Dove

Breathing was hard. He couldn't see straight. His legs shook with the effort of carrying him, slowly as it was… He couldn't go much farther.

His vision tunneled, and just before he lost consciousness, he saw the sun.

XxxXxxX

When he woke up next, he expected to be laying down in the middle of a forest somewhere, with blood spatters everywhere from his failing lungs and burning eyes from his equally failing eyes.

He didn't get what he expected.

The bed was soft, at least. Trying to move was a wasted effort – besides his heavy feeling limbs, he could faintly feel the pressure of bandages compressing his chest, and the slow, soft burning sensation of something coating the skin right under it. The room smelt of herbs and of days long past, when he'd sit in his room surrounded by scrolls, with the scent of his mother's cooking drifting between the floor wood panels.

Wind was constant, soothing to the slight warmth being under the covers brought. Through the noises he could hear, he was still in the same forest he collapsed. Distantly, the sounds of a wind chime happily dancing to the breeze and even farther, the bubbling of running water to complete a peaceful afternoon.

Or maybe morning.

Warming his legs must be the sun. He was left under a window or a veranda. Twitching his feet around to get blood moving was relieving. It meant whatever his mysterious kidnapper was, they didn't sedate him to the point of immobility – but he couldn't feel any pain. Not his eyes (if they were still there, he wouldn't count on them not being stolen) or his lungs. Actually, he could breathe better than he remembered breathing since his early childhood when the disease eating his lungs was discovered.

Relaxing, he allowed himself to fully appreciate the break. He could cycle his chakra, soon, there'd be no traces of sedative left in his system and he'd be able to escape. No need to hurry and alarm his kidnapper (maybe saver?) into finding out he was conscious yet.

"Oh dear, you weren't supposed to be awake yet… why don't you go back to sleep? I'll wake you when the time is right"

Alarm. He tried to jerk, but convulsed instead when a cold ceramic touched his lips and a cool liquid slid in his mouth. A hand pinched his nose. He fought for as long as he could, but in the end, he had to breathe. The concoction forced down on him was swallowed.

It didn't take a second for him to lose his thoughts again. Last thing going through his mind was… "I didn't even hear the footsteps".

…

Light.

There was light.

It pierced into his dreams sharply and was an effective way to jerk him into the waking world.

Discipline had him not showing any outward signs of waking, but he was at least relieved that he was still able to perceive light. It meant he still had his eyes.

He tried to move around and also found that he could. Gaining confidence, his eyes shot open – only to flinch close again when the excess of brightness burned his optics. But it wasn't the kind of burn he was used to.

No.

This kind of pain wasn't the one he felt when his eyes were being eaten from the inside out by the insidious chakra they produced. This kind of pain was of someone who spent a long time in the darkness, and when they finally had light they…

Unbound hands reached to a face that was undamaged and unblemished. Hair a little oily, meant he spent a few days without having it washed – if his captor (savior?) didn't bother to wash his hair as they obviously did his body (He was caked in blood and mud, now he wasn't) then he's been sleeping for four to five days.

Then the fact he wasn't bound. "It means I am not a hostage"

"Then why was I brought here?"

To receive treatment, to be healed? Was he rescued by a good soul who saw his pathetic self collapsed like a corpse in the middle of the forest, covered in grime and coagulating blood (his own and his target's). They saw him lying there and just took him in?

"Rise and shine, I guess" A voice. Like a hammer bearing down into his head and bringing him back into focus. Half unfocused eyes darted toward the place where the voice was coming from, and he was thrown out of mental balance when instead of a senior, advanced healer or maybe a medic nin, he faced a girl, a couple of years older than himself and kissing the cusp of adulthood. "Don't overdo your eyes for a while, they were in pretty bad shape, by the way… dunno how you managed to mangle your corneas so much… unless your hobby is staring straight at the sun… I'd like to advise you not to do it if you want to keep being able to see"

Long black hair fell like a starless night over slim shoulders, framing a pale neck and a pale face. Her face was oval and strangely shaped – the nose was slimmer, smaller with narrower nostrils, the lips, besides being rosy tinted were also smaller and thinner. Large and round eyes, like an owl' were blinking down at him from behind elegant glasses.

Large, mint colored eyes behind glasses.

"I don't… I don't stare at the sun…" He mumbled, only slightly coherently… His thoughts were darkening again as his exhausted body demanded more rest.

