Chapter Text
The young woman who had been kneeling down beside the Uchiha could feel her mouth being dried. Even if she would say that Uchiha’s lips were another kind of softness compared to Deidara’s ones, that was not important anymore. This position completely looked like she initiated the kiss! She had to clear up the misunderstanding—
“FUCK! I KNEW IT, HMM! GET AWAY FROM [FIRST NAME], YOU UCHIHA PERVERT!” Deidara’s voice penetrated the whole suspense of the room as he barged inside. He brought out a medium sized clay owl from his pouch. His face tightened. “How dare you use the Sharingan and force her to do that to you, hmm!”
“H-huh?! W-wait, Deidara—” Shisui’s body was suddenly pulled towards the side of the room by blue Chakra threads controlled by the no other than the redhead puppet master himself.
“Depending on your answer, I can twist your limbs however I want,” Sasori muttered from behind his back. His darkened hazel eyes stared at the Uchiha soul. “Or rather, killing you here would be more optimal.”
Shisui sweatdropped. “Hey, hey! Listen to me! I didn’t use the Sharingan for god’s sake! It was an accident—”
"KATSU--"
“Everyone, stop,” Itachi said with a normal tone. “It’s what Shisui has said. It was all an accident. Kakuzu aimed to hit Hidan with his hand, but it ended up hitting the back of her head, which pushed her body down onto Shisui’s, and that’s the result. Just calm down.”
Wait, so, Itachi saw everything?
“W-what?! [First Name] is that true, hmm?!” Deidara asked as he stopped his hand from throwing the clay explosives at Shisui.
She frantically nodded. “Yeah… Shisui-san didn’t force it on me, rather it should be me who should take the blame. I couldn’t hold my balance, so th-th-that happened." Her face returned back to its scorching red color.
“That’s right. [First Name] couldn’t avoid it,” Itachi added. His face showed no signs of panic at all.
“… O-oh, but Shisui, you bastard!” Deidara pointed at him. “Don’t you dare enjoy the thing you just did with her, okay, hmm?!”
“Sure! I’ll erase it from my memory!” Shisui replied with a clumsy smile. “Leave it to me!”
Sasori hmphed as he retracted his Chakra strings, causing the Uchiha to let out a deep sigh.
“Itachi, you should’ve said that earlier. I was almost killed, you know?!” Shisui whined.
“My bad," he held a blank expression on his face.
Was he being a bit too indifferent?
“Oi, [First Name],” Sasori called out.
“… Yes?”
“Go wash your mouth three times with soap.” With that said, he walked away.
“O-okay…” She would say that water was enough!
Shisui let out a small laugh. “Boy, not only am I hated, but I’m also seen as a germ now.”
“Yeah, you are! And don’t ever get close to [First name] again,” Deidara huffed and also trudged out of the room. “I’ve got to deal with that stupid Jashinist and the old geezer, hmm!”
So it meant that everything turned out well, right? She felt immense weight being lifted off her shoulders. She had totally thought that everyone’s emotion analysis would turn black for a second!
But why does it seem that Itachi felt nothing at all? The emotion analysis was not even activated.
“Anyway, Itachi, just why were you here for?” Shisui asked.
“I was just planning to have a talk with [First Name],” he said. “But it seemed that I came in at the wrong time.”
“You didn't have to word it like that, right?! You knew it was an accident! Anyway, I’m going back to the spirit realm for a while.” He then moved his eyes to the young woman. “[First Name], see you!”
A puff of smoke erupted from the Uchiha, and he had gone.
[First Name], on the other hand, gulped. Even if she knew that things would probably be so awkward during her further interactions with Shisui, she would not deny that having a conversation with Itachi would be as awkward! Moreover, what would Itachi want to talk about anyway?
“I-Itachi-san, do you need something from me?” she asked.
“... I just wanted to apologize for not being able to protect you,” Itachi lowered his eyes.
