As Mitsuki went straight to her room, Aruna found her unusually pale. He tried to find out what was making her so pale, and she just said she was too tired after a hard week in the hospital. He didn't press her any further, much to Mitsuki's relief as she protected Itachi's secret against all odds.

The next day, as she went out to give the illusion of living her life normally, despite the pain of losing Shisui, voices could be heard from her friend's house. She walked over to it, worried, and saw three men from the Uchiha clan attacking an edgy Itachi.

The tone escalated, until the youngest neutralized them all in an instant, losing his temper. Mitsuki's breath caught, fearing what he was now facing, she took a step forward as a deep voice rang out:

"That's enough, Itachi. What's finally happening to you? You haven't been yourself lately."

Fugaku had arrived, his face closed, a dark look on his elder.

The latter kept his jaw clenched, still tense from this situation that was only getting worse. Silencing his opponents was one thing, lying to his father was quite another.

Fugaku looked at him in the corner. His eyes became less stern, but more concerned, as Itachi's Sharingans remained pointed at him.

"Big brother! Stop it, please!" cried Sasuke, very worried about his father and brother tearing each other apart.

Itachi pulled himself together at his dear little brother's call, ending his red pupils as Mitsuki's were now at his side, unnoticed by him.

"I don't know what you want with Itachi... But I can guarantee you that we were together yesterday. And I guess you can understand why he's upset after learning about the loss of his cousin," Mitsuki defended him, merely stating facts, but not telling the whole truth, knowing she was a bad liar.

Fugaku watched her out of the corner of his eye, as if he was trying to find out what she was up to.

"Tsk, and what is your word worth? We welcomed you into our home, but can we really trust you? You are nothing more than a simple stranger surviving among us today. And everyone knows how close you are to that traitor!" one of the men hissed, reigniting Itachi's anger.

"If you know how close I am to Itachi, you must also know how close I was to Shisui. We're all shaken up by his disappearance, and I think we should all take a breath and come to our senses," Mitsuki emphasized, with a confidence she didn't know herself.

Fugaku's three men gritted their teeth, looking for something to say back. They looked at Itachi again, before saying:

"So be it. But know that we are watching you!"

They walked away. Fugaku looked at his son for a moment before he left as well, masking the emotions he was feeling. The tension was mounting in the clan, and all that was needed was for his son to light the fuse for everything to get out of hand. This was not like him!

When they were alone, Mitsuki wanted to take his friend's hand in a comforting gesture, but he immediately withdrew it, asking him curtly:

"Why did you interfere?!"

Mitsuki flinched at his tone, but he didn't seem to care.

"I can't stand the thought of them coming after you... without knowing..." she admitted.

He glanced at her for a moment, and she was sure she saw him hesitate for a second, but he just said, as coldly as ever:

"Don't ever meddle in my business again, Mitsuki. I told you, we have nothing more to do together.

Mitsuki followed his gaze as he joined his little brother, giving him a falsely reassuring smile on his face.

"Mitsuki isn't staying with us?" Sasuke asked sadly.

"She was going to work," Itachi replied simply.

Mitsuki didn't insist, she walked back to the hospital, her heart heavy, but still firmly convinced that Itachi was acting on purpose. She didn't know why yet, but she wasn't going to let him push her away, no matter what his reasons were.

Days passed and Itachi returned from another mission with Kakashi. The silence was heavy between the two young men and Kakashi finally ended it:

"You look preoccupied, Itachi."

The boy merely grunted in response. Kakashi still insisted:

"I ran into Mitsuki the other day, she didn't look too good either... Is there something wrong with you two?"

Itachi glared at him, before snubbing him:

"There's nothing between us. And everything's fine, I just can't wait to get home."

Kakashi paused, unconvinced by this excuse:

"You know, Itachi, we've been teammates for a while now, you can trust me if you need to vent..."

"I appreciate that, Kakashi. But there's nothing you can do for me," Itachi assured him, his gaze slipping away.

"Alright... But I think you should really talk to Mitsuki anyway, she wouldn't tell me anything the last time I saw her, but I felt..." Kakashi suggested before the Uchiha abruptly interrupted him:

"STOP SAYING THAT NAME!"

His Sharingans had activated and his features were drawn with a fury that he himself did not understand.

Kakashi stared into his eyes, his hand clenched on a kunai by simple reflex.

"Are you planning to fight me, Kakashi?" observed Itachi, a mournful chuckle coming from his throat.

"If it'll help you come to your senses..." Kakashi challenged him, unable to comprehend the unusual behavior of his usually calm teammate.

Itachi looked at him for a moment, dumbfounded, before he pulled out a kunai. He felt his anger seep into him, seeing the image of Shisui on top of the cliff over and over again, Mitsuki's tears as he had been so hard on her, and her obsessive need to come to his rescue as he tried to keep her away from what was about to happen.