"…Obviously…" His ears managed to catch, before being swallowed by obliviousness.

…

The smell of food woke him up next.

The sky was a marine blue, turning purple and then black as night set in. He could even see a few shy little dots that meant stars. A clear night, calm and serene. "The kind of night favorable to assassination jobs" His disturbed mind shot, cleanly shattering his peace as more depressing thoughts came forward. It was a moonless sky.

The smell of food persisted. And his stomach made itself known.

"Supper will be ready soon. Don't worry; you've only slept a few hours" The girl's voice grounded him again. He should pay more attention to his surroundings… this was the third time she's caught him by surprise.

"I…see… thank you"

Because he wasn't completely ungrateful.

And because he was hungry.

"Can you tell me your name? I've been calling you 'mate' all this time… my name is Potaru Mari, but you can call me Mari"

He debated for a moment. It wasn't as if he couldn't trust her – she's kept him alive for five days after all, and she apparently saved him. "Itachi" "Uchiha Itachi, but you don't have to know that" "Of Konohagakure no sato, I am a Jounnin" Nothing that couldn't be discovered by going through his things. His jacket would give away his status above Chunnin.

To his surprise (again!), the girl, Mari, tilted her head, regarded him with those deep viridian eyes and… giggled.

"Ahahah… ahaha sorry… Itachi… ahhah, Its just, this reminds me of an old friend who was a Weasel once, though he was named Dragon"

No honorifics. She wasn't the formal kind. He'd respond to the same level of socialization she showed to him.

"Did she just make fun of my name?"

"Hn… How much longer until I can move?" How much longer until I can return to my Village? Will you keep me here against my will? Hostage? Remuneration? A Prize?

"Soon, maybe two days… I had to regrow your lungs. That is one nasty disease… I can't cure you of it, but if you take this special, um, medicine every day, then it shouldn't be a problem anymore, I expect you to be able to live comfortably until old age"

His mind refused to operate properly right after 'regrow your lungs'.

He was still hungry. But food had to wait while he discussed a few things.

"Just who are you? Why are you helping me?" The girl blinked, surprised by his deeper voice. He was a bed ridden shinobi, she had to understand he was antsy.

"I'm Mari… The village doctor." The first question was promptly answered. "This is a small village quite close to where I found you. Had you walked a little more, you'd have stumbled right into it. I work as a doctor here. These people, they are poor, and I decided to stay and help them however I could." Her face morphed into one of sadness then. "Why I helped you? You are a kid who doesn't even look thirteen yet, and there was so much blood covering your body… You were so sick and damaged, that even now, you don't own me anything for helping you because I did it to sooth my own heart"

That was… Precious.

Mari, the gentle hearted village doctor.

XxxXxxX

As she said, two days later he was up again feeling like he was just newly born again. The air didn't burn his lungs and the light was harmless to his eyes. It was like he was three and chasing butterflies in his family's garden, before his father thoughtlessly dragged him to the middle of a battlefield and his eyes were opened to the darker side of the world he existed.

"Poteru Mari."

Itachi thought, looking back one more time to the mountain where wisps of smoke coming out of the doctor's fireplace was. The tip of a curved roof was faintly visible in the midst of some trees, which brought a strange conflicting within his heart.

"Would it be too bad if I stayed with her?" She was a lonely girl with a golden heart, living atop a mountain and tending to the village sitting at the vale. The village was small, but the surrounding forest camouflaged it well, and the mountains offered another layer of protection. It wasn't that deep within Fire Country, so it was out of the way enough to be ignored by the Daimyo's court.

From what Itachi observed, the small village didn't even had an official name, they were just a couple of farmers and their family surviving day by day without interfering from the outside world. Mari's talents were being wasted there – the more cynical side of him thought – but another, a shade truer to himself was deliberately wondering how good that peaceful life must be, and how much he wanted that to himself.

Labor in the fields, watching what he saw grow into food that would serve his family for another season. To use his hands in menial work, spend his afternoons by the shade of a tree, kiss a wife in the morning and then kiss her by the end of the day again just because he was alive.

So Itachi understood why the doctor "She is not a medic, but a Doctor" would want to abscond herself there, so much talent, so much potential. She was able to cure him, and there she was, adored by the villagers, their precious Mari-sensei.

Where did she come from? Why did she decide to stay there? Just who is she?

