Hello, hello, hello. I know it's been ages since I last updated. Let's just say graduate school, family, and a lot of other crap got in the way, and I just couldn't commit to this story like I was able to in the past. And I know I never officially announced a hiatus. I should have, and I apologize for leaving my dedicated readers on hold like that. I'm back with a new chapter that picks up right where the last left off. This chapter isn't super long, and not a lot of huge moments happen since I'm just getting back into it, but I wanted to ground Kokoa a bit. She did end up at Akatsuki. And I wanted to work on her a little. I know in the past, especially the very early chapters, she was a little whiny and too submissive (I think that's the word I'm looking for). She can love and do all of these things for Itachi, but she needed a little bit of a confidence boost. So I'm hoping to build her back up in the new chapters.

Also, there's a fight scene that isn't the best, but it does the job I need it to, and I did borrow some things from a very similar fight in the anime, soooo if it sounds familiar, that's because it is. I just wanted to get things rolling with this chapter and see where it leads to. I would love to keep updating, even if it's only once a month. I will be slow, but it would be nice to finish this story. We'll see how far it goes. Will Sasuke get to Itachi? Will Itachi actually die? Will Kokoa have to deal with edo tensei and the war and all the mess that follows? I'd love some feedback and to hear from everyone on where they think it might go or what they'd like to see. Thank you very much!

"I need you to do something, Itachi," Kokoa said when she stepped into the room.

"For what?" he asked. He rolled on his mattress, turning away from the spot on the wall to look at her.

"For me," she said. "And for you. In a way."

"What?"

"I need you to suppress my power. Seal it. Something. It's driving me crazy."

"You've spent all this time bragging you can read people's hearts, and now you want it no more?"

"Not that ability. The mind reading. I thought my kekkei genkai let me see a person's truth. I thought it varied among my family. I didn't think I'd inherit my father's power, too," she said. "I can't sleep. All I hear are whispers whipping in my head. Feels like cotton in my ears. And it's only getting worse. If you suppress this power, I can get some peace, and you won't have to worry about me trying anything with you. You could have some peace, too."

"And you think it's easy to suppress a bloodline limit? Something you're born with. Something your own father couldn't even figure out, according to you," he said. Kokoa didn't say anything at first, biting at the inside of her cheek.

"My father was strong, Itachi, but even I'll admit that when it comes to ability, few rival the sharingan," she said. "If anyone could help me with this kekkei genkai, it's you, and you know it."

"I suppose it works it out," Itachi said after a moment of silence.

"What do you mean?" Kokoa asked. She took a seat on her bed.

"Our leader, Pain, wishes to see your abilities for himself," he said. "If we suddenly have to move or take action, he wants to know what you can do and how you can be used if battle ensues."

"So what's going to happen?"

"You're going to have to face off against someone. Knowing Pain, that someone might be me," he said. Kokoa exhaled loud.

"Unless he wants to mix things up. I don't know what he's planning. I won't kill you," Itachi said. "Not now. Pain would throw a fit."

"I'll be sure to thank him," Kokoa said with a forced smile.

"But if you stay in line and do as I say, I'll seal your power temporarily like you asked," he said. "This won't be a silly sparring session like the old days, Kokoa. You will be pushed, and when you hit your limit, that's when I can cast the seal. I'll tell Pain it'll help me keep you in check, which it will. You've made it this far and into Akatsuki of all places. I suppose you've earned it." He laughed at her in the end.

"You think you'll push me to my limit?" she asked.

"I know I will."

"Do me another favor, Itachi, and don't play games the whole time. I broke out of your Tsukuyomi once. Don't make me do it again." She headed for the door. "Thank you for helping."

#

Kokoa kept to herself. She'd talked big, huffed and puffed when she first arrived, demanded to see Itachi, but now the smoke had settled, and no one in Akatsuki had the patience or interest. Much to her surprise, Kisame seemed to tolerate her most. Of course, she had no idea how invested he was in her story with Itachi and how he watched his partner squirm all these years. Deidara's short fuse, though entertaining, was dangerous. She dared not cross Hidan or Kakuzu, not with Hidan going off about his sacrifices and Kakuzu's urge to turn her in for the money. She didn't know a thing about Pain and Konan, only that they were committed to their cause and would pursue it regardless of the cost. And she wondered if anyone else saw through Tobi's act, felt his terrible presence when he watched them behind the mask.

