Four years had passed, during which Mitsuki kept her promise to look after Sasuke. He didn't express his emotions much anymore and became more and more closed and distant. But he had never mentioned Itachi again, nor tried to push her away, so she assumed he still enjoyed her presence, in his own way.

That afternoon Mitsuki went to the academy as she did every day at the end of the day to look for him. She stayed back from the other parents, having understood for a long time that Sasuke didn't like family outbursts after school. She began to see the tips of his black hair as he joined her, his face closed, and his gaze stern, as usual since the death of his parents.

But this time, something else struck Mitsuki: the Konoha Ninja's headband was shining on his forehead.

"Sasuke! You passed your exams! I'm so proud of you!" Mitsuki congratulated him tenderly, rushing to hug him.

The boy pushed her away without waiting, a slight grimace on his face. Mitsuki looked at him, dejected. It was so far the little Sasuke who jumped into her arms every time the opportunity arose...

"Thank you..." he grumbled though, looking away and puffing out his cheek as if that simple word would burn his tongue.

"Let's go celebrate, Sasuke-kun." decided Mitsuki.

The young Uchiha wanted to protest, but she didn't give him the chance. She pulled him to a store, where she bought the boy's favorite treats, and then took him to the lake dock in the Uchiha district. They sat together, enjoying the quiet surroundings, and tasting the pastries they had brought in silence.

"You'll soon know who you'll be teaming up with!" rejoiced Mitsuki finally, before marking a minute of silence as she remembered her former teammates who had disappeared.

"Hm... a team?" repeated Sasuke, not paying attention to the pale face of the she-wolf.

"Well yes, after you pass the exam allowing you to become an aspiring Genin, you are divided into teams of three Ninja, with a Jônin at your head to train you." explained Mitsuki, surprised that he didn't already know that.

"They'll only get in my way..." grumbled Sasuke, scowling.

Of course he knew. Only the very idea of having to be slowed down by comrades was repulsive to him.

"Or they'll help you get stronger." the girl corrected.

"I finished first in the Academy, none of them can help me get better. And then, they will inevitably associate me with at least one ball and chain to balance the teams... It's a good thing that Naruto failed his exam" sighed the Uchiha, annoyed.

"Naruto... Uzumaki? The little blond boy?" the Hata gasped, remembering his distant encounter with the boy.

Sasuke nodded, indifferent.

"I thought you two got along well back then...in your own way certainly." the she-wolf recalled.

"Yes, back when I was still being dictated to and asked to be nice to him. Today he is nothing less than a fool and an idiot" Sasuke said dryly.

"It's sometimes a way to be noticed to get some attention..." Mitsuki recalled, sensitive to the loneliness of the blond boy.

Sasuke shrugged, indifferent.

"You'll soon be going on a mission..." Mitsuki sighed sadly to change the conversation.

The Uchiha didn't answer, keeping his eyes fixed on the water.

"I envy you so much... it's a beautiful adventure that awaits you" continued the she-wolf, thoughtful.

"All I care about is gaining power, and finally facing Itachi" Sasuke coldly elided.

A shiver ran down Mitsuki's back at the mention of his name. Where was he now? No one had even caught a glimpse of him, while the special forces were still in pursuit.

"I'll miss you..." the she-wolf breathed in a whisper, dodging the subject.

Sasuke stiffened slightly, before replying to her:

"Don't talk nonsense. We've hardly seen each other outside of the Academy for a while now, and this is the first time in weeks that we've exchanged words. I don't even know why you insist on picking me up."

Mitsuki grinned.

"Still, knowing you're close by is enough to make me feel better. I won't be able to cook your meals, or pick you up from the academy, or even help you train, even though it's been a long time since you've surpassed me with the little I'm allowed to do..." the she-wolf justified herself, bitterly.

Sasuke turned his dark eyes to her, seeming to probe her for a moment. He moved his hand towards Mitsuki's, but changed his mind, looking away again.

"I'll miss you too, I guess," he finally admitted, mumbling.

Mitsuki froze, thinking she was dreaming at the words.

"Sasuke-kun..." she murmured, stunned.

The boy just sighed and looked annoyed. It was not necessary to ask him more, she knew it, and would be largely satisfied.

And as an echo to this obviousness, Sasuke got up before leaving her alone in her thoughts on the dock.

She was startled when a shadow appeared shortly after in her back.

