六十
bright present, dark future

Kuina looked at him flabbergasted at his statement as she backed away from him, holding her fists to her chest. "W-Why do you have to say it like that?" she blurted out, her face flushing red.

Itachi tilted his head to the side slightly, realising that perhaps he was being too forefront. After all, she had always been ingenuous and sensitive.

"You wanted to hear my heart, and you wanted me to be straightforward," he spoke slowly as he watched her feverish state. "You always wanted it, and now that I said what you want to hear, why are you disconcerted?"

Her brows furrowed before she averted her gaze to her feet. "W-Well, you've been rejecting me for so long, of course, I need some time to process it."

He leaned back against the chair. A sigh parted his lips at her words. Perhaps, he really had been too forefront, and at that moment, he realised that maybe she was not ready for these things.

But he had found it necessary to tell her, to let her know. When they had such little time left together, every moment was too precious to be wasted.

These past few days after he had almost repeated the massacre, he had been thinking through a lot of matters. He knew what it meant if he spared her; all of the effort and sacrifices he had made to keep the world at peace would be in vain. What more, he had a duty to carry, to die upon the hands of his little brother. And he knew his own health more than anyone.

Sparing her would mean he would have to make her live and suffer all alone when he left her behind. Then was it really sparing her, when death would have been her mercy?

But only when she had begged to live at that moment, that he finally understood. What she wanted was not for him to think for her, what would make her happy was not just to die to save herself from grief - for she would rather be happy at the little time they had left together than never at all.

Although he knew he must worry about the future soon, at least during this trip out together, he would succumb to her, he would live the moment, and he would not think of anything else but her.

After falling into a deep thought, leaving silence to hang thick in the air, he finally let out a soft sigh. "I just thought that since we have such less time together, if I do not tell you my heart and be straightforward with you now, then when?"

She flinched slightly at his words before she slowly brought her gaze up from her feet to look at him, her eyes slightly wavering.

He returned her gaze, and as he looked into her warm round eyes, he found his softened. He let out a soft breath as he beckoned her to him. "Come here."

Her brows drew together, and pressing her lips together, she allowed herself to walk back before him. She stood in the space between his legs, her head bowing down, staring at her feet.

He sighed as he reached out for her hands before gently holding them in his. "Kuina, I really meant every word I have told you just now," he spoke as he tenderly caressed his thumbs across the back of her palms, almost in an attempt to sooth her. "Since you wanted me to be straightforward, then I will be honest with you about my feelings . . . but Kuina, since you wanted me to be straightforward, I will also have to tell you. . ."

She looked down at his hands on hers, and she stood completely still, not saying anything nor moving away. But he could tell she knew where he was getting at as her expression visibly shifted at his words.

He took a deep breath as he forced himself to continue on, "Even though such is my heart, I am still bound by duty and, at the end of the day, I will leave you," he spoke softly, trying his best to not be harsh with his words.

She instantly shot her gaze up at him, and he gulped as he quickly continued before she could speak a word, "But I know what you want the most, so on this trip, while we are out here together, I will give you everything you what, alright? Every experience that you so desire, every single love that you deserve; I will not restrain myself back anymore," he told her before he gave her hands a tight squeeze. "But once we return to the hideout, I will have to think about the future, I will have to think about my duty, do you understand?"

She had gone stiff, and he closed his eyes in acceptance, expecting her to start crying and throwing a tantrum at him.

But instead, she simply let out a soft sigh. "I understand," she told him quietly.

He observed her calm reception for any hidden emotions, but she really seemed accepting of it. He nodded slowly, somewhat proud of her. "You've grown up–"

"I understand, but only if you will agree to be all mine during this trip," she cut him off before she let out a feisty grumble. And before he could say anything to her words, she abruptly flung her arms around his neck before burying her face into his shoulder, probably to hide her own embarrassment at her own words. "S-Since I have to share you with the world and your little brother when we return to the hideout, then on this trip, you have to be all mine and mine only, okay?"

Nevermind.

