I walked outside of the tent, needing air to think. Moving my legs hurt after all the butt kicking that I did earlier that day. The area we were camping in was surrounded by woods. The brisk air was helping ease my muscle pain to an extent. It was a little bit easier to think clearly with the cold keeping me conscious. The breeze hinted at frost, meaning that the beginning of winter was approaching. I could see my breath in front of my face. The shadows moved in fluid motions with the wind. Leaves crunched under my feet. Despite how far away I got from camp, the feeling of Itachi's presence stayed with me. Maybe it was because of the scar in my mind. Surely he hadn't followed me this far out of the village.

I walked around 200 feet into the forest and stopped, deciding that this was as much privacy as I was ever going to get. I leaned my head against a tree in front of me. Ceiro had to be wrong. If he was right that meant that I'd have to actually think about what I felt for Itachi.

What did I feel for Itachi?

He killed his family. Why?

He nearly killed me. Why?

He hated war. He hated bloodshed. The only way he'd ever kill anyone on our missions was if he knew 110% that it would stop bloodshed. How did killing his clan stop bloodshed? If what I knew about Itachi was correct there had to be a way that the massacre stopped even more suffering than it created. But if that was true and he had to kill his clan, why kill my parents? Why kill me?

.05

A cold breeze hit me as I finally allowed myself to accept that he didn't try to kill me. He made it look like he was trying to kill me. I tried to deny it for weeks, but I knew that it was the truth. He used the same tactics on kill missions when he didn't want to kill. Shivers ran down my spine. Why would he want to make it look like he tried to kill me?

Why would he want to make it look like he was trying to kill anyone? That answer was simple. His mission was to kill the person, but he didn't want to. Who would give him a mission to kill me? Akatsuki? Then why were they trying to recruit me? No, it couldn't have been them; I'd be dead if it was them, besides, Itachi hadn't even fallen on their radar until after the massacre.

The massacre. Why would he leave Sasuke alive? Sasuke… he might have overheard something… but he wasn't a part of Itachi's reason for killing his clan was. Itachi couldn't bear to kill his own brother. It wasn't in him. Even if Sasuke was a part of it, Itachi couldn't kill the things he loved. Did those things include me?

I let my forehead fall a tree, producing a soft thud, hoping that answers would magically fall on my head. Despite my profuse wishing, they did not. All I got was an ear splitting headache. I sighed. My body was practically begging me to go and rest. It took a few minutes more of me standing in silent, angered confusion before I obliged. I turned back towards the camp.

A pair of deep onyx eyes met mine. There was a tragically sad look in the dark eyes; one that I could never understand. Itachi.

I couldn't force my body to reach for a weapon. He wasn't stopping me from grabbing for them; it was my own mind that refused to let me hurt him. Somehow I knew that he wouldn't move if I tried. My entire body was trembling, but not in fear. That look in his eyes, it was so full of emotion. Emotion that I had only dreamed of seeing from him again.

His eyes weren't red. He wasn't using his Sharingan. Was this a trap? Chills ran down my spine as my forest green eyes met his. This wasn't the look of a man who wanted to trap anyone; this was a look of pain and desperation.

There was liquid beginning to form in the corners of his eyes. I could only imagine what he was reliving. I wanted to let him know that everything was going to be okay, but I knew it wasn't. Nothing would ever be okay. We both knew that. I could feel the liquid in my own eyes as well. Here I was, mourning the loss of our future, me and a mass murderer; me and my worst enemy; me and the love of my life.

In that moment all I wanted to do was pretend that everything would be okay. I knew that it wouldn't be, but I couldn't help myself. This moment could be perfect. We could pretend like nothing ever happened, just for a day, just for a minute.

"I-Itachi," I whispered quietly. My arm ached to reach out for him, but I caught it. There was always the slight possibility of a trap. I had to watch myself. Some part of him seemed to register that I was calling him. His expression came to be that of a confused child. It was as though he couldn't make sense of the fact that I would ever say his name. That was probably the same look I wore when I saw his face, his eyes for the first time. This was no murderer standing before me, this was my Itachi. My love.

He brought his hand up slowly to my cheek. The second he touched me, the little piece of will and sense that I had left crumbled to dust. Tonight my fight was completely gone. I could no longer resist anything. I had cracked. Tomorrow I'd be fine, but tonight I couldn't be strong anymore. His touch was so gentle, caring. I fell straight into it without a second thought. This was where I belonged.

"Kiyomi," he said quietly. A tremor ran through my body when he spoke my name. I waited three years to hear him say my name in that tone just once more. He stepped forward, leaning down so that his forehead was resting on mine. His eyes closed, enjoying this moment as much as I was. He took a deep breath and his eyes scrunched together as though he was in pain. "I'm so sorry," he whispered. His breath flew gently across my lips. A small tear landed on my cheek. Itachi didn't cry. He wouldn't show that kind of weakness, that kind of emotion.

I could feel the pain in his words flow through his body. His eyes were still closed. He didn't want to open them, to look at me. I leaned towards him. My lips brushed his gently, as a sign of forgiveness. This seemed to surprise him. His eyes opened in shock. The first time I've seen such a pleasant form of shock on his face in three and a half years.

"I-I" he stuttered, not knowing what to say. The great and mighty Itachi was at a loss for words. He had expected me to hate him for what he did to me. I couldn't hate him. I tried, but I just couldn't. He suddenly pressed his lips against mine, much more passionate than the first time. I kissed him back. This kiss was filled with deeper meaning and emotion. It held sadness, mourning, joy, forgiveness, and understanding. The most significant of all of the emotions in that kiss was the strong mutual love we felt for one another, something we could never un-feel.