"Excuse me, I didn't mean to scare you," Kakashi spoke from behind her, "There's a problem, and the Hokage asked me to look for you to help us. Naruto Uzumaki has disappeared with the scroll of forbidden techniques. We have to find him, and soon. Pakkun is unfortunately in no condition to search today, so the Sandaime is allowing you to take your wolf form, just this once."

Mitsuki sighed before standing up. She stood still for a moment, before telling him in a sarcastic voice:

"No need to take any 'chances', you can only sense him. I'm sure anyone else would have found him. He's in the forest over there."

"It wasn't me who..." the Jônin was about to reproach her, when he interrupted himself by seeing Mitsuki's face decompose.

She had just smelled blood, accompanied by another smell that she recognized easily."Iruka..." she whispered in panic.

She ended up transforming into a wolf, before leaving at full speed, abandoning her friend without any explanation.

In the forest, Naruto was struggling fiercely against the person responsible for the injuries inflicted on the Academy's Sensei, who was leaning against a tree, struggling to keep his balance.

Mitsuki accelerated, alerted by the iron smell, and took human form, a few meters away from Iruka.

She threw herself at him, starting to conjure up green chakra in her hands.

"No...no, Mitsuki... Go help...the boy." the Sensei stammered painfully.

"I can't, Iruka... I'm sorry. Kakashi will be back soon, he knows I'm here." Mitsuki reassured him, her jaw clenching.
He then remembered what she would incur if she fought alongside Naruto, and agreed to let her give him first aid, nervous about his student getting into trouble.

"Thank you... for coming." he murmured with a tight smile.

"Don't talk nonsense, you would have done the same for me." grumbled Mitsuki, keeping an eye on the fight that was going on in front of them.

She was no more serene than the Sensei, after all, it was only a student who failed his exams, facing a seasoned Shinobi. And the more the seconds ticked away, the more she hoped that the reinforcements would arrive without her having to intervene. It was obvious that she would never allow Naruto to be hurt, or even worse, as it would mean condemning herself to death.

But, to the great surprise of the two friends, Naruto managed to defeat his opponent by himself.Once the man was out of harm's way, Mitsuki moved away from Iruka, whose bleeding she had stopped, in the idea of giving them some space, but he called her back at once, moved by the recent events:

"Come here, Mitsuki ..."

The she-wolf advanced timidly, and it was then that Naruto's face lit up:

"But I know you! We've already met in Konoha! You're Sasuke's sister!" he exclaimed.

Mitsuki laughed softly before correcting him:

"I'm not his sister, I'm only... his friend."

"Oh ... I thought... as you often come to see him when he leaves the Academy. So despite his bad temper, he has someone he cares about!" Naruto marveled, but Iruka interrupted him before he could cross the line:

"You see, Naruto, I wanted to introduce you to Mitsuki, because this girl and you have a lot in common. She didn't know her family either, and lost her second family. She was rejected, and unfortunately considered for a long time as ... a monster. And yet she is the most loyal person I know. She brings a lot to Konoha, and she has surrounded herself with people who love her or have loved her from the bottom of their hearts. Don't lose hope, Naruto. One day the sun will rise for you too. But please, stop being a fool!"

Mitsuki had turned her red eyes away, moved by his speech to her. She had never imagined that despite her discretion, Iruka and the others would notice the hardships she was going through, let alone show so much gratitude for her. Naruto, on the other hand, was sizing her up with his big blue eyes, noticing the lack of a blindfold.

"You're not even a ninja. And yet I saw you using chakra on Iruka-Sensei." he pointed out.

"Naruto!" scolded Iruka while hitting his forehead.

"You still have a lot to learn about me, Naruto Uzumaki," Mitsuki giggled, amused by the boy's frankness.

A team arrived as backup, surprised to already find the culprit unconscious, tied to a tree. They took him away to lock him up, and helped Iruka to the hospital. Naruto answered for his actions, confused, before taking a good beating.

"Did you have to intervene?" a worried voice whispered behind Mitsuki's ear.

"No, don't worry Kakashi. That boy handled the situation on his own. I only saved Iruka from bleeding to death," Mitsuki reassured him with a shy smile.

"Sorry I didn't get here sooner..." the gray-haired man apologized.

"It's okay, Kakashi-kun." assured him the she-wolf.

She hesitated for a moment, before continuing sadly:

"I'm sorry I was so hard on you earlier..."

