Adele's Lovesong was inspiration for this chapter. I thought it could be interpreted not only in an amorous context, and thought of it in reference to … well, read the chapter. Never thought I would like Adele, but once I listened to her I realized that she is a woman and sings like one. I had always thought she was a girl and sang Hannah-Montana-style music (not that there is anything wrong with that; this is a judgment free zone, it just happens to not be my thing). Lastly, I guess this chapter has spoilers (haven't been keeping up with the anime, tsk, tsk) since it's manga-based. Which by the way WTH is going on with that?! *shakes head* I'm pissed but excited to see what our favorite Uchiha is planning in the manga. No further current manga spoilers, not in this chapter – read on and review my lovelies!

Chapter 16

Alone

Itachi walked through the Uchiha complex slowly, hands in his pockets. It was mid-morning – the sun beat down on his shoulders brightly from its throne in the sky, but a mild breeze staved off the worst of the heat. He looked around, slowly taking in the sights, the people, the houses – his relatives, his home. His face betrayed none of the sadness that gripped him. Despite the pleasant weather and the happy sounds of the village that surrounded him, he felt like a block of ice was slowly growing inside of him. What he would have to do… that the people he knew and loved were actually a threat… sometimes it was hard to swallow.

Itachi shook free of his thoughts as someone approached him from behind. He was not surprised as his cousin clapped his hand on his shoulder, then hugged Itachi to his side, smiling.

"Shisui." Itachi seemed to relax a little at his cousin's sudden appearance and he smiled back briefly.

"Itachi." Shisui released his cousin from the half-embrace and fell into step beside the younger Uchiha. "Taking a day?"

"I've been on leave for the last couple of days, yes."

"But you've been busy." The smile never fell from Shisui's boyish face. Itachi glanced sidelong at him, but said nothing.

They walked in pleasant silence for several minutes until reaching the edge of the lake. Itachi was the first to pick up a flat, smooth stone and chuck it easily across the lake. It was hotter now, so hot that he could feel the humidity rising from the lake. The water glittered where ripples spread from the stone he'd skipped, but the rest of it was darker, tinged with green.

"So you heard?"

"I observed. I don't believe everything I hear." Shisui's voice was softer now. "Who is she?"

Itachi sighed. "You know I can't tell you that…"

"But you must." Shisui turned the stone he'd picked up in his hand thoughtfully. He released it from his hand and it skipped speedily across the lake. "You know I tell you everything, Itachi. Your involvement in her arrival… Let's just say it's apparent that she's not from around here. It must be of some importance. And if it's not-" he paused, "then you can tell me about it, officially. Am I right, my fellow captain?" Shisui smirked good-naturedly at his cousin. Itachi removed his shoes without saying anything, and Shisui followed suit. Slowly they waded into the murky lake-water, stopping when the water was only calf-deep.

"Walk with me."

They began to make their way around the lake's edge.

"She's from the future – it has something to do with Kakashi's sharingan. You know what's happening with the clan. Apparently it's not such a well-kept secret fifteen years from now. We mean to change things – to save Konoha, to save the world." Itachi paused and Shisui said nothing, sensing that there was more. "It involves Sasuke." Itachi spoke the last words so softly they were barely audible above the boys' splashes.

After a short pause, Shisui responded. "All the more reason we should meet again." Shisui looked to the sky and squinted briefly. "Meet me at the edge of the village in a week, by the river, around one in the morning." Shisui looked around quickly. "My life is in danger – more so than yours even. I have a matter I must entrust to you – but not here." He finished quickly, wading away from Itachi and back onto the stony bank. Itachi watched as his older cousin put his shoes back on, digging his toes into the sand at the bottom of the cool lake. Shisui smiled at him one more time, and Itachi raised his hand in farewell. As soon as Shisui left his sight, he let out a long sigh. Another 'mysterious matter' that needed his attention. And there would be another clan meeting tomorrow night – another midnight clan meeting he was supposed to be attending. Yet somehow it didn't bother him that he'd be shirking his duties yet again. What bothered him was the look he'd seen in Shisui's eyes. It was the same look he saw every morning when he looked in the mirror.

It had been a week and a day since Sakura had come to the village. Itachi looked at the sky and thought about visiting her, seeing how she was settling in, but he had his own issues to deal with. He sighed. It was there always, eating at the back of his mind. Ever since she had come back he had been dying to ask her about his fate – what exactly would happen to him and to Sasuke. What Shisui was going to say to him… would she know? The question popped into his head often. Finally he picked himself up off of the dusty ground at the training area and rearranged his ponytail. With a final glare at the training dummies set up in the center of the training ground, he started to walk away toward Kakashi's new apartment. So intense was his train of thought that it seemed as though only moments had gone by before he found himself at Kakashi's door. He'd hardly tapped his knuckles against the fading blue-grey paint before she opened the door, her bright and smiling face the perfect opposite of what he felt inside.