He sat still, keeping his face completely stoic, letting her hug onto him. "So possessive," he muttered out.

She let out a touchy grouse. "You're all mine."

His brows raised as he was about to dismiss her but when she softly nudged her head against his neck as she clenched her arms tighter around him, he let out a defeated sigh. For some reason, every time she acted endearingly aggressive, he seemed to be unable to resist her. "Alright, alright, I'm all yours. No need to be so feisty." He gave in.

She huffed moodily. "Then on this trip, don't ever bring up sad things ever again, I don't want to hear it."

"Okay, I won't."

With that, she clung onto him as if she were never going to let go. He sighed again, accepting what he had gotten himself into before he brought his hand to her back as he was about to return her embrace for once.

But before he could, the door was suddenly pulled open, and Kuina instantly flinched as she practically pushed herself away from their embrace. Her face flushed red as she glanced over at the grandma who stood by the door.

The grandma waved the air and giggled as if she were a teenager. "Young love these days," she triumphed.

Kuina took a seat back on the bed, as she gave the grandma a weak and courteous smile.

Itachi simply leaned back on his chair with a sigh. "Is something the matter, ma'am?" he questioned.

The grandma nodded as she scooted over to Itachi with a rolled up letter in her palms. She handed it to him. "A messenger crow just came by and dropped off this letter. It seemed to be addressed to you, young sir."

Itachi received it from her, and with a quick inspection, he knew exactly who it was from. He nodded at the grandma. "Thank you."

The grandma simply smiled. "Well, then, I'll leave you two alone," she spoke before she skipped out of the room without another word.

Itachi sighed as he rolled out the letter, briefly skimming through it, and instantly he tossed it onto the bedside table. A grimace came over his face. "Leader-sama wants to talk with you," he told Kuina.

She instantly tensed up. "N-Now?"

"He has a mission for you to undertake. He wants you to use your Kekkei Genkai for some tasks. He will elaborate on it once you return to the hideout," Itachi summarised the letter for her as he glanced at her, taking in the worries on her face. "What is it? You don't wish to see him?"

She instantly held a little scowl on her face as she crossed her arms. "Well, you finally told me that you will be mine. We still haven't even had the time to spend together and we have to go back already. . ."

"Then how about we ignore him?"

She almost flinched at his words as she looked up at him before shaking her head rapidly. "I-I don't want to get in trouble," she quickly told him. "I don't want you to get in trouble either."

He tilted his head to the side slightly. "I do not doubt Leader-sama can trouble me, but he would not do so. It would be his loss and a hassle to get on each others' bad side," he told her. "Besides, I think I am quite in a predicament already as he knew I almost . . . hurt you," he muttered out the last few words before a sigh parted his lips. "Might as well displease him. The worst that could happen is that I am unemployed."

She shuffled on her seat as she allowed herself to glance up at him. "Really?"

"Hm," he reassured her rather dismissively before he looked up at her. "But I digress, if we are to stay out longer, we should leave this crimson hibiscus mountain soon. Leader-sama knows we are here, he might come and personally pick you up, who knows," he leaned back in his seat and gave her a side glance. "Besides, since it is our date, I might as well spoil you a little, shouldn't I? Where shall we go?"

A pink tint crept over her cheeks. "Then can we-can we go to the winter festival? It should take place right around the corner."

He nodded slowly. Although he was not much of a person who enjoyed jolly celebration, he supposed it was not too bad to experience it once in his life.

.

Kuina was quite surprised that Itachi was willing to ignore his duty to spend some more time with her. But she understood why he was willing; this trip was perhaps the first and last time they could truly be themselves.

He had said he would not hold back on this trip and that he would be hers, and Kuina decided that instead of being sad and worried about the future, she would only think of happy things and enjoy every moment she had with him.

After they had gotten the letter from Pein, they knew that they must set off. So, they thanked and paid the grandma for her service, before leaving the apothecary and the crimson hibiscus field behind.

