one on his knees, begging for his life. Beyond him, Tenzo's Wood Style Ninjutsu produced sharp branches that pierced the back of a female ninja trying to flee.
"This will make the Land of Frost and Konoha enemies!" shouted the man.
"Your lives will prevent that," Kakashi said gently, as his arm ripped into the other man's solar plexus.
"Itachi!" came Tenzo's voice.
Itachi caught sight of an enemy coming toward him with a grim look, prepared for death. Holding Kunai in both hands, clenching his teeth as he raced toward Itachi, the boy was still not even ten years old. The Land of Frost was small.
Although the larger battles were no more, in a country that still had few Ninjas and a national power that was immature, even a child like this had plenty of war potential.
His battle cry already sounded like a sob. Itachi met the boy head-on. A sharp pain raced through his stomach. The boy's Kunai had stabbed him. The slender shoulders shook fiercely as they touched Itachi's belly. The boy's terror had surpassed his limits, and tears began to fill his eyes.
"Itachi!" Kakashi called out to the young Uchiha male.
"I'm all right," Itachi replied calmly, and Kakashi, Yumetsuki and the others watched, surrounding him from a distance.
Shaking like a leaf, the boy slowly lifted his face. Tears spilled out of the eyes that looked up at Itachi. His fear became sound, and slipped out of him in gasps.
"You're a proper Ninja now," Itachi told his enemy in what he appeared to be kindness. "Be strong,"
In his confusion and fear, the boy had no idea what was going on. He shook his head from side to side, and desperately tried to turn his eyes away from reality.
"You didn't run away; you came right at me," itachi continued. "So, I want to treat you with the courtesy a full-fledged ninja deserves,"
Itachi grabbed his kunai from behind, so that the boy couldn't see. He ran his blade up from below into the slender nape of his crying enemy's neck. He gently pulled the Kunai from his own stomach, and stepped back. A spray of blood shot out from the boy's neck.
None of it splattered Itachi. This, too, was etiquette for a Ninja. The young body fell onto the pile of corpses, neither enemy nor ally. The boy's eyes, devoid of light, stared endlessly at the troubled Itachi.
"This is also a battlefield," Itachi murmured, not loud enough for anyone else to hear yet everything within him was growing heavier and heavier. He felt his knees start to give out but before he could fall into that pile, a pair of gentle hands caught him. "... Yumeko-San?"
When Itachi returned back to his consciousness, he was laying on his back under the dark sky where endless stars twinkled. There was a presence next to him and Itachi turned his head to look.
It was a young woman. Her long white hair framed her body, glowing in the moonlight. Her blue eyes were radiating a strange glimmer, circled by a silvery ring. Her gentle yet cool hands were moving against his skin – all those momentary descriptions hit him simultaneously: It was Yumetsuki.
"Ah, I see you are awake, Itachi-Kun," Yumetsuki spoke in a gentle voice and she gave him a small smile. "Please continue to lay still. I am fixing the wound on your stomach,"
Nodding slowly, Itachi calmed down and laboured his breaths as a way to let Yumetsuki have an easier time with healing him. He could feel that she had done a very good job at it and before he had realised it, she had carefully stitched the wound close.
In the meantime, Yumetsuki had informed him that they were resting safely within the perimeters of the Land of Fire. And that they were alone as the others were checking the vicinity and getting food.
"I am going to bandage you now, alright?" Yumetsuki informed him softly. "All hurtful things are finished now. Just a little cold ointment and then a soft bandage,"
Even though Itachi had never liked it when people babied him, Yumetsuki had been very gentle. Her smile as reassuring and her touch was soft. Her way of speaking never made him feel like she was arrogant or superior to him even though she had been a Ninja for over a decade even though she was still young.
More than that, it made him feel comfortable. Itachi felt like he could lay there in front of her for an eternity, letting her spread that ointment on his stomach and he could say anything and she just wouldn't judge him at all.
No, Yumetsuki felt like the person who would treat him like a child and explain his questions to him as if he was one, too. Itachi found himself yearning for something like that so he swallowed lightly and decided to give it a try.
"Yumeko-San..." spoke Itachi, turning his dark eyes to look at her face. He heard her hum to show her attention on him. "... you were there that day, right? When I first started Academy,"
"Yes, I was there," Yumetsuki confirmed. "Were you reminiscing about your school days?" Her eyes turned to him. "Or were you feeling uncomfortable about what has become of your dream?"
Even without the use of a Sharingan, Yumetsuki had managed to understand what was ailing him. Itachi felt like this was what made her a great Medical Ninja. And why Shisui seemed so particular toward her.