He was still thinking about that all this time? Itachi was not the one to be blamed to begin with, and besides she had long forgotten about that event. “It’s not your fault, Itachi-san! I should’ve thought properly before plunging myself in front of Naruto, but at least I was able to protect him.”
He remained silent.
This is not working. She had to lift his mood up. “I-Itachi-san, do you want to eat some sweets? I think that I saw some mochi in the refrigerator—”
“Are you close with Shisui?”
She immediately stopped in her tracks. Were our interactions that suspicious?! I mean we did accidentally d-d-do that earlier. “I guess, but he likes to treat me as as his younger sister when he took care of me in the spirit realm.”
Was this answer even a good decision? But she wasn’t lying!
EMOTION ANALYSIS ACTIVATED. The color of your love interest is as follows. Itachi: orange.
He seemed to smile a bit as amber orange aura radiated from him. “… Right… I mean that’s his personality. He’s always liked to take care of others, even me when I was young.”
“He’s a nice person, isn’t he?” she agreed.
The room then went silent again.
This conversation is getting more awkward than before! She lowered her head with eyes meeting with her slippers on the floor. She had to bring up another topic of discussion!
“[First Name]…”
“Yes—” As soon as she lifted her head up, she could see his face being so close to hers. A surge of warmth instantly spread in her cheeks.
"[First Name]… I think I have feelings for…”
EMOTION ANALYSIS ACTIVATED. The color of your love interest is as follows. Itachi: pink.
Her heart pulsated like a loud motor in her chest.
“… buying more groceries… see you later,” Itachi ended as rose pink aura flowed out from him.
… Huh? “O-okay, see you later.”
After he had left the room, [First Name] could feel her face being scorching hot. What was that all about?! Was he trying to confess his feelings towards her? His emotional color was pink for god’s sake! Even if Deidara had done the confession to her directly, almost hearing it from Itachi himself made her heart beat faster than ever!
What was going on today?!
***
“WHAT?!” Suigetsu gasped. He dropped his spoon that had scooped his strawberry yogurt. “You did what?!”
“Ehh?! Really?!” White Zetsu exclaimed. “You did that to Shisui?!”
Juugo raised his eyebrows.
After the incident, [First Name] had been sitting down cross-legged on the floor with Suigetsu, Juugo, and White Zetsu in her room for a reunion chat. The floor was filled with snacks ranging from rice crackers, chips, and candy. At first it was planned to be a chat between her and those two Taka members, but White Zetsu insisted that he joined since he was interested in the ‘drama’.
“Don’t say it too loudly, Suigetsu, Zetsu!” she whispered.
“But you know, why are you so scared about Itachi being concerned about it? You’re not even dating, unless he also likes you,” Suigetsu then let out a laugh, “Of course not. I mean that guy with the wrinkles just wouldn’t be romantically involved with any—”
She gave him a stern expression as memories of Itachi’s almost confession emerged in her mind.
“HUH?! HIM TOO?!” His jaws dropped.
“… I’m quite speechless,” Juugo said.
“Wow, this love drama is getting intense!” White Zetsu added.
“… Seriously, is the Akatsuki some kind of reverse harem? Almost everyone’s in love with you,” Suigetsu sweatdropped. “Sounds like a dream come true for someone who’s a manga fan, if you ask me. Well, we’re comic characters though.”
“Right…” She forced out a laugh as guilt landed in her chest. She nibbled at her rice cracker. D-darn, did I just get exposed by Suigetsu?
“But isn’t this kind of a warning sign that you have to choose who you want to be with now? You can’t keep this us forever, you know?” White Zetsu said.
That was true. She could not keep it forever. Shisui did mention that she could choose the character she wanted to change their emotion color to red, but she had not even decided about it.
“… You’re right, but I still need more time to understand my feelings,” she said.
“I agree. Romance shouldn’t be something to be rushed about,” Juugo added.
“... Hmm, but if I were you, I would start by thinking about who I can potentially have a long relationship with,” White Zetsu suggested. “Like, taking Sasori for an instance. He’s so dedicated to his puppetry to the point that he would forget that he had a girlfriend!”