He had lost his best friend, and he was struggling to keep the one he loved alive, even if it meant ending their friendship. And that grey-haired ninja who seemed to be getting closer and closer to her and kept reminding him of her existence... it was driving him crazy.

Kakashi removed his ANBU mask, and lifted his headband, revealing his Sharingan. He had no intention of settling for a small fight...

A flash of lightning suddenly crossed the sky, as if giving the start to this senseless fight. They threw themselves at each other, each parrying the kunai of his teammate. Itachi took the opportunity to try and kick out in a low spin, but Kakashi parried it with his free hand. He was having a hard time keeping up with the Uchiha's quick movements, despite his Sharingan. Itachi's fury made every fiber of his body vibrate. Kunai slammed against each other in a frenzied rhythm that only a Sharingan holder could perceive.

As they found themselves locked face to face again after an assault, Kakashi asked him again:

"Why are you mad at Mitsuki?"

"Tsk... I'm not mad at her, I could never. I just have to protect her, and that includes keeping her away from me." Itachi admitted, his eyes glowing brighter than ever.

"And making her suffer?" Kakashi pointed out angrily.

"If you're so worried about her, why don't you go comfort her," Itachi suggested wryly, knowing full well how much it would hurt him.

"You're an idiot," Kakashi replied before stepping back.

Itachi jumped back in turn, he heard a shrill whistle, sounding like a bird calling.

"The thousand birds" Kakashi said before darting towards Itachi, lightning crackling in his right fist.

Itachi ran back at him, determined to end this stupid fight. But when they were only a few feet away from each other, a black shadow appeared between them, before giving way to Mitsuki, only bulwarked with her body between them, facing Itachi, back to Kakashi.

"STOP!" she cried, arms spread wide, afraid to see them kill each other.

But it was too late to react, and it was with full force that the two boys hit her with their attacks. Kakashi abruptly withdrew his fist from the she-wolf's lower back, while Itachi dropped the kunai he had lodged just above her heart, having managed to deflect his weapon just barely. He caught her, breathless, as she collapsed on top of him.

"Stop..." she repeated in a whisper, tears rolling down her livid cheeks.

Itachi couldn't contain his trembling at the horror of the sight. Kakashi, on the other hand, stood still, his eyes glued between his bloody fist and the girl's gaping wound.

She coughed into Itachi's arms, coughing up some blood.

"Mitsuki..." Itachi said, his onyx eyes once again dulled by the anguish he suddenly felt.

A thin smile spread across the she-wolf's face as she spoke with difficulty:

"Finally, you still care about me a little."

Itachi's face tightened into a grimace of pain as he tenderly laid his forehead against the one he loved.

"Kakashi?" Mitsuki whispered worriedly.

She didn't get an answer. She tried to turn towards him a little, overcoming the painful shocks that came over her. She held out her hand towards the one Kakashi continued to stare at, looking terrified. That hand that had brought death in the past. This tainted hand that was only repeating a mistake he had sworn never to make again.

"Kakashi..." Mitsuki called to him with difficulty.

He turned his retracted pupils to the she-wolf's face.

"I'm fine... Kakashi," Mitsuki assured him.

He snapped out of his slumber, hastily lowering himself to the girl's level, still held by the Uchiha.

"We have to get you to the hospital," he decided, his voice broken by the emotions he was struggling to contain.

Mitsuki nodded weakly.

Kakashi pulled his jumper off to drown it around the girl's hips, and relieve the bleeding from the wound he had left there.

"I wish you'd bandaged it with your mask," Mitsuki giggled as she gritted her teeth at the fabric.

But the boys didn't seem intent on joking. Itachi stood up without a sound, carrying an extremely pale and visibly weaker Mitsuki in his arms. Without a glance at each other, they rushed towards Konoha, and arrived at the hospital, where they were asked to wait in the hallway while the doctors took care of the wolf.

The hours passed and neither of them said a word. They were each gnawing at their own throats, feeling guilty for having gone so far in their confrontation, and especially for having hurt their friend.

When finally a doctor came out, his face exhausted and his eyes glassy, the two young men got up hurriedly. He invited them to sit down again with a wave of his hand, before announcing to them:

"It was a close call, but Mitsuki's life is no longer in danger. Luckily, her spine and heart were not affected. She won't have any physical damage, except for a nice scar on her back, and maybe a small one on her chest..." the doctor announced.

The boys breathed a sigh of relief, but the doctor spoke again:

"There is one thing we couldn't save. We did our best to preserve everything we could, but the internal damage was severe... Mitsuki's chances of ever conceiving a child are pretty much nil. I don't know what her intentions were on this, but this kind of news can do a lot of damage to a person's morale... You have to be prepared for it, and I hope you can use some common sense this time so that you can help her through it.