"... I think a little bit of both," Itachi muttered, a bit embarrassed that he had been figured out so quickly by the older girl. "... but mostly the latter..."
"How about you elaborate a little for me?" Yumetsuki asked. "I would like to know what you are thinking about. Maybe we can even agree on something,"
"About what happened earlier," Itachi said. "Did you want to be here, Yumeko-San?" He had noticed her sorrow. "Being caught in this... entire issue?"
"I have never liked to be part of things that go awry," Yumetsuki admitted. "I have been through such situations far too many times and even this mission, well, I did not want any part in it,"
"Back there... I didn't want to be a part of it either," Itachi said. "I didn't see the point in it..."
"That is why you attempted to spare lives," Yumetsuki said. Itachi looked at her, realising she had figured it out as well. "What you tried to do was admirable, Itachi-Kun,"
"Did I do right?" Itachi asked quietly. "Did I do right by that boy?"
"Well, it does depend on who you ask," Yumetsuki replied. "Some may say that you were cruel. Let me ask you this, Itachi-Kun – is it kindlier to end one's live quickly or to allow them to withhold that moment like you did today?"
Itachi had never thought about it that way and because he had never thought about it before, he had no idea what to reply to her with. He stared at her, "What do you think, Yumeko-San?"
"There is no correct answer, Itachi-Kun," Yumetsuki informed him gently. "What would you think if I told you that I should have been killed sixteen years ago?"
"What are you talking about?" Itachi asked, taken aback by her sudden and strange request. "You... I don't think you should have been – what do you –?"
"The person who took me in, Grandma Chi, thought the same as you," Yumetsuki replied. "But I do not think the same. I wish she would not have saved me. I wish I would have passed away with my parents. What would you answer that with?"
Completely at loss at what she had just told him, Itachi could only gape at her in surprise. But Yumetsuki only smiled at him in response.
"Again, there is no correct answer," Yumetsuki said. "Some may say that it was good I lived because I am now serving others. Others may say that it was bad because I also brought trouble for others. Life, inherently, has no correct answer. You simply have to do what you believe will bring a change – a change that shall be more positive than negative. That is what I believe.
"What happened today is an extension of that. Land of Frost killed Konoha-Nin. We avenged them by killing Frost Ninja. Those people had families, too, and I killed them for the sake of Konoha because they killed for the sake of their land. I hurt and serve – simultaneously. This will continue until conflict exists,"
Hearing this reality from someone like Yumetsuki made Itachi's heart drop. Her voice was not meant to impart such harshness of the world. Her voice should be telling him that everything will be perfect.
"I... I wonder if I am actually getting closer to the dream that I pledged to that day..." Itachi whispered. "I prayed... I prayed with all my heart... that I would become a Ninja so much stronger than anyone else... yet..."
"You want to be freed from this framework of being just another Shinobi, right?" Yumetsuki finished for him knowingly. Itachi looked at her with surprise. "I understand how you feel... I wish that as well, that I could get the chance to walk away from my villages of then and now, from the clans that I have inherited, from the abnormality that is the ANBU... just so I could be free... but is that it?"
Itachi now realised the look that he had seen in Yumetsuki's eyes – it had not been his own grief that he had seen reflecting in the waters of those eyes: Yumetsuki harboured sorrows as well, and those sorrows appeared to resemble his own very much.
"Why do you want to run away?" Itachi inquired curiously. "I never really thought about you having to leave your nation... what about your parents? Do you have any family left...?"
"No," Yumetsuki replied. "I never left my nation; I was taken away by my father before he was killed. Not that I would have liked to stay in Kirigakure. I had witnessed the deaths of my mother's Clan, the Yuki, and... it is not something that you can recover from for the rest of your life. It is too cruel... as for wanting to run away... well... I have never found a place in life. I never belong anywhere...
"There are times when I feel like I am not a Konoha-Nin. I do not look like you and I do not seem to have the same warm drive for life. I have always been outsider, everywhere in this world. And these thoughts that we share... they only further alienate me,"
Alienation, now Itachi understood. He had found the right word to describe what was weighing his heart down. He felt alienated from everyone and everything. He had always wondered if he was the only one – but now, here, in this moment, at least one other person existed that agreed: Yumetsuki.
"I see," Itachi replied. He closed his eyes for a moment, letting out a sigh before opening his eyes to look at the full moon far in the distance. "You have lived longer than me, Yumeko-San. So, what is your biggest regret in life?"
Yumetsuki was silent as she packed up all of her medical equipment, her eyes hidden behind her long bangs. She didn't even look at him, as if there was no one but her there.