I remembered the last time we kissed. His lips fit mine perfectly. I pulled him closer, trying to keep myself together. I was so overcome that I felt like I could fall to pieces at any moment. I loved this man.

When we finally released each other's mouth we were both surprised at how close we were. There was no space between us. The restraints of our poisonous bind had been released to allow our emotions to pour through to us. His hands were placed securely against my lower waist. My fingers were tangled in his hair.

Itachi looked as though he was contemplating something incredibly difficult. "Look up file 2196 and 2197 in the council files," he said finally. "They explain everything."

I nodded. I would have been happy to never move from this position. I was at peace, as was he. This world was truly cruel. We were both happy here, but because of what it had done we could not be together. I leaned my head against his chest and closed my eyes. His warmth against my body combated the cool breeze. It was an amazing feeling, having him this close again. "Don't leave," I whispered. "Not yet."

I could feel him breathing softly into my hair. His grip on me tightened in response. As quickly as I could blink we were in front of a beautiful waterfall. I recognized it as a semi-hidden place in Konoha. I looked up at him, not even needing to ask my question. "Your poison, it enhanced the Uchiha abilities," he explained.

"I guess it's not all bad then is it?" I asked, half jokingly. This poison was wretched, but it has saved my life on countless occasions.

"No," Itachi agreed. "After a while it's tolerable."

"I know," I replied. "It has more than just one benefit. Aside from me you seem to be the only other person able to access its perks."

Itachi's lips twitched softly. "I feel special," he said sarcastically.

"You should," I replied. "Most people can't handle this amount of pain for this long, it eventually destroys their body. You should let me take it back."

"No," Itachi replied. "It doesn't hurt that much anymore."

I was sure I looked as confused as I felt. The poison normally crippled people to the point of insanity. He was behaving like I did to it. Maybe… maybe the poison reacted differently with different people. Or maybe my body knew I loved him and let off a different type of poison. The last hypothesis felt right. My body knew how I felt before I did.

"Do you know what it is?" he asked.

"No," I replied, "but I'm getting closer to figuring it out."

Itachi's soft smile returned. "I take it that your Kekkai Genkai has grown from just tracking data from a clone to its owner," he observed. "I expected you to strengthen it, but telekinesis was the last thing I was expecting."

"Me too, but once the black chakra activated I found that a whole new world was opened to me," I explained. He was not my enemy, not tonight. I didn't feel like they could ever truly be enemies again.

Itachi let go of me for the first time in ten minutes and sat down on the ground, leaning against a large tree. He had a distant look in his eyes that I always hated to see. It seemed as though I had grown to hate it even more now, because I knew what he was thinking about. He looked up at me, staring for a long minute. "How could you ever forgive me," he asked. "I never thought it was possible, even with the answer. But here you are, trusting me on blind faith and instinct alone."

"I think, deep down, this part of me was always here, it just needed a little coaxing to bring it out," I replied, sitting on my knees opposite him. "You have my 'weak looking' partner to thank for that." I copied the words in his letter.

The corners of his mouth moved upwards, hinting at a smile. When we were children he'd laugh at his notes that he wrote in childishness. This twitch was all I got. I'd hear his laugh again, I thought determinedly. "Remind me to send him a thank you note," he replied in a gentle tone. He patted the ground beside him, inviting me to sit at his side, where I always knew I belonged. It was strange how quickly I became adapt to trusting him again. It was like he never left and yet the growing stress lines, and constant depressed look on his face reminded me that he did. I sat down beside him, grateful of his warmth on this chilly night. "The end was true."

"I figured as much," I replied, looking down.

"Pein wishes to meet you. You've taken down one rogue too many to go unnoticed by him," he said, looking upset by his own words. "He expects to be seeing you soon. I told him that I'm gathering information on how to best get you to join. I am not sure how long he'll be patient for however. I am trying to find a way to make him lose interest, but I foresee this ending badly."

"I understand," I replied. "I'll be fine, stop worrying so much. I'm not as weak as I used to be." I yawned and laid my head against his shoulder. "If you worry like this you will go prematurely grey."

I heard a soft chuckle, only one. It was more of to show that he understood that it was a joke than an actual laugh though. "I suppose you are right," he replied. His hand found my hair like it always used to. He gently started combing his fingers through it, knowing how soothing it was to me. I smiled gently and allowed my eyes to close. "Things will work out eventually."

I chuckled, I couldn't help it.

"What?" he asked, slight confusion echoing in his voice.

"Do you remember," I began, "When we were younger. We had to hide our emotions from everyone. 'It'll work out eventually', you'd always say, 'we'll be together you'll see.'"

"I do remember," he replied. I could hear the small smile in his voice. "And you always used to say 'that's all that matters, secret or not'."

"It was true. If that's all we have, we have to be thankful, I always thought."

"Does that still apply?" he asked. My eyes opened in shock. "Would you still think that, even now that I am a murderer? Even though it would be treason?"

I thought about that seriously for a long time. It would be the deepest form of betrayal in many ways. But if what I believed was true, he didn't deserve his S-ranked status. I'm sure he thought I wasn't going to answer, with how long it took me to make sure that I was making the right choice. "Yes," I replied quietly.

Itachi took a deep breath, a sigh of relief. I felt his lips against the top of my head. He picked his head back up and looked at the waterfall in the moonlight. "Thank you," he said softly, in almost a whisper. I smiled, and snuggled into his chest, making myself more comfortable. He allowed me to and then rested his cheek against my head. He began to play with my hair again and I slowly allowed my eyes to close, falling into the comfortable darkness, knowing that I was safe with him. Finally safe.