Much of the confidence she had built up during her time in Sunagakure had left her. Out in the world, in Akatsuki, she wasn't special. If it weren't for her father, there was nothing to Kokoa but a kekkei genkai no one knew anything about. And it saddened her, because she'd spent all her life fighting, desperate to catch up to Itachi. When the realization hit, she understood Sasuke's struggle. All the work. All the tears. The bitterness, the guilt, the envy. All for what? To sit useless and afraid at the mercy of Akatsuki? To beg and grovel at Itachi's feet as though they were never lovers or equals?

"No." Kokoa said, sitting off on her own. "No." She'd survived. She made it this far for a reason, her fate tied to Itachi's from the very beginning. Back then, he had all the control, but now, he was losing it, and the more she saw him, the nights spent together in silence, she felt that control slip from him. It drove her crazy, why he held on so desperately. It upset her, the notion that perhaps he couldn't trust her with the truth. It angered her, that after everything, he claimed he didn't owe her anything.

She needed to understand her abilities. She needed to understand herself. She needed to survive in a world that sat on the brink of war. So Kokoa decided to stop her begging. Itachi's truth would escape soon. It would rip from his chest and free them both. And once it did, Kokoa would save him from Akatsuki, from Sasuke, and from his own darkness. She would save them both.

#

Kokoa bit at her lip, anxious about her battle, wanting to impress Pain and Konan so they'd keep her around. She was rested and nourished and as focused as she could be with the way her heart thumped and thoughts raced. Like Itachi said, it wasn't going to be like the old days. Pain had chosen her opponent, a showman, an artist. He wanted to see Kokoa in the heat of battle, not playing mind games with Itachi. He did agree to let Itachi cast some form of seal on her at the end. Why risk letting her gather and run off with Akatsuki information? Why not let Itachi have that control if he wanted it so bad?

The more enemies Kokoa faced over the years, the more her own choices as a shinobi made sense to her. She was defense. Move and dodge. Read. Gather information. Hit at the perfect moment.

She widened her stance, bent her knees, and eyed her surroundings.

"I've seen her before when she came after the Ichibi Shukaku, but not enough to know how she fights." Kokoa was able to pick out Deidara's thoughts from the mix in her head.

"Oi, you're not stuck up like your Uchiha boyfriend are you?" he asked and pointed a finger at her.

"I don't have his fancy eyes," she said.

"Good. Guys like that piss me off, yeah."

"I know what you mean." She grabbed a kunai from her side.

"Let the games begin, hm!"

Kokoa threw the weapon at him. One thing she learned from sparring with Itachi and Shisui, it was important to know how the enemy moved. When the kunai zoomed towards Deidara, Kokoa did, too, a chakra blade in her fist. Deidara leapt out of the way, putting distance between them once again.

"You're fast," he said. "I told Itachi a while back that things weren't going to be pretty if I had to opportunity to take you on. After the shit you and your Konoha friends pulled to save the Kazekage and all. Sasori was a good guy, you know."

"You know this isn't personal," Kokoa said. "I've got no choice. And Konoha isn't my friend. Not anymore."

"You came here. It's a little your choice." He stuck his hands into the pouches strapped to his hips, his hands kneading the clay inside. Kokoa watched him, sensing he didn't want to kill her. Aside from the conflict during Gaara's rescue, there was no real grudge between them. At least for Deidara there wasn't. He was curious more than anything. Excited to show off.

He threw up his arms, launching pellets of clay her way. Kokoa destroyed some and dodged the others. She jumped up into a tree before he detonated the bombs. Getting to him wouldn't be easy. He was a long-range fighter. And Kokoa, too, liked to keep her distance until she was sure of an attack.

"There's got to be more to her than speed and dodging," she heard him think. "That's why I'll watch her for a while."

"I won't give anything away if all you're going to do is watch me from over there," Kokoa said. Deidara leapt down, extended his arms, and from the palms of his hands launched coils of clay the rolled and bubbled before him, slowly morphing into creatures with arms and legs that ran towards Kokoa. He remembered a conversation, something Itachi had revealed not too long ago.

All Akatsuki members still stood, focusing on extracting Shukaku. Itachi and Kisame had fully returned not too long ago.

"Itachi, brief us on the enemy's numbers and any special abilities they have."

"Hai." He met Pain. "They're moving in a five-man cell consisting of Sunagakure's senior council member, Chiyo, as well as Konohagakure's Hatake Kakashi, Haruno Sakura, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki Uzumaki Naruto, and...Kuroki Kokoa." Sasori flinched at Chiyo's mention. And Pein's eyes widened the slightest bit in surprise upon hearing Kokoa's name.

"Kuroki?" Kakuzu said with a tilt of his head, taking a moment to remember the name. Sasori also showed interest. Itachi met Pain's gaze yet again, knowing he already had Zetsu do his research. There was no point in lying or avoiding the subject. He turned away.