"Not being able to save my loved ones," Yumetsuki spoke quietly. "I never got to save any of them. I killed my mother. I was too weak to save my father. I was not there for Grandma Chi or for Minato Sensei, for Kushina-San, for my friends, Nohara Rin... for... Obito..."
What had appeared to start as her attempt to voice out those names to give them some life again finished with almost a pray-like whisper for Yumetsuki.
"Obito?" asked Itachi at once from the distracted girl, not sure if they were talking about the same person. "Are you talking about Uchiha Obito?"
"Hm?" Yumetsuki asked, seemingly have forgotten she was talking to him. "Ah... yes, he was once a teammate of mine, of some sort... we had the same Sensei,"
Itachi stared at Yumetsuki as she finished with packing up but his mind was far away, wondering if Shisui ever knew that there was once a person named Uchiha Obito in Yumetsuki's life. The sheer grief his name brought on in her eyes made Itachi feel suffocated.
However, there was no time for them to continue this conversation because the rest of their team had arrived. Kakashi and Sugaru had checked the location out while Tenzo had fetched some fish.
"You'll be having a treat of a lifetime tonight, Itachi-Kun," commented Kakashi, patting the boy on the back. "Yuren-Chan's going to roast us some wonderful fish,"
Kakashi was being very jovial, Itachi had noticed as he ate the biggest and most delicious fish Yumetsuki had given him for dinner. Never before had Itachi seen such brightness on the face of his squad leader and it had everything to do with the presence of Yumetsuki amongst them.
His dark grey eyes were bright like melting snow as they followed Yumetsuki around their tiny camp. The edges of those eyes were crinkled slightly, showing that he was smiling constantly at her.
It suddenly felt like Kakashi was not a hardened twenty-year-old leader of their ANBU squad – rather, he was like a young boy giddy about having the school's beauty sit next to him in class.
Tonight hadn't been the first time that Itachi had noticed this – more often than not, Kakashi would speak to Yumetsuki in regards to their mission, discuss in detail with her and measure out their chances. He would care for her in such small ways yet in a way that spoke volumes to the other three.
Even as the night fell that evening, Kakashi made Yumetsuki rest first, telling her that she would be the last to keep watch. And he had himself take the first duty of the night, setting his camp next to hers. Perhaps it was for the best, because Itachi could notice the stiffness that Sugaru was showing.
Not once had Sugaru smiled that night but he had scowled whenever Yumetsuki would speak, and even more so when she would speak to Kakashi. Itachi was sure the others had noticed it as well.
Sugaru had been like that the entire mission. He had constantly kept his eyes upon the Ice Ninja, and it seemed like Yumetsuki was not a fan of him either but Itachi couldn't simply ask her about it.
On the other hand, Tenzo also showed a new side to him. Itachi had always thought of him as quiet and distant; he did smile sometimes but never before had Itachi seen him be shy. Yumetsuki treated him kindly as well and Tenzo had smiled shyly throughout the night.
The more he thought about it, the more Itachi understood why Yumetsuki meant so much to Shisui. He wondered, as he fell asleep, how much of this he could mention to him, however.
"You're still awake," Kakashi spoke in a quiet voice as he came to sit down next to Yumetsuki's makeshift bed. "You can rest, you know? I'll take care of everyone,"
"I know," Yumetsuki mumbled. "I have been trying to sleep... I just cannot fall sleep, however,"
"Would you like me to massage your head?" Kakashi asked. He smiled when Yumetsuki nodded silently. "Aren't you something? Whenever you want something, just tell me, Yuren-Chan,"
Yumetsuki pushed herself tiredly to sit so that Kakashi could get all around her head but he pulled her closer so that she could lean against him without a worry about falling back. She let out a sigh, allowing herself to relax as Kakashi gently massaged her scalp.
Kakashi looked at the girl leaning against his chest, his fingers tracing their way around the thick, cool and silky white hair that he loved. But he could feel that she was mentally exhausted.
The rest of their teammates were already asleep, Kakashi could see but he still wished that it had been only the pair of them on this mission. It had been such a long time since he got this chance.
Yet there was nothing that he could do about it – they had different jobs in life now and it was very hard for them to run into each other as they had tonight. Kakashi missed Yumetsuki, who had been a constant in his life for the longest of time yet he felt sorrowful that they were being so impart.
Before Kakashi had realised it, Yumetsuki had fallen asleep against him and he smiled to himself as he let her stay there. He leaned against the tree trunk, wrapping his arms gently around her petite body. He stared at the moon above them, sighing at how complete he felt at that moment.
If there was only a way he could find to
make them stay like this forever.
❄️