Itachi decided that he would take her to his house as there should be a winter festival nearby that area. It was also a place where Pein would likely not find. They both travelled from morning till late afternoon, and Kuina was too exhausted by that time, so they decided to take a rest at a park. There were several children running about, playing on a large playground that was situated in the middle of the yard.

Itachi had gone off to the stall nearby to buy some food and drink, so Kuina took a seat on one of the swings, waiting for him. But before she could relax her muscles that had been tensed from the long travel, she suddenly felt a force pushed against her swing. A gasp tumbled from her lips as she fell off the swing, and onto the hard ground, the bark scraping against her skin.

Her eyes flared up as she instantly snapped them over the perpetrator. There stood a little boy with a smug and evil grin on his face.

Kuina blinked before she instantly pushed herself to stand, speechless. "What was that for!" she yelled at him.

"This is my swing. I want to play on this swing," the little boy told her, his voice still sounding like a little baby.

An urge to yell at the little boy filled her but she held it in, knowing he was just a kid and she was much older. She scowled as she brushed the bark off her bleeding knees before she stormed over to the little boy who was holding onto the swing, about to get on. She smacked his hand off the swing. "I came here first, you go use other ones, little kid."

"Shut up," the boy told her. "Why are you fighting with a kid, stupid adult? Playground is for kids, don't you have a job, you ugly b-word!"

Her mouth almost fell agape in disbelief that she was about to get bullied by a little kid. Not giving in to him, she could no longer hold in her calm as she raised her voice at him. "You are the stupid one! You're just a little kid, where are your manners? Do you know what first come first serve is–"

She was cut off when the little boy abruptly let out a loud wail and began sobbing and throwing a tantrum. She stepped back, flabbergasted, but that made her even more mad. She pointed her finger at him. "Why are you crying! I should be the one crying! You hurt me first–"

She paused when she felt a hand placed on her shoulder. She turned over to face Itachi who held a bag of food in his hand. Her eyes flared up as she was about to tell on the little boy but before she could, Itachi pushed past her as he walked over to the crying little boy.

He crouched down to the boy's level as he ruffled the boy's hair to comfort him and handed him a stick of dango.

The little boy looked up at Itachi with teary eyes as he accepted the food before he menacingly glowered his eyes at Kuina and pointed his finger at her. "She bullied me."

Kuina instantly let out a breath in disbelief. "Look who's talking, you're clearly the one who bullied–"

Itachi shushed her as his brows drew together. "He's just a kid and you're already an adult. Why are you fighting with a little kid?"

Her lips quivered as tears began to form in her eyes at Itachi's rebuke, and she looked down at her feet, dejected.

At her expression, Itachi looked visibly fazed. He quickly cleared his throat as he pulled his gaze back to the little boy. "Don't cry now. I saw what happened and you should not have pushed her. Even if you want something very badly, you should never abuse your power to get what you want at the expense of hurting others, do you understand?"

At Itachi's words, the little boy somehow became miraculously obedient. He pouted as he nodded. "Ok, I won't do it anymore, papa."

Itachi seemed taken aback at the way the boy addressed him, and Kuina instantly snapped her gaze over at the little boy. Anger swelled in her at the way he addressed Itachi in such an acquainted manner. And seeing how obedient he was to Itachi and how mean he was to her, she felt angry tears in her eyes as she wiped them roughly with her arm and gave Itachi a glare.

Itachi caught her gaze, and his brows furrowed as he quickly looked away. He looked over at the little boy before he quickly gestured at her. "If you know what you did wrong, then you apologise to her, alright?" he told him before he lowered his voice and whispered something to the little boy that Kuina couldn't hear.

The little boy sniffled as he looked over at Kuina before he pitifully stared down at his feet. "Sorry, mama."

Kuina's brows furrowed at him as she blinked away her tears. "Who's your mama," she grumbled quietly, and with a loud huff, she turned away from them and stormed over to a bench in the park as she plopped down.

Itachi quickly told the little boy to go play before he headed over to her. A sigh left his lips as he took a seat beside her.

His brows furrowed. "Don't be so touchy. He's just a little kid."

