I left Itachi's cell and went with Naruto to the ramen shop. My conversation with Itachi went on for 25 minutes. I kept the medicine with me just in case, because Itachi warned me that my illness may, or may not come back. 

"If your illness does return, keep the medicine with you for safe keeping. You may be human, but that doesn't mean your sickness is gone. If you still have the mark, then you are temporarily human. The mark should have disappeared. But, because it's still there, you're in a temporary state. Do not tell anybody about the medication, Akina. Keep it with you at all times." 

Those were Itachi's words before I left the cell. I've noticed that people are respecting Naruto a lot. They're not glaring at him or being disrespectful. They're...happy to see Naruto. Has the village really changed? 

To be honest, I'm still scared to be back here... What will happen once everyone figures out that I was the demon who nearly destroyed the village? Frightful expressions will be shown... 

"Akina, are you okay?" Naruto asks me. 

"Mhm..." I nod my head. I turn around to see medical ninja standing behind us. 

"Akina, please come with us. Lady Hokage wants you to for medical treatment." One of the medic ninja tell me. Naruto sees how scared I am, so he gently places his hand over mine. 

"I'll come with you." He tells me. Naruto and I go with the medical ninja to the Hokage Tower, and I am taken into a white room. It had a monitor, a see-through window, a metal bed, and some wires connected with the monitor. 

It reminds me of back then...

"It won't be as painful as you think. You won't feel a thing. I promise." Tsunade tells me. "Naruto, you can watch from the window. 

"I'll be right outside. It'll be okay." Naruto kisses the top of my head before leaving. I am instructed to lie down on the metal bed and wires were hooked up to my head, chest, arms, stomach, and legs. 

As Tsunade promised, the procedure was painless. Nothing seemed to hurt expect for the shot they gave me to extract blood for a blood test. Vitals were checked, as were my heartrate, pulse, and reflexes. Also, there were X-rays. 

This didn't take long as I thought it would. It went by pretty fast. "Everything looks normal. You're as healthy as a horse." Tsunade smiles after looking at the results.

"Thank you very much." I bow my head. I thought the procedures would be the same, but they were a lot different. 

"We'll also have to do some testing on Naruto." She informs. She wants to make sure Naruto is okay, seeing how I took a large amount of his chakra. 

Shizune walks me out of the room and I am immediately hugged by Naruto. I hug him back and bury my face in his chest. "Naruto, Lady Tsunade would like to do some testing on you as well. It won't take long." Shizune takes Naruto into the same room I was in. 

I use this time to sneak away and explore the village by myself. I know I'm suppose to be supervised by Naruto or Kakashi, but there is something I have to do first. 

I turn into an alley and lift my arm out. "Dark Art: Shadow Dragon..." I whisper out and a small dragon comes out of my hand. 'I can still perform jutsu's without doing any hand signs... And the mark is still attached... Something doesn't add up.' I think to myself. 

I finally became the human I wanted to be, but the mark that Madara, or Tobi, placed on me is still attached. Does that mean I will turn into a demon again eventually? Itachi said that my human form is temporarily. 

There is something I'm not understand... Something doesn't connect... "You shouldn't be out on your own." I turn to my left to see Sakura walking into the alley, glaring at me. 

"Sakura..." I say her name. I can't take any charka from her since that ability is gone. "Is there something you want to talk to me about? Did you mean to find me or did you happen to see me and you decided to have a chat with me?" I ask her. 

"I've been looking for you, and there's something I want you to tell me." 

"What makes you think I have the answer to your question?" 

"Because it has something to do with Sasuke." 

"What is it?" 

"Were you using Sasuke the whole time so that you can become human? What were you to him?" She glares again. 

"You're still getting involved with Sasuke?" I raise an eyebrow and sigh. "I don't want to seem like the bad guy when I tell you this, but I think it would be best if you just forget about Sasuke. He wants nothing to do with you. I'm the one he wants." 

"What!?" Sakura growls. 

"At first, I was using Sasuke because he told me that he could turn me human. I started to become human, but that was until Ritsu had me take his chakra to save my life. To Sasuke, I was just a partner. But, I may have taken things a bit too far when I kissed him and kept calling him Darling. That was because he offered to be my new Darling." 

"You kissed Sasuke?!" Her eyes widen. 

"Twice. It's not like I planned for this to happen. He offered and I accepted because he told me that he could make me human. I admit, my actions were extreme and I'm not proud of what I did. But, what I'm telling you is for your own safety. Sasuke isn't the same as he use to be. You should have noticed that when you and Darling went to escort him back to the village when Orochimaru alive." 

