Happy late birthday to Itachi and I'm sorry I've been inactive. I've had some writers block, but now I should be able to update some more. 

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Days had passed since Dad's death and I haven't left my apartment since the funeral. I just didn't want to go anywhere and I've barely eaten. 

I couldn't even cry anymore. It hurt if I continued to cry. I just kept blaming myself for his death since I didn't rush to that barrier in time. 

I hated myself for this. 

I should've been there.

Why the hell didn't I just stop Orochimaru when he kidnapped me the first time?

There was a knock at my door and I sighed, throwing the covers off of me.

I was only wearing pajama pants, a tank top, had my hair in a bun, and had dark circles under my eyes. I didn't really care about my appearance at all right now since I was too depressed to care.

I walked over to the door and answered it.

It was Asuma and Kurenai.

I invited them inside and Kurenai was staring at me with sympathy.

"Kasumi...you haven't been eating, have you?" Asuma pointed out.

"As a matter of fact, I have been," I attempted to lie.

Truthfully, I wasn't very hungry and I lost my appetite after that. 

"Kasumi, you're a lot skinnier than the last time I saw you and that's not a good thing. Don't lie to me," Asuma sighed.

"Okay, fine," I rolled my eyes. "I haven't been, but I'm just not feeling hungry at all,"

"You should at least try to eat something small, like soup at least," Kurenai suggested.

"Maybe later. What are you two doing here anyway?"

"Kurenai and I were worried about you since we haven't heard from you since the funeral. We just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out with us," Asuma answered. 

"I see," I nodded. "I'll just shower real quick and go get changed,"

I guess it couldn't hurt. I haven't been doing anything anyway.

They nodded and I rushed to the bathroom. I only took a ten-minute shower and changed into my ninja attire. 

I slipped my shoes on and they both stood up so we could leave my apartment. 

"So where are we going then?" I asked as I locked my door behind me.

"We can go walk to the tea shop. Anko was asking earlier if we could pick up some dumplings for her," Kurenai suggested.

I followed Asuma and Kurenai to the tea shop while looking down at my feet. I was still depressed over Dad.

"You two seem to be getting along," I heard Kakashi's voice.

I looked up and I saw Kurenai's cheeks turn pink. She tried to come up with an excuse and looked away, embarrassed.

"So what are you doing here?" Asuma asked him.

He was reading a book while leaning against the wall and looked up from the book. 

"I'm here to buy something and put it on a grave," He answered. "Plus I'm here to meet someone,"

"Who are you meeting?" I asked.

He looked inside of the tea shop and we all noticed two cloaked men sitting inside. My eyes widened when I recognized the cloak.

"I'm just waiting for Sasuke," Kakashi replied.

"It's unlike you to be waiting for something. Is that item for Obito?" Asuma asked.

"Yeah...kind of." 

Sasuke then showed up and looked surprised. 

"Kakashi, it's not like you to show up early," He stated. "What gives?"

"Well, sometimes I do," Kakashi replied.

Sasuke looked inside the tea shop curiously and then the three of us gave a quick nod to Kakashi. 

We left to follow those cloaked figures and my heart pounded. Was it Itachi?

We stopped in front of them by the lake, forcing the two to stop walking. My heart continued to race and I couldn't tell who it was since that straw hat was in the way.

"You guys aren't from around here aren't you?" Asuma asked, narrowing his eyes. "What are you doing in this village?"

"It's been a long time, Asuma...Kurenai...Kasumi..."

That voice...it is Itachi.

Asuma continued talking. 

"The fact that you know our names must mean you're a ninja formerly of this village,"

He took off his hat and we immediately made eye contact. Asuma and Kurenai were both shocked to see him. 

He was giving me a look and I could tell what he was trying to tell me with that look. He was pretty much telling me that I shouldn't be here and was questioning why I'm even here in the first place. 

We couldn't talk at all because then it would raise suspicion and that's the hard part. Plus, I didn't pay him any attention when we were children, so they would definitely know something was up if I said something to him right now. 

"Well, what do you know," Asuma smiled sardonically. "Itachi Uchiha,"

"Are these friends of yours, Itachi?" 

I recognized Kisame's voice. 

Oh no. This isn't good.

He took off his straw hat and he grinned at us, showing off his shark teeth. "Hope we can get acquainted later. The name's Kisame Hoshigaki,"

I was a little scared that Kisame would threaten to expose me if I did something, but he seemed to be pretending that he doesn't know me right now. 

"Why should we wait for later when I can just wipe the floor with you now?" Asuma asked, threateningly.