The smoke kept drifting lazily from the fireplace. He could still picture it clearly when he closed his eyes. The warm ambers cozily cooking their dinner while she sat close, deep green eyes hovering over him to make sure he was well. The smell of burning wood, coals sometimes still came to his mind clearly as if he was still there, suspicious of her motives and grateful that she helped him.

Now he wanted to come back.

What held him back? If he waited a little longer, he'd be considered KIA and forgotten by Konoha, he could-!

"What about Shisui? What about Danzo? What about Sasuke? What about that man?"

If he left things the way they were, then Konoha would collapse. Sasuke would suffer. Die.

Clenching his fists and banishing thoughts of warm sunlight and the sound of chimes, Itachi turned his back to the mountain and started to run. To Konoha, back to his problems.

When he arrived home, however, he found one little thing that gave him a slight sense of hope - hidden inside one of his many pockets.

Or at least a balm over a sore to mask the true pain beneath it.

A little note. In an elegant pennmenship.

"Come back when you need more medicine.

Mari."

XxxXxxX

"What are we doing all the way up here?" His partner asked. Itachi tempted a look behind his back, piercing his partner with a red, red gaze. Kisame raised his hands in surrender, knowing without really having to be told, that he'd have to keep quiet.

Though Itachi still would have to say something. He was still acting out of the ordinary. "This village has a Doctor who knows how to medicate me" The words were out, hanging heavily on the air. Kisame being Kisame simply nodded, satisfied.

"Alright, I guess it doesn't really matter if we dawdle one day or two, the mission is done with anyway" The blue shark man said, a jagged smile moving his lips. Itachi nodded back, then focused back on his self-imposed task.

"There is no Inn here, stay in Dokumachi for today, I will be back by tonight" The larger village was only a couple of hours away from his goal. Kisame could wait there. It didn't sooth his conscience though. He was still compromising Mari.

"Why do I care if Kisame sees her or not?" It's not like the kind doctor was wanted (he checked). But it wasn't as simple as trusting his partner… Kisame was the one person he knew for sure would never betray anyone… It was just because, while the shark man was his partner and they had a common ground and even acted friendly sometimes, Kisame was even more loyal to Akatsuki.

So, keeping Kisame away from the Doctor was like keeping her away from them. Separating a part of his life he still could associate with peace from the part best described by hell.

"No problem, just don't keep me waiting too long"

With those parting words, Itachi leapted away, carefully masking his presence and hiding his tracks. Kisame would be instantly suspicious and would undoubtfully ask around some. Perhaps the people who lived in Dokumachi have heard of the miraculous doctor from the mountains.

But the blue man wouldn't pry. And that made him valuable as a partner.

It didn't take long for the familiar sight of curling smoke to reach his eyes. There, like a snake slithering silently to the heavens as it ascended. And if he walked a little more, he could see the roof.

She was sitting at the veranda. Nursing a cup of tea while her vivid green eyes searched the skies with a heart breaking longing expression… There was a pain, indescribable pain hidden just under the depths of green and Itachi's heart reacted to it with a familiarity that astounded him.

That longing, that pain. He felt it every hour, every day, every single moment he still lived and still had to live.

Eyes that searched the skies for something she'd never have again no matter how much she wished, longed, reached for.

Family.

"So you came back" The spell of silence was broken by the young doctor. Itachi watched her as she patted the space beside her. "I've been waiting for you a while now"

"She must have thought I was dead" He walked calmly toward her and sat down farther than where she wanted him to. Her eyes went up to his, and his grim expression was answer.

He wasn't here to revive wishes best long forgotten. Wishes of peace and quiet, life, love and family. So he wouldn't waste time with excess pleasantry. As much as the guilt twisted what was left of his heart.

"Hn… I am in need of more medicine"

Just his lungs. Not his eyes that were failing again. Not for the gaping hole deep inside his chest.

That young, oval face just blanketed. As if all emotions were drained away. "I have it ready, just wait a moment."

She left her place, rising with a grace unnoticed in civilians but that must be like a natural phenomenon in her case, and entered her home – only to come out a few minutes later with a package.

"Thank you" He had the grace to say before disappearing from her sight.

"She didn't age a day" A stray thought curved unstopped in his mind. He was now taller than she was three years ago.

It felt like time has stopped on top of her mountain, and he was caught outside of it as the world went on around him and the good doctor was left there. Alone.