"It's nothing, I've already forgotten." the dog master assured her.

Mitsuki looked towards Naruto.

"I've been assigned a new Genin team." announced Kakashi to her.

"And you intend to keep them this time?" the she-wolf teased gently as she looked at him again, remembering all the teams he had sent back to the Academy bench in previous years.

"It's up to them, they just have to pass my test." he defended himself.

Mitsuki sighed.

"Sasuke will now probably be on a lot of missions... I'm happy for him, and worried at the same time. He's going to gain the power he so desires... I feel like I'm losing him a little more as he gets closer to his goal." she admitted, clenching her fingers into the flesh of his arm without even realizing it.

"He knows without a doubt that he can always count on you. And you, you can always count on me too. You won't be alone, you live at his place and he will come home regularly. And if the loneliness weighs you down, you'll just have to come and find me, you know where I live" the Jônin consoled her affectionately.

"Unless this time your students pass your damn exam and you leave more often. I hope you're right about Sasuke-kun..." Mitsuki smiled from the corner of her lips.

"Well...I'll see you tonight." the gray-haired man announced without further ado.

"What do you mean?" asked the she-wolf, surprised.

"You'll see." Kakashi replied, his eyes amused.

He walked away laughing at the pouting face of the pretty she-wolf.

That evening, Mitsuki was pacing in front of the front door of the Uchiha house. Sasuke sighed when he saw her doing that, before asking her curtly:

"Are you expecting someone?"

The she-wolf stopped, surprised, before answering him:

"No! Well... yes. Kakashi must be picking me up, we haven't been out in a while."

Sasuke chuckled softly, which made the Hata's eyes widen a little more.

A knock at the door stopped them in their exchange, and Mitsuki rushed to the handle to open it. Sasuke didn't take his eyes off her, observing her behavior. Had she finally forgotten her brother? He would like to think so, if she wasn't wearing her damn jewelry every day.

At the doorway he saw Kakashi and some other people. He winced: this was not a date.

"Happy birthday!" exclaimed the individuals all in heart, making the pink rise to the cheeks of the she-wolf who did not expect such a surprise.

Sasuke widened his eyes, confused. He had completely forgotten about Mitsuki's birthday, and under his cold and distant airs, he bit his lip in guilt.

"But...what are you all doing here?" gasped Mitsuki, regaining the use of speech as she recognized Kurenai, Gai, Asuma and Iruka behind the ex-ANBU.

"Well, we're coming to get you to celebrate your 18th birthday the right way!" replied Asuma, excited.

"Oh... well... I... I don't know what to tell you..." the she-wolf stammered, moved.

"Just follow us! The night is just beginning!" Kurenai assured her with a wink.Mitsuki gave them her best smile, not being able to hide the joy she felt any longer. She took a step towards the exit, before changing her mind.

"Are you coming with us, Sasuke-kun?" she proposed to the dark-haired man who was lost in his thoughts on the sofa.

He shook his head before urging her to leave:

"Go enjoy your evening and your friends."

She smiled at him so warmly that he couldn't help but make a slight movement at the corner of his lips himself.

The group of friends walked through the streets of Konoha, laughing and talking happily around Mitsuki who couldn't even feel herself touching the ground anymore because the surprise had hit her.

"Let's go eat here!" Asuma suggested to them, pointing to a barbecue restaurant.

"Hey, Mitsuki is the queen of the evening! Let her choose what she wants to eat!" Kurenai rebuked her and elbowed her in the ribs.

"Grilled food will be fine!" Mitsuki said with a laugh.

They sat down around a table. The evening was most pleasant, Mitsuki watched the group of friends having fun and smiled without even realizing it.

"I'm glad you like the surprise," Kakashi whispered in her ear.

She turned to him, before asking as she noticed his plate full of raw meat:

"Aren't you eating?"

He arched an eyebrow, embarrassed, and she understood right away: his mask.

"Do you trust me?" she questioned him, smiling.

He nodded, questioning her in turn with his eyes.

Mitsuki grabbed a piece of meat from the grill with her chopsticks, before sliding it towards Kakashi's face. She grabbed a towel and placed it along the cheek of the Jônin, who was watching her without a move. With the bottom of the young man's face out of sight, she closed her large red eyes, letting him safely lower his mask. She felt him pull gently on the piece of meat at the end of her chopsticks, which she loosened gently to free him. He took advantage of her closed eyes to catch her hand holding the towel, firm pretended to wipe his mouth, and slide surreptitiously his lips on the fine skin of the wrist of the brunette.