"Ah," Itachi said. "Kuroki Akihiko's daughter, Kokoa has inherited the kekkei genkai,

able to read people much like her father could."

"I knew that name. Akihiko, hu?" Kakuzu eyed Itachi. "So she's the one…"

"She's always excelled in tai-jutsu, praised by and sometimes even compared to that of Konoha's own Maito Gai. She is extremely quick and light on her feet, does fairly well with nin-jutsu, and though she is weakest in gen-jutsu, Kokoa has mastered countering it, even my own sharingan. She has a large chakra reserve, and while she may not know it now, has the potential to become something feared like her father."

"Let's see what you do," Deidara said. His clay creatures attacked. Kokoa stood her ground and let them engage her. Tai-jutsu was her strength, after all. She moved. Quick. Dodged. Punched. But soon, Kokoa noticed the clay absorbed her hits, swallowed her fists and kicks. She needed more, so she went back to the chakra, concentrating amounts at her fists and feet to hit hard and jump high. Chakra control was something Kokoa always excelled in, but she rarely implemented it in battle this way, side-by-side with tai-jutsu, so clean and efficient. She had honed the skill during her time in Suna.

"Keep fighting," Deidara thought. When Kokoa cut through one creature, it regenerated and multiplied, and soon, she was surrounded. She began to wonder why he'd let it go on like that for so long, and then –

"Bombs." She retreated quickly before Deidara set them off. They went on like that, Deidara trying to distract her. Deidara sending guided missiles. Deidara hoping she wouldn't notice the little bits he'd set up to set off like land mines when she least expected it. And Kokoa was growing tired of dodging and frustrated that she couldn't reach him. She did have one idea, however, to get close. Give him what he wanted.

When Deidara sent multiple winged clay forms spiraling towards her, Kokoa waited. She didn't move. At the very last moment, she performed the seals for a wind style jutsu she'd also picked up in Suna. Now that she was calmer, level headed, and not so wrapped up in saving Gaara or finding Itachi, she could fight well. She could think.

The air spun all around her, catching Deidara's explosives in its current and sending them back towards him. When the explosives her jutsu couldn't catch detonated, she used the smoke as a cover, left a substitution to take the hit, and she herself appeared behind Deidara. She cut the bags of clay from his waist. She drove a spear of chakra through his palms. She had a blade to his neck.

"Gen-jutsu?"

"No," Kokoa said, "it's not." It was all very real. She was real. And so was the fatigue. Itachi, who had been observing with Pain from a distance, furrowed his brow. Kokoa huffed and puffed at all the chakra she'd expended, but with his sharingan, he saw another store lurking inside of her.

It flared every now and then, in high emotion, but Kokoa didn't know. She didn't know it was there when she and the others found Sasori and Deidara with Gaara's body.

"Where. Is. Uchiha Itachi?" She stepped forward. Deidara pouted at her boldness. "Itachi-san!" she shouted. "Are you here? Are you hiding from me again! Did I get too close? Did I see something?"

"Are you mad? He's not here," Sasori said. "He left us to finish the job."

"I highly doubt that."

"And why is that?"

"Because he said he would be the one to kill me. If I die, it's by his hand, not yours."

"Some nerve for such a little girl. Still, I wouldn't mind adding your pretty face to my collection."

"Kokoa," Kakashi scolded, grabbing her by the arm. "Stand down. You're in no position to talk to them like that."

"I have every right. Itachi is playing games again, and now they've gone and killed my friend." She stomped a foot, and chakra, deep grey, clung to her for a moment before dissipating.

And she didn't know when Itachi confronted her, Kakashi, and Chiyo. When he had her stuck in a gen-jutsu on the sidelines before catching her in his Tsukuyomi

"Itachi-san, above you!" Kokoa shouted. "Above you! Look!" But no one paid any attention. No one heard her, silenced by the genjutsu. "Naruto, stop! Please!" It went on like that for a few minutes, Naruto and Kakashi launching attack after attack, Kokoa calling out to Itachi to no avail. It wasn't until Kakashi charged with another attack and she noticed Naruto waiting for his cue that Kokoa broke. She shut her eyes, focused, and with everything in her, emitted a large flow of chakra, more than she thought she was capable of, enough to dispel the genjutsu.

"So why isn't she using it?" Pain asked, also aware.

"She doesn't know about it," Itachi said. "And every time she's been pushed, every time it's tried breaking through, she was pressured emotionally. Perhaps the chakra literally needs to break out of her."

"Deidara's gone on long enough." Pain let Deidara know it was over. He turned to Itachi again. "What are you waiting for?"