He never saw the darkness that crossed her face once he was gone.

…

"If something, anything happens, look for a doctor called Poteru Mari. She lives on top of a mountain close to Cha no Kuni's border. There is a small village in the vale. She will help you"

That's what he told Sasuke.

But it wasn't enough. Never enough. His baby brother wouldn't heed to his words because as soon as his corpse turned cold, Sasuke was already being led by the ears by that man's words.

Itachi could only watch in helpless anger as the one he'd sacrifice everything for simply discarded the wishes that led to his death as if they meant nothing. It was, in some convoluted, distorted way freeing. It meant that in somewhere deep within what was left of his vagrant soul, the obligation he had for Sasuke bent a little out of shape.

It wasn't gone. But it didn't feel as crushing as before.

Relieving.

But worrying.

Sasuke was so easily angered, his eyes shrouded and selfish. A selfish little boy who wanted his perfect world, a world that danced to his music… A father that loved and cherished him… A mother who wasn't as cold, one who wasn't marked by her weakness… a Big brother who'd be there for him, hold his hand and guide him… As flawed as Sasuke was, Itachi still loved him dearly.

His anger meant that once, he was naïve enough to think the dark side of the world would never touch him.

Only there is no black and white. Only shades of grays that blended so well together sometimes, it was hard to tell the difference

"I can still feel pull between what is left of my body and my eyes" The ones he gave Sasuke. Distantly, like an echo, he could hear what sounded like Shisui's laugher. "That's right, I gave your eye to Naruto-kun, didn't I? Is that what you felt?"

So Itachi watched over Sasuke as the boy made mistake after mistake.

And then one day, he's had enough.

The path to the doctor's mountain was burned in his memory now. The smells of the surrounding forest, the species of the birds singing around him and the crunching of the leaves beneath his feet as he walked…

Now there was none of that. The world he lived was gray. Sunless.

But from deep within his mind, the dead man summoned the memories to keep him company.

"There she is… will she be able to see me? Sense me?" He'd just watch her for a moment. Remind himself of why he wanted peace. But in a buried place still burning in slight hope, he wondered if the one doctor who could make him better wouldn't take his pain away and make it better again, like she did so long ago.

Indeed, these she was, sitting in leisure on a wooden chair by what seemed like an herb garden. Hair unbound, it flowed in gentle waves until almost touching the ground. Her glasses were askew, though he could clearly see the shadows created by the fan of lashes resting above a rosy cheek.

"She doesn't look a day older… never mind four years" The random contemplation rose unbidden, catching Itachi's mind and making his eyes stare harder. No signs of age at all. Her gentle face was still the same as the last time he saw her. "She's idealistically beautiful" He realized.

Poteru Mari was living the life he wanted. He wanted that. He wanted her. "Too late"

Death did that to ideals. Made everything 'too late'

"Would you help me if you knew I needed help?" His voice was strained. The idea that she somehow was going to hear what he said was absurd. He was dead. His form was only his troubled and vagrant spirit seeking denouement for a life not very well lived.

But when her jade colored eyes snapped open, and focused directly on his, it was like the whole world tumbled out of its axis and was spinning out of control.

"Hello… It seems someone kicked the bucket" How… uncouth… but there, that whisper of hope just roared louder.

"You can see me?"

The mystery surrounding the doctor just grew.

Whoissshe?
Whatisshe?
Wheredidshecomefrom?

"Yeah, always been able to see ghosts" A hand was waved carelessly. "Part of the reason I live up here… those who die with unfinished business, if they cannot accept their deaths, they become ghosts…" Outside these mountains, there are hundreds of old battlefields. Lots and lots of ghosts to haunt the good doctor. "I am one of them, aren't I?" No wonder she's hidden up here where the very air surrounding the village breathed life.

Guilt. Had he the right to perturb her peace? He didn't really count on the doctor being able to see him. Now… however… a new idea was born.

"Part of the reason?"

"I am tired of war" Voice as light as a breeze. Her posture changed on that chair as her eyes became distant.

But it was just for a second, maybe even less than that. He was tired of war too.

Shades of green swiveled on him again. "Why did you come here? You don't think I'm the cause of your death, do you?" Never. She saved him.

Clucking, Itachi shook his head, floating his ethereal body closer to Mari and settling on a spot to her left, so he could share with her the sight of the setting sun just starting to paint the mountains gold.