"Thank you," he murmured as a shiver ran through her.

"How romantic! Kakashi you are definitely struck by the ardor of youth!" cried Gai, breaking a silence that Mitsuki only noticed at that moment.

Kakashi sat up abruptly, almost choking, while Mitsuki opened her eyelids again and looked away, uncomfortable.

"Gai! You just blew it!" Kurenai grumbled, annoyed as Asuma laughed.

"Tsk...whatever." sighed Kakashi, slumping down in his chair to look casual, coming to terms with the fact that he wouldn't be eating anything else tonight.

"Hm. Speaking of romantic things. How long have you two been together?" asked Mitsuki naturally, pointing at Kurenai and Asuma with her fingers.

Asuma in turn swallowed hard, while Kakashi almost fell off his chair.

"What are you talking about?" Kurenai said indignantly, now as red as his eyes.

Mitsuki burst out laughing, quickly followed by the rest of the group. She stopped for a moment and winked at her friend, who sent her a shy smile in return. The atmosphere being relaxed again, the meal resumed its course, and Kakashi managed to eat discreetly.

"Let's have a drink!" Asuma suggested at the end of the meal.

Everyone agreed, and they went to the adjoining bar.

"This time, Miss Hata, would you mind giving us a drink to toast your 18 years?" asked Asuma as he ordered the first round.

"Just one then." agreed Mitsuki under the amused look of the Hokage's son.

"Try not to get your head in the sand this time! We wouldn't want to go home too quickly!" warned Iruka as they were served.

They continued on their way, until Kurenai pushed them out to find something else to do.

In the distance, music could be heard. The Jônin got excited, taking Asuma in her wake. They were soon followed by Gai and Iruka. Mitsuki and Kakashi stopped at the edge of the dance floor, watching the "couple" of friends dancing, Gai going wild, and Iruka timidly tapping his foot, until a beautiful young woman invited him to join her.

Mitsuki slipped away discreetly, moving away from the rhythm of the music that she felt reverberating inside her without being able to control it. After a few steps, a voice stopped her:

"Aren't you waiting for me?"

It was obviously Kakashi. He caught up with her in a few steps, before extending his arm to her.

"Let's go for a walk," he offered, remembering the repercussion that this kind of sound could have on her.

"You didn't have to follow me, you could have gone and had fun, too" the she-wolf pointed out.

"And leave you to brood alone while we celebrate your birthday? Don't talk nonsense. I knew very well that you were not going to dance with the others. Besides, you're the one I want to spend time with," Kakashi replied.

Mitsuki relaxed, thanking him with her eyes for being so considerate with her again. However, there was one more thing that bothered her:

"The others will still imagine things about us."

Kakashi's eye twinkled for a moment, before he asked her mischievously:

"And that bothers you that much?"

Mitsuki's cheeks heated for a moment, and she finally answered him with aplomb:

"No. We are friends, for a long time now. What about you?"

"Not in the least," the Jônin assured her with a laugh.

She finally accepted the arm Kakashi was holding out to her. They walked through the streets in silence, enjoying the cool autumn air, wandering aimlessly.

They finally stopped on a bench in a square, admiring the stars shining above their heads.

"Are you happy, Mitsuki?" the Jônin suddenly asked.

Mitsuki looked at him, surprised by such a question, before searching for her words:

"I'm having a very nice evening, yes."

"I'm not talking to you about that, and you know it very well," Kakashi replied as he turned to face her, plunging his only visible eye into the crimson gaze of the pretty wolf.

She winced for a moment, before answering coldly:

"If you're asking me, I guess you already know the answer."

She cast her eyes back to the stars, her gaze suddenly misty.

"Mitsuki...I'm not trying to annoy you. But I can't help you if you never tell me anything..." the gray-haired man explained in his softest voice.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but there's nothing you can do, Kakashi. The council will never leave me alone, and all the people who promised to always be there for me are gone in one way or another." said Mitsuki without blinking, as if she was afraid to break down at that moment.

"I'm here, me..." Kakashi pointed out sadly.

"And I don't want you to make promises to me that you can't keep" Mitsuki cut him off, hurting him slightly in the process.