“Or rather, his puppets are his girlfriend,” Suigetsu shrugged his shoulders. “He’s made female puppets before, right? Who knows what he does with them.”
“Oooh, how perverted!” White Zetsu teased.
“I’m pretty sure that he’s not like that…” [First Name] sweatdropped. If that were true, she would totally change her perspective on the redhead!
“And as for Deidara, well, he tends to explode things on a whim, so I guess safety is not secured?” Suigetsu asked. “I mean who would want to wake up in the middle of night with loud explosive booms? Definitely, not me.”
“The tongues on his hands would just be pretty distracting too! From dating and you know those things,” White Zetsu added with a grin.
Man, this is getting explicit real quick.
“What are those things?” Juugo asked as he bit on his dorayaki.
The three immediately stared at him. How innocent he was!
“U-uh, you don’t have to know about it, Juugo,” Suigetsu gave him a clumsy smile.
The innocent young man titled his head.
“M-moving on, to the last candidate, Itachi Uchiha,” Suigetsu cleared his throat. “I guess he’s the older brother that anyone would want. He’s pretty caring, attentive and would guarantee that he would protect you no matter what.”
“He can also cook!” White Zetsu added. “He’s the ideal boyfriend!”
“Yeah, so maybe Itachi would be better for you?” Suigetsu asked.
Although she knew that he was the ideal older brother type and the love interest with the highest potential, she could not just forget about Deidara and Sasori. They also took care and helped her in their own ways.
“… What about Shisui?” Juugo asked.
The three stared at him again.
“Wait, wait, Juugo,” Suigetsu sighed. “Didn’t Shisui say that he’s [First Name]’s older brother figure? Even if he acts playful, he doesn’t see her that way.”
“Really? He doesn’t act like that though,” Juugo insisted. “Whenever he looks at [First Name], it looks more like out of subtle fondness than endearment as a younger sister.”
White Zetsu let out a gasp. “How did you know that?!”
“I just sensed it.”
[First Name] paused. When she was about to be kissed but him, she had thought that he was going to do it for real, but he did not.
He did not…
Why?
Suigetsu ruffled his hair. “Geez, this is getting so complicated! So, basically, there is a love pentagon going on around [First Name]?”
“Love pentagon!” White Zetsu repeated.
If Shisui did really have feelings for her, why did he not say so? Or was it because he could not? She did not know.
“But in a way, does it really matter?” White Zetsu asked. “Shisui did say that after we’ve defeated Obito, you’re gonna go back to your own world, right [First Name]? So it might be better if you don’t develop any romantic relationships with anyone since it’s gonna hurt them in a long term.”
That was the truth. She did not want to hurt their feelings either.
Suigetsu gave a small pause and placed his spoon into the yogurt cup . “… You have a point there. [First Name], you’re gonna leave, right?”
“Yeah…” She nodded.
“… That sucks." He lowered his head.
“True…” White Zetsu wrapped his arms around himself.
Juugo lowered his eyes.
She had not expected to see these reactions from the three. Was this what they called as a true friend? When was the last time she had experience this? Although Deidara was also her friend, those three were definitely another definition of true friends that she had yearned for so long.
“But I’m really grateful to be friends with you three!” she said. “You guys are the best! I won’t forget about you!”
“D-don’t be saying cheesy stuff like that now! It’s embarrassing!” Suigetsu’s cheeks turned red.
“I’m also grateful to be your friend, [First Name],” Juugo said with a saddened smile. “But I'll be missing you a lot.”
“Yeah! [First Name] is one of the friends in my life that I’ll never forget!” White Zetsu added.
Honey yellow aura flowed out from them as they all grinned at her.
She felt a harsh pang in her chest.
I don’t want to go back at all.