"I don't" Rose colored lips parted. He saw the faint outlines of a smile. "I was just saying goodbye I suppose"

"But?" "She sees right through me" Her face cleared. "You didn't count on me being able to see you"

"Hn"

"And now you want a favor" Even completely aloof, she managed to make him weak.

"That'd be correct"

"Why don't you just go to the afterlife like you're suppose to?" He knew the question was coming. "I owe it to her, an explanation… if she agrees to help; she'd have to know to be prepared"

"My whole name is Uchiha Itachi, and for me, this all started fourteen years ago just as the Third Shinobi War was being finished…"

XxxXxxX

Pull.

Resist.

Pull.

Resist.

PULL!.

Last thing he saw, was her wide green gaze looking as he disappeared right in front of her, being tugged by one of his earthly connections.

When he woke next, he swore, someone would pay.

"I can't interfere" She said. "My fate cannot intertwine with those belonging to this time, my time has long passed, I only exist as a shade now"

"One of the reasons you're alone in these mountains" He deduced, a heavy feeling swelling in his stomach. As ghost, ringing of wrongness himself, he could see her words as the truth.

"Yeah. I'm way older than what you think I am. I am something of a time long past. I saw history write itself before my eyes and I couldn't do anything to help. I walk the land when it changes too much, but I can't change it myself anymore"

A Riddle. Her words were to mean she was ghost just like he was now.

"Then why did you help me that first time?" Why did she cross their fate?

"Because no matter what I do, the ending is going to be the same… I might have helped you then, lessened your pain, but your fate is immutable by my hands. In my experience, only one who is chosen by fate can change it."

The name grated, unstoppable this time, a force of nature. Uzumaki Naruto.

"Am I doomed to live in this hell? Is there no salvation?" Between two things. He'd go to the real hell and accept the punishment whatever deity had in store for him, or he'd be given the chance to repent for his mistakes and finally set Sasuke on the right path.

"I'm sorry… You asked my help, but I can't really do anything besides being here. Always here." Her voice broke. "If you find yourself free from fate, come back"

It was as clear as the now starry sky above them that she was Lonely. So very lonely.

…

The only comforting thing was that deep inside, he knew she was there, on top of that mountain, watching over the world as it passed her by.

XxxXxxX

Itachi was there, floating by the clif' stone face. There were others with him. Some painfully familiar faces, others not so much, it didn't matter; they all had one thing in common.

They were all ghosts, bearing witness to the struggle their living counterparts had to go through to make the world a better place. Wishing, praying, hoping that their loved ones wouldn't join them in the afterlife.

When things came to an end, a bittersweet feeling began to swirl like an undercurrent inside his chest. I was all over. "Uzumaki Naruto saved us"

Sasuke and Naruto laying side by side missing opposite arms. Unknowingly being spied by other hundreds pair of eyes.

"He did it, he really changed fate" Nagato whispered somewhere to his right, one of his eyes was darkened to the point where it seemed the orb ate light itself. "I did the right thing believing in him"

A couple of ghosts nodded. None of them wanted their sacrifice to be in vain. Seeing all the pain they went through mean something, anything good was uplifting, and their numbers was going down as many more fallen ones finally received justification and penance.

"He's an Uzumaki, 'ttebane!" Kushina grinned largely, standing beside her husband who has returned to the dead properly. Being used as a puppet? Horrible. Being forced to exist as an abomination? Even worse. So Itachi understood the shadows that crossed over the older blonde's eyes every so often.

It was something reflected in every pair of eyes that belonged to those who were victims of the Impure World Resurrection.

"He never accepted that fate existed" A Hyuuga boy mumbled to himself. He's been brooding beside the cocoon where the other Hyuuga girl – the living one – was trapped in. But now that she was safe, he's come to watch the Legacies' fight. "Wrote his own destiny, that's Uzumaki Naruto"

"'Wrote his own destiny' Is it possible? Even when I am dead, can I change my fate?"

The sea of souls dwindled even more, pulled by the Shinigami's wishes once their hearts were free. Nagato and Konan were already gone. Soon, Itachi was one of the few still lingering, still waiting for something.

"I'm sorry… You asked my help, but I can't really do anything besides being here. Always here." Her voice broke. "If you find yourself free from fate, come back"

That voice rung from his memories. The doctor knew something about fate, didn't she?