"Boy Itachi," Kisame chuckled. "It looks like they hate you as much in this village as they do in mine,"

"We know who you are Kisame," Kurenai stated. "We've heard all about you. You're from the Hidden Mist Village. Suspected of espionage and the murder of a feudal lord, you're a rogue ninja from the Land of Water, wanted in every nation,"

"You're a high-level S-rank criminal listed prominently in the bingo book," Asuma added and then turned to Itachi. "Itachi, I've gotta hand it to you. The fact that you'd show your face, even after what you did, it takes some guts,"

Itachi's stoic expression didn't change. 

"I'm warning you two," He stated coldly. "You don't want to interfere with me. It isn't my desire to kill you."

"You know, that's pretty hilarious coming from a killer," Asuma retorts. "Now come on, out with it! I know you didn't come in here skulking in here dressed like that for no good reason. What are you after?"

Kisame reached behind his right shoulder and grabbed the handle of his sword. He swung it down towards the pavement, creating a gigantic hole from the impact. 

"This guy is getting on my nerves," Kisame growled. "Can I kill him?"

I clenched my jaw. I wasn't going to let Kisame lay a hand on my brother.

"Well, I guess we're not going anywhere without a fight," Itachi shrugged. "Just try not to overdo it. Your moves tend to stand out,"

I knew Itachi would never intentionally cause harm to me, so I wasn't too worried about him. I was mainly worried about Kisame. He doesn't care whether Asuma is my brother or not and he definitely doesn't care about me.

Kisame grinned dangerously and lifted the giant sword, resting it on his shoulder. "They're as good as dead!"

Kisame immediately made the first move by swinging his gigantic sword at Asuma. I pushed Asuma out of the way quickly and used a kunai to block the hit. Kisame looked a bit surprised to see me ready to fight him. 

"Kasumi, move!" Asuma shouted.

"You better listen to him," Kisame said quietly to me. "I don't care either way if you get hurt, but Itachi does,"

Asuma didn't hear what he said and Kisame rose his sword above his head to make another hit. I quickly moved out of the way and Asuma took my place, pushing against the sword with his chakra blade.

I swiftly glanced over at Itachi and Kurenai, seeing that she was trapping him in a genjutsu.

I focused on Asuma and Kisame once I saw that she already had that handled. I also wasn't ready to face him in a fight either. 

Asuma grunted, struggling to push against Kisame's huge sword. 

Kisame continued to grin. "Let me introduce you to my great blade, Samehada the Shark Skin!"

The bandages around Samehada unraveled. The sword had hundreds of spikes and he swung it down at Asuma, the spikes stabbing into him.

Asuma cried out in pain and clutched his wound. 

"Asuma!" I yelled.

"It doesn't slice," Kisame said. "It cuts you to ribbons!"

I quickly weaved some hand signs for my rock shield technique and Kisame's sword broke it. It gave Asuma a few seconds to recover and Asuma suddenly smirked.

"It's about time Kurenai,"

I looked over and saw that Itachi was staring off into space and Kisame was too. Kurenai placed them under a genjutsu.

She started running towards Itachi with a kunai and I had to fight the urge to step in and shield him. My heart raced, but then Itachi took me by surprise.

"Genjutsu at this level doesn't work on me," Itachi stated.

Suddenly, Kurenai was standing still and Itachi was running towards her. She ducked at the exact moment he swung at her, then he followed up with a kick. She attempted to block it with her arms, but the force pushed her off her feet and made her fall to the lake. 

"Kurenai!" Asuma shouts, worriedly.

"I wouldn't be looking there if I were you," Kisame taunted.

Kurenai was about to stand up, but then Itachi was behind her.

I was in shock and nothing could get me to move right now. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to attack the love of my life, but I couldn't let Kurenai die.

"You live up to your reputation," Itachi said. "However this is the end of the line, for you anyway,"

I snapped out of my frozen state and rushed over to Kurenai, seeing Kakashi was behind Itachi.

Asuma managed to cut Kisame on the cheek and then weaved a sign.

"Water style: Water shock bomb jutsu!" Kakashi and Kisame both exclaimed.

Two huge bursts of water arose from the lake, in the form of a shark crashed into each other, shielding us from Kisame and Itachi.

"Not that I'm unhappy to see you, but what are you doing here?" Asuma asked.

"Well you know," Kakashi started. "I asked you to take care of those two earlier, but I guess I got a little worried."

Itachi stared at Kakashi.

"Kakashi, it's you."