She crossed her arms as she looked up at him, meeting his eyes for a brief second before she looked away and fostered up her sullen look. She sniffled as she lifted her skirt up and pointed at the bleeding scrapes on her knees. "He hurt me."

He blinked as he glanced at her wound, and he looked genuinely concerned and worried. "You . . . got hurt by a little kid?"

She let go of her skirt, her brows furrowing. "T-That's beside the point."

He sighed as he leaned back and opened the bag of food before grabbing out a stick of dango and handing it over to her as if to bribe her. "You are already an adult, you shouldn't be fighting with a little kid. Imagine if you have your own kid and all you do all day is quarrel with them."

She swallowed down her tears and angrily grabbed the dango from him. "I don't like kids," she murmured before she felt a bitter lump forming in her throat. "I don't want kids."

She wiped her tears away as she glanced up at him, observing his unreadable expression as he grabbed a dango for himself and decorously bit on it. He didn't bore much reaction to her words as he simply nodded at her.

And watching him elegantly eat for a while, at long last, she let out a soft breath as she tore her gaze away. "You would be a good father, you know."

At her words, he looked over at her, and there seemed to be softness in his eyes. "Really?" he tilted his head slightly before an almost saddened look came over him. "But just like you, I don't want kids. This world is not kind and with a life such as mine, I cannot bear such responsibility."

She leaned back against the bench as she glanced down at her lap, slightly relieved at his answer. "That's good," she muttered faintly.

He seemed to have caught her words as he brought his gaze over to her. And as he had always been able to do, he seemed to be able to read her like an open book. "What's wrong?" he asked.

She let out a sigh as she glanced up at the sky. "I . . . I can't conceive anyways," she told him quickly. "Every female newborn in the Kaori clan underwent a Jutsu that cursed them to never conceive. Whether it be extinction or annihilation, that was all that my clan had sought," she murmured as she did not look over at him. "But it's good anyways. I don't like kids and I don't want it. I know what it's like to have this stupid Kekkei Genkai and to be hunted down every single day for it."

He seemed to have gone silent but before long, he let out a soft breath, nodding. "Yes, this world has never harboured any mercy. It would be better if one is not born just to die," he spoke, his words dark and solemn. "The Sharingan is really no different from your Kekkei Genkai, one must harbour hatred and murder to utilise its full potential, I would rather such Kekkei Genkai is never passed on."

The atmosphere seemed to tense up as they both went into silence. Kuina swallowed down the dango as she blinked away her tears, not wanting to talk about sad things anymore. They had promised each other to not think about sad things during this trip, and she did not know why they ended up talking about it again.

Itachi seemed to have also noticed that the atmosphere had shifted into a depressing stillness, so he cleared his throat, earning her attention. "What's with the long face? It's a good thing that we think this way," he told her before he leaned back, falling into a brief thought, before amusement began to etch across his face. "Besides, I really can't imagine having to take care of another one of you. If there ever is another one of you, a puerile and touchy little Fragrance, who can't even use her Kekkei Genkai properly, I don't think that even I would be able to handle it."

Kuina was instantly snapped out of her gloomy feelings at his words. She looked up at him with narrowed eyes. "It's not like your child would be any better. They'll have your scary red eyes and a handsome face that looks grumpy perpetually."

He nodded. "Hm, I know I'm handsome."

She blinked in disbelief. "T-That's not the point!"

He ignored her as he continued, "But if it's our child, I suppose then, they would probably be able to use your amazing Kekkei Genkai, after all, they would have my brain. And of course, they would be able to fend for themselves from the world with these gifted red eyes of mine."

She almost rolled her eyes. "Narcissistic," she muttered but then she flinched as her mind suddenly went blank. She looked up at him and then at his amused expression, before warmth spread across her face. "W-What do you mean by our child?"

He glanced at her with his dangerous amusement but he didn't say anything more as he resumed to calmly eat his dango.

*

𝐹𝑅𝐴𝐺𝑅𝐴𝑁𝐶𝐸
うちはイタチ