Time to find out if he was able to break free from his fate.

…

"So you're Poteru Mari-sensei?" A pink haired woman asked, leaning over the balcony and finding the brilliant green eyes that belonged to said doctor she came to visit.

"That'd be me, yeah" The raven haired girl didn't look like much… She was short, younger looking than Sakura and didn't seem as if she's had 'extra' training. "How can I help you?"

Sakura smiled politely. Just a few years ago, the young doctor came to Konoha as it was rebuilding, seeking a new home for herself. She claimed she was a Doctor, not a Medic, and their background check came up positive. Mari-sensei was a very well-known doctor in Tea Country, her reputation of being able to work miracles preceding her steps.

Konoha opened its doors for the young looking doctor readily, swallowing her up and promptly giving her a lot of space to build her home and clinic in.

"I heard about the pregnancy tonics you have, and I'm really interested in them" Being a medic herself, Sakura was knowledgeable about herb lore – and Mari's remedies and potions were beyond everything she's ever seen. It was as if the green eyed doctor stepped right off another world with her unorthodox but wonderfully effective practice.

Light lit behind those unfathomable green eyes. She had to use a trick like Tsunade-sama did to appear so young even after the years she's been in the village. But the smile that thin pink lips stretch so widely made Sakura's heart thump warmly.

"Of course! That pink bottle over there, by the fourth shelf"

The medic smiled again as she found the described bottle. There was liquid inside, and since the lid was sealed, she wouldn't be able to smell it.

"This will be all" Sakura said, handing the right amount of money and waving goodbye to the nice doctor. Mari was really a good person, always smiling and playing with the children, she was a little lonely, but Sakura wouldn't pry.

Not when she was a little lonely herself.

But not for long. Her brain spurred. A surge of happiness and excitement bubbling strongly, surpassing the waves of grief and anger and loneliness…

I'm going to be a mom!

Maybe when her baby was born, Sasuke would stay more often. Maybe they could finally be a family.

Maybe.

…

"Go inside her"

"Why?"

"She's pregnant, you can be with your brother again, have a family again, she's going to be a good mother"

"What about the baby' soul? Isn't it going to be lost if I take its place?"

"No… Because she has twins, one of them didn't get a soul yet, so it's not likely it's going to happen… If its born without a soul the little one will not be born alive"

"Is it really possible?"

"If it wasn't, I'd not have suggested in the first place"

"…"

He went. Finding that little niche inside the womb that screamed of a gaping hole, just begging to be filled… The doctor has been right. There was no soul inside the developing fetus, it wouldn't have survived long even had it been able to live beyond its birth.

Just behind him was another little seed, a twin brother or sister, he couldn't tell, only that a love he couldn't describe was already blossoming in his being for this other creature that was going to be born alongside him.

Once more he left the doctor behind. Though.

Once more he didn't stay long enough to see the crushing loneliness dying her eyes a darker shade of green.

XxxXxxX

"You have a crush on Mari-sensei!" His sister taunted. His cheeks colored, but he refused to meet her eyes. She was right. Not that he'd admit it though.

"Do not" The mumbled words passed his lips. Ever since he met her, the pair of deep green eyes haunted his thoughts. Even before ever seeing her, the dream about a distant mountain where a doctor who could heal anything lived pursued his sleeping mind.

There was a mysterious power surrounding Mari-sensei, one of his mom's friends. He was attracted to her. There was nothing more to it.

"You do too! You go visit her every time! I bet she thinks you're annoying" Sarada was now being mean. Their mom heard that last comment though, and lashed out with a hand to slap the back of his twin's head.

"Mari-sensei doesn't think Hato-kun is annoying, stop teasing your brother"

"Fine!" The ten years old huffed. Hato smiled. If he wanted to, he could be mean back, but that wouldn't be nice. Sarada had a massive crush on Boruto and it wasn't a secret to anyone that she's took to stalking him around in her helpless love. Everyone knew Boruto never even noticed her before!

And then, there was Mari-sensei.

Hato swore to himself. One day, when he was old enough, he'd make those shadows vanish from her eyes. He'd make her smile that brilliant smile of hers more often. He'd make her happy the way she made him…

"Wait… where did that thought come from?"

Shrugging, Hato skipped out of his home before his mom could rope him into another chore. He heard Sarada's half strangled scream but didn't care.