"Yeah, right." 

"Hmm?" I blink. 

"For my own safety? You don't know how Sasuke feels. All you care about is becoming human! You're still a monster, Akina! And that's how I will always see you as!" 

"Don't say that..." I lower my head with my hair covering my eyes. 

"Freak!" 

"Do you think I will forgive you so easily like everyone else has! You were only us the whole time! People like you will never change!" 

"Stop talking..." I grit my teeth together. 

"Go somewhere and die!" 

"As far as I'm concerned, you're still a criminal! You will always be the demon that you are! A true monster!" 

"You will never be human!" 

"STOP IT!" I scream and hold my head tightly. Something crawls onto my skin, causing something to come out of my body, like a shadow. But, before anything could happen, my eyes were covered from behind me an arm draped across my shoulder in the front. 

"What do you think you're doing? Are you trying to set her off again? Having her go into another rampage? She just turned human and she's in a mental state." 

'Ritsu?' 

"You only know bits and pieces. Don't insult what you don't know, Haruno. It's people like you who don't change. You still have feelings and concerns for only Sasuke. Be glad that you still have Naruto on your team." I can feel Ritsu glaring at Sakura as he holds me closer. 

"This has nothing to do with you. You know as much as I do that Akina is still a mons-" 

"No, she isn't!" Ritsu shouts, cutting her off. "The 3rd Hokage and the village made her the monster. Akina has always been human! If anything, you're the monster. I can see why Sasuke left in the first place. You're annoying. You're not even a true shinobi. No wonder Tsunade took away your headband. As long as you act like this, you're just a spoiled and selfish brat." 

"What did you say?!" Sakura shouts out of anger. 

"I'm only going to say this once. Leave Akina alone and stay the hell away from her. Or do you want me to tell Tsunade that you're harasing  her? I wonder what she will think of you now that I know your intentions?" 

"You wouldn't." 

"Try me." Ritsu holds me closer. "Come anywhere near her again and I'll kill you." his voice was dark at the end of his sentence. I could hear Sakura's shaky breath before hearing her footsteps fade. Ritsu gently lets go of me and turns me to face him. "Are you okay?" 

"Yeah... Thank you." I slowly nod my head. 

"You're suppose to be with Naruto or Kakashi. Why are you out here by yourself?" Ritsu raises an eyebrow.

"I wanted to make sure of something..." 

"What is it?" 

"Now that I'm human, I wanted to make sure if I can still perform my jutsu's without any hand signs. I wanted to practice somewhere in private, so I chose this alley until Sakura showed up." 

"And?" 

"It still works. But..." I look up at Ritsu. "The mark on me is still there. I can feel it... I spoke with Itachi and he said that me being human might be temporarily." 

"Wait, I thought Itachi was dead. He's here in the village!? I thought Sasuke killed him!" 

"Sasuke did kill him, but I brought him back to life." 

"You what!?" Ritsu shouts and I cover his mouth to keep him quiet. He gently removes my hand and says, "Why on earth did you bring him back to life? How is that even possible?" 

"Because he's the one who send Tobi to bring me that medicine. The one in the bamboo vile." 

"Tobi?" 

"The man with the orange swirl mask." 

"That's Madara. Wait, he's the same person?" 

"Yes, but with different roles. Itachi said that the medicine that Madara delivered is a cure to my illness. It may or may not come back, but we're not sure. That's why I'm keeping it with me." 

"Where is the medicine?" 

"Right here." I hold up the bamboo vile. "Itachi said to keep it safe with me." 

"Give it to me." 

"What?" I blink. 

"Naruto, Kakashi, or Tsunade will eventually see it and might ask about it. It's better if you give it to me. I'll keep it safe. If your sickness returns, I'll give it to you right away. Do you trust me?" 

"Yes." I nod. After everything we've been through together, Ritsu has gained my trust. So, I give him the bamboo vile and he takes me back to where Naruto is. 

"There you are, Akina!" Naruto rushes over, worried. "Where did you go?" 

"She wanted something to eat, so I found her in the ramen shop. I don't see how she was going to pay when she doesn't have any money." Ritsu lies for me, followed by a sigh. 

"Oh, really? Akina, if you were hungry, you should have just told me instead of wondering off like that. Come on. I'll pay for you." Naruto holds out his hand and smiles at me. 

When I look at him, I see the same boy I met when I was younger. "When we grow up, I'm going to be your Darling!" 

I couldn't help but smile at Naruto before taking his hand. 

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