For the first time all evening, the two ANBU looked each other in the eye. Mitsuki was young, and it was true that they had never talked about that aspect of their lives, but even so, they had destroyed a part of her, and scarred her forever, depriving her of the possibility of having a family, she who had never had one.

They both looked down in shame before Itachi finally dared to ask a question:

"Can we... see her?"

The doctor seemed to hesitate, but at the guilty looks on the boys' faces, he finally agreed. He led them to a room, and opened the door. Mitsuki was lying there asleep, not seeming to be in any pain, still under the effects of the anesthetics.

Itachi sat down beside her, slipping his hand into hers before resting his forehead against the she-wolf's. 

"I'm so sorry, Mitsuki, if you only knew how sorry I am," he whispered to her as he burst into tears.

Kakashi was having a hard time of it as well. He placed a comforting hand on the Uchiha's shoulder, encouraging him to give in to his emotions in the privacy of the room, even though it was against their rules. When Itachi finally calmed down, he turned back to Kakashi, staring at him with a new look of infinite sadness, far from all the anger he'd read into it before that stupid fight.

"Kakashi, I meant it when I said that Mitsuki...that she shouldn't come near me anymore, shouldn't hold on to me... It breaks my heart, you know. But her safety is at stake, and that's more important than any feelings I may have for her... I can't offer her a life worthy of what she deserves. I can only offer her... darkness... sadness... Please, Kakashi... I know how much she cares for you... Promise me you'll be there for her... She'll need you..." Itachi half-heartedly confided, his eyes filled with despair.

Kakashi didn't quite understand what he was getting at, but he nodded, before sadly running a hand through the pretty she-wolf's hair.

"I will always look out for her. I always have since she's been living here... But look where it got her... I have marked her body indelibly, and she suffers because of me ... But I owe it to her to protect her, against all odds..." said Kakashi, in a broken voice.

"We both hurt her... We could have killed her... I feel so bad..." Itachi corrected him.

The Uchiha straightened up, placing a tight kiss on Mitsuki's forehead, before declaring:

"I must disappear from her life... I must never harm her again. Forgive me Mitsuki, I wish it were otherwise."

Kakashi didn't dare ask any questions, as the dark-haired man disappeared in a cloud of crows.The door opened at the same time, to a worried Aruna. He looked at his unconscious sister, then back at Kakashi. A glint of anger filled his eyes as he clenched his fists.

"I'm...going to leave," Kakashi announced, suddenly uncomfortable.

He was about to walk out the door, but the Sensei held him back by the arm.

"Where is Itachi?" he asked.

"He just left... He said he had to disappear from her life... For her own good." Kakashi explained.Aruna's grip tightened painfully on the ANBU's arm.

"Obviously... As if it wasn't bad enough to literally stab her in the heart..." Aruna snarled.

"It was an accident Aruna-san... A stupid accident... I can't tell you how sorry I am that I hurt her... And I assure you that Itachi is just as sorry..." Kakashi breathed helplessly.

"Do you even realize that this 'stupid accident' is branded into her flesh for the rest of her life? That you deprived her of a future she hasn't even had time to decide on yet? That she could have spent it?! All because of a stupid argument?! And you still dare to stay in the same room with her! Even if he's a coward, Itachi at least has the decency to disappear!" Aruna shouted angrily.

As Kakashi took the rebuke without flinching, a small voice stopped the Sensei in his fury.

"It's not important..." Mitsuki said as she tried to articulate, awakened by her brother's screams.

Aruna rushed towards her, grabbing her in his arms, causing her to grimace in pain.

"Mitsuki! Damn it! I was so scared when one of your colleagues came to alert me, if you only knew!" he said, holding her tighter.

"Aruna... You're hurting me..." Mitsuki pleaded softly.

"Oh yeah... Sorry... Of course..." the Sensei apologized, stepping back.

"Please, Aruna... Don't yell at Itachi and Kakashi anymore...they didn't do it on purpose..." Mitsuki asked as she looked at the ANBU who was staring at his feet.

"You can't ask me that... Not after what they did to you..." Aruna repeated angrily.

"I heard you talking about that, you know... And somehow it's not so bad, because I never thought of having a child until now ... And also because I guess it suits everyone... that the last of the Hata... the monster of Konoha... ...never have any offspring."

Mitsuki's speech shook the two men in the room.

"You can't mean that... No one would have stopped you from starting a family..." Aruna contradicted her.

Mitsuki laughed softly before a new shock near her heart stopped her. She was right, and as stubborn as they were, they all knew it.

Kakashi slowly left the room, leaving them alone. He hadn't had the heart to explain the Uchiha's absence to her when she woke up. She had been strong when told the consequences of her injuries, but he had seen in her red eyes all the fragility that threatened to break her, and he had already hurt her enough.

Mitsuki spent a few days in the hospital, before she was finally able to return home. Itachi still hadn't come to see her though, which was more painful to her than any injury.