As he ran through the busy streets, all he could think of was the happy face of Mari-sensei when her green eyes met his, like they were old friends coming together once more.

XxxXxxX

THE END!

NOTICE! Only read if you want finer details..

Just a few explanations. Mari is Fem!Harry, she's immortal and has been existing for a very long time before Itachi came along. They meet, Itachi gets fond of the idea of what a life with someone like her means, and soon he grows to love her thanks to that idea. He dies by Sasuke's hand, becomes a spirit, and visits Mari where she explains a few things. Then a little after, he gets pulled by the Edo Tensei and then the story follows cannon. When it's all over, Itachi figures he could beat his fate and goes looking for Mari again. They return to Konoha, where Mari wouldn't be so lonely though she's come to depend on Itachi to keep her company. He doesn't really realize what he means to her since he's put her on top of a pedestal…

Sakura visits one time, pregnant with Sarada and a lifeless twin… Mari feels an opportunity and guides Itachi to occupy that twin's place and grow up in a loving family, with a supporting mother and a sister who is his equal. Only he forgets about his old life, and Mari knew he would – she sacrificed their connection so he'd be happy. But Hato (Itachi) still feels that connection to Mari, and isn't willing to let her go.

In the end, both get what they want. Mari gets company and Itachi gets Mari.

I hope this clears a couple of details that might be hard to catch! (In my head, this all made sense, but I'm sure not everyone'd think the same as I)

Deleted Scene… Or a scene I thought of that was discarded thanks to errant ideas…

Scene: I thought I'd do this one in Sasuke's POV, but changed my mind when I wrote it, and felt continuing the story purely in Itachi's POV would be more interesting. Since I typed the scene, I decided to keep it, so it gave birth to this corner… It happens right after Itachi's angsty second parting from Mari. Sasuke was supposed to meet her, instead of Ghost!Itachi going.

(…It felt like time has stopped on top of her mountain, and he was caught outside of it as the world went on around him and the good doctor was left there. Alone.

He never saw the darkness that crossed her face once he was gone.

…

"If something, anything happens, look for a doctor called Poteru Mari. She lives on top of a mountain close to Cha no Kuni's border. There is a small village in the vale. She will help you"…)

What kind of person was this woman, if Itachi was directing Sasuke to her?

Sasuke caught himself wondering more than once what could this doctor have ever done to his brother to warrant such trust, such respect. But there he went, alone, to check upon this lead his lost big brother left him.

He walked for what felt like an eternity through the arm of land that connected Tea Country's peninsula to Konoha, divided by a mountain range on that side, so it wasn't as if finding the one Itachi described was too hard.

A vale. Rustic, not cloddish. In a homely setting that seemed more fit to belong in a far away dream.

There was a well, and well maintained paths leading from it to all the homes. Farming fields being busily worked on by men decorated the horizon for as far as the eyes could see. Near a channel, green rice fields that were being tended to by rough women who lovingly cultivated their lands. Children ran between paths, laughing, giggling, living.

Just like stepping inside a picture, being doused in ice cold water at the same time.

This was just the type of place where Itachi would have liked to settle down. The simple life, repetitive routine, day after day watching as the sun set and waking up again as it rose bringing a new day.

That doctor, she lived here. Here. As in, in this paradise in his brother's eyes.

And just like that, Sasuke thought he understood a little more of Itachi's reasons for directing him here.

And so Sasuke walked the path through the village that obviously led to the mountain house he could see distantly.

"Don't worry about it, if you have plenty of rest and drink a lot of water, you should be fine" The voice was soft, comforting. It belonged to a girl maybe a little older than Sasuke himself. Her features were foreign and exotic, but what caught the young ronin's attention were her eyes.

"Thank you Mari-sensei. I will make sure to remember he drinks water" The old couple who was consulting with the doctor was about to leave. So the dark haired teenager hid a little longer. "This is the Mari nii-san was talking about"

"I dun' need t' be babied, baba" The man frowned, teasing in his eyes. "We'll send t' kids up with sum' o' our rice later"

The doctor nodded, kind smile in place. She loves what she does. Taking care of people. Sasuke could see it reflected in her eyes. She loves them.

Once the old couple was gone, the doctor's voice rang out.

"You can come out now"

Sasuke's face turned stony.

Time to face the good doctor.

...

Thoughts?