A heavy silence fell between them. Kakashi was angry that she had brought up such a subject without thinking while she was having a good time. However, after a few minutes that seemed like an eternity, the she-wolf finally confessed in a whisper:

"I miss him..."

He looked at her again, and she lowered her sad eyes to him for a moment before resuming her contemplation of the sky.

"Aruna?" tried Kakashi, even though the answer seemed obvious to him.

Mitsuki didn't answer. Her sentence was a double entendre, so to speak. She missed Itachi just as much, but she couldn't tell him clearly without arousing his suspicion. However, she had to admit, expressing this feeling that she had been feeling for the past four years out loud had taken a weight off her shoulders.

She felt Kakashi's hand take hold of hers. All these gestures were not like him. He was rather distant by nature, even if friendly, but with the she-wolf, his outbursts of affection knew no such limits. She closed her fingers in turn, before putting her head on the shoulder of the Jônin.

"I wish I could do more to help you feel better..." he sighed.

"I know. And I don't think that's possible. You're already doing way too much, and I don't even know how to repay you." the she-wolf muttered.

Kakashi laughed softly.

"You don't owe me anything. I have to admit, if you hadn't come into my life like a cheeky little tornado, I'd still be brooding and living a life that would only suck out what little soul I have left." he confided in his turn.

His words echoed the words of Asuma a few years earlier in Mitsuki's brain. She stood up abruptly, now standing with her hands on her hips, facing the master of the dogs.

"So Asuma hadn't invented anything! Is that really what you thought of me?! A brazen tornado and far too intrusive?!" she raged, offended.

"Asuma..." stared Kakashi, confused.

"You weren't even able to say hello to me! You were condescending, hurtful,..." Mitsuki continued angrily, though she couldn't explain it to herself clearly.

She stopped dead in her tracks as he stood up in turn, placing his hands on the she-wolf's cheeks as he looked her straight in the eye.

"I was a jerk, condescending, hurtful, and anything else you want. And you were ... the tornado I needed to put my life, my head and ... my heart." declared the ex-ANBU without letting go of her.

Mitsuki shivered under his hands, destabilized.

"Mitsuki... I can't stand to see you suffer inside and turn you into a time bomb. And I'm totally helpless against your pain, when you've done so much for me." continued Kakashi, opening up more than he ever had before.

He wiped away with his thumbs the two tears that had made their way down the pretty she-wolf's cheeks.

"I can't stand it anymore that you back away every time I try to take a step towards you. I can't stand the barriers you put up to protect your wounded heart. And I can't stand the fact that I can't get you to smile again, and to feel the joy of life that I loved so much about you."

Mitsuki's breath became shorter. She remained motionless, overwhelmed by these revelations. Her heart beat wildly in her chest. Two more tears flowed down her cheeks, which Kakashi hastily wiped away again.

"I didn't realize that you were experiencing things like this... Forgive me Kakashi..." Mitsuki apologized, her voice breaking, not knowing what else to say.Kakashi sighed.

"This is not the birthday I had imagined for you... I'm sorry for making you cry. You're not hurting me... Not at all. I just... I just care about you, Mitsuki, more than I can say. That's why it's so hard for me to see you in this state for so long now." the dog master admitted without looking away from the face of the beautiful.

The thumbs of the Jônin continued to caress tenderly the cheeks of Mitsuki. She put a hand against the man's chest, looking for the beats of his heart, as if to measure his sincerity, and found it without any difficulty as he seemed to struggle inside. She gently caught his pullover, before attracting it to her, resting his head against the chest of the gray, while passing his arms around his size.

Surprised by this impromptu hug, Kakashi placed one hand on the she-wolf's upper back while he gently stroked her hair with the other.

"They're all hiding behind the bush in front of you." murmured Mitsuki after a few moments, having sniffed out the rest of their group of friends.

"I don't care..." sighed Kakashi, holding her a little tighter against him.

A chuckle escaped from the infamous bush, upon which he glared, causing the chattering that was coming at them to stop dead in its tracks.

"We should go back to them..." insisted Mitsuki, breaking away from the Jônin's grip, uncomfortable.

"If that's what you want, then let's continue this evening, and have some fun!" agreed Kakashi, smiling while wiping the last traces of sadness on the face of the brunette.

She gave him a comforting smile before joining the rest of the group who had finally moved away a little while waiting for them.