"Sakura-san."

"Itachi-san! Come in! There's fresh tea." She ushered him in and poured him some tea as he took a seat in the new, larger dining area. Sakura sat down next to him at the round table, holding her own cup tightly between her hands. "What's going on? Anything new?" Her voice was only slightly more serious than before.

He looked at her almost cautiously. How could she be so carefree? Her attitude was in stark contrast to the situation that they both found themselves in. Itachi circumvented her question skillfully. "How are your wounds?"

"Just fine." Her eyes gleamed. "I've got my chakra back, too."

He broke down. "You seem awfully happy."

"I am. Kakashi and I are making some fantastic progress."

"Just in this last week?" Itachi's expression was a mixture of surprise and disbelief.

Sakura nodded. "Considering the timeframe, I think we may figure out this Kamui before I leave."

Itachi took the opportunity as it came. "Speaking of our timeframe…" Itachi sipped his cool tea. "I feel that I may have… miscalculated."

Sakura's smile was instantly wiped from her face. "How so?"

"I was hoping you could tell me. My cousin Shisui approached me a few days ago. I'm supposed to go to a clan meeting tonight." He paused. "I'm also supposed to meet Shisui tonight." Itachi could tell before finishing his sentence that Sakura knew nothing about his secret meeting with his cousin.

"Do you need help?"

Itachi thought briefly back to Shisui's comment "my life is in danger…" "No." He responded, draining his teacup and standing to leave.

Sakura stood with him. "Itachi…" She looked worried.

"It's nothing." But there was something bothering him. Just as he turned to leave the knob spun in the door and Kakashi entered the room.

"Hatake-san."

"Uchiha-san."

Itachi was almost out the door before he turned and thought better of himself, stepping back into the apartment instead of out into the hall.

"Let me see your mangekyou sharingan."

In the dead of night, while the rest of his family gathered underneath the temple in the complex, Itachi silently slipped through dark alleys and out of the complex. The only sounds he heard were the whispers of the breeze in the tall grasses by the river, and the voice of the river itself, gurgling and swishing speedily over the dark rocks beneath its surface. Itachi crouched, then leapt to the next tree, concealing his slight figure in the shadow behind its trunk. The moon shone just a little too brightly for his taste, tinting the grasses a silvery-blue and reflecting off of the surface of the water, reminding him of shards of broken glass on the ground.

He started as Shisui approached – something was wrong. There was the faint smell of blood on the air and Shisui's breathing was not normal. Itachi darted to his cousin from beneath the tree and pulled Shisui's hand away from his face. The younger Uchiha couldn't help but narrow his eyes at the bloody hole he saw there.

"Who did this to you?"

"Danzo… No time to explain." Shisui pushed his cousin away gingerly, trying not to soil Itachi's clothes with his blood. Itachi stumbled backwards numbly.

"Cousin…"

"Listen." Shisui looked kindly at Itachi. "I can only ask you, my friend…" Itachi fought down a sudden swell in his throat and his hand twitched, lips pursing with imagined pain as he watched Shisui bring his hand to his remaining eye – digging deep with a silent wince and plucking it from its own socket. The now blind nin reached out to Itachi, sharingan looking up at the boy morbidly from Shisui's bloody palm. Shisui stepped to his cousin and, taking Itachi's hand, planted the globe there firmly. "Protect this village… and the name of the Uchiha."

Shisui smiled briefly after letting Itachi's hand go, and Itachi sealed the eye away in a scroll for later. He knew, suddenly, that time was running short. "Now, help me, Itachi." Shisui had already removed his shoes and now he drew his sword. "I'm ready."

Itachi stepped forward, closing his heart to what he was about to do. He walked with Shisui into the middle of the river and looked at Shisui's bleeding, calm face once more, and for a moment he was almost jealous of his cousin's fate.

"Goodbye, Shisui."

"Goodbye, Itachi."

Itachi tore his eyes away and grabbed his cousin's hand, suddenly and ruthlessly twisting it to plunge deep into Shisui's belly. Shisui grunted and doubled over, clutching his cousin's shoulder in his pain.

"Goodbye." Itachi let go of him and his cousin fell face first into the water with a quiet splash. Slowly he floated away and shortly sunk out of sight. Itachi stood still, waist deep in the water, looking down and staring at the reflections of the moonlight on the tiny waves, and he imagined that he could see Shisui's blood washing away downstream.

Itachi felt pain deep in his heart, and hot tears welled in his eyes. But instead of tears, twin rivulets of blood made their way down his face.

And so his mangekyou sharingan awakened.

AN: I had more planned for this chapter, but alas, it does not fit here! So you will have to wait until next week for the next installment. A warning to all of you who are not current on the manga: I will be including recent manga spoilers, as in up to the most recently released chapter, in the upcoming story. I don't want to ruin it for anyone, so I'm warning you now lol :D

Review please! It's been so long! 3