The next few days, the Akatsuki and Taka had begun making plans to counter Obito. With the knowledge that Obito was going to initiate war and reincarnate the deceased Shinobis with Kabuto’s help, some members had dispersed themselves in sealing the corpses of those Shinobis. The other remaining members had also contacted the Hidden Clouds to be aware of Obito’s invasion to capture the Eight-Tails. At first the young woman had thought that it was impossible to do, but with Itachi’s calculating technique of persuasion, it was somehow a success.
However, she would not deny that with Shisui’s absence, the young woman would say that taking the leader position was tedious and difficult as she was the only one who knew about the plot of Naruto. She could not wait for him to return back since there was so much to plan out.
As time went by, everything in the hideout returned to normal, except that the Taka members would occasionally argue with Hidan and Kakuzu since they had not been familiarised with them yet. Kisame also had not shown any signs of suspicious behaviors, but it did not mean that she was going to let her guard down.
As for [First Name], she was back for another puppetry lesson with the redhead. His way of teaching was the same way as usual; however, whenever he asked her a lesson-related question, she would answer him curtly without looking at him in the eye. Obviously, with that happened between them in this very room, she could not see him the way she used to any longer.
“… Thank you so much for today, Sasori-san. I’ll leave now.” She stood up and packed her notebooks and pencils. She then headed towards the door.
Finally, the long period of awkwardness was over!
Before her fingertips touched the door knob, her arm was immediately tucked from behind, causing her body to face the redhead with her back pinned against the door. Her notebooks and pencil case fell from her hands and scattered on the floor.
“I haven't said that you could leave,” Sasori said. His eyes were locked onto hers.
She could feel her face burning. “A-ah… right…”
What is this situation again?!
“Shisui… what is he to you?” he asked.
Of course, he would ask about that, even Itachi did do the same. “We’re just comrades, but he acts like an older brother to me. It’s always been like that ever since I met him in the spirit realm.”
Sasori still had an indifferent expression. His eyes had not moved from her [eye color] ones.
“And he didn’t do stuff like that to me! I promise!” Her nerves frazzled.
After a short period of silence, he finally spoke up, “Hmm… although it doesn't matter to me, it does annoy me sometimes.” He placed his hand on the back of her head and snaked an arm around her waist, pulling her close to him.
The red shades of her face darkened as his fingertips tickled over her yukata fabric. “W-what are you—"
“I told you that I’d punish you if you did anything reckless, didn’t I?” He leaned his face close to hers.
She remembered this pattern as his faint mint breath came brushing against her lips.
Isn’t this kind of a warning sign that you have to choose who you want to be with now? Zetsu’s words replayed in her mind.
As if due to impulse, she immediately pressed her hands against his chest, slightly pushing him away. She lowered her head. “U-uh, I just remembered that I left my clothes in the laundry, so please excuse me!”
With that said, she gave him a quick bow and dashed out of his room with her face being as red as a tomato.
Argh, I can’t keep on doing this, can I?
***
Next she hung out at Deidara’s room with low spirits. This reverse harem was just making her life too difficult! And just what the hell was that excuse she made to Sasori? She had no idea how to talk him after that anymore—
“Oi, [First Name]! Look at my new masterpiece, hmm!” Deidara suddenly chirped.
With slow movements, she moved her eyes to the young man who was grinning at his newest eagle shaped clay figure. In contrast to her mood, the eagle lifted its head up high with full spirits and its wings were spread fully as if it could embrace any adversity in the entire world.
“… That looks fantastic, Deidara!" she forced a smile. She had to regain her composure.
Deidara frowned. “[First Name], you don’t look so well again-wait, don’t tell me it’s because of that Shisui bastard, hmm?!”
“No! He’s not like that! Trust me!”
“O-oh…”
The room suddenly became silent.
Man, this is damn awkward. I want to sink in the ground. Her eyes then traced around the young man’s long blonde hair, spotting several clay lumps stuck his hair locks. He had to be so committed to sculpting the figure to the point that his hair became dirtied from it.
“… Deidara, your hair is all tangled from the clay.” She pointed at his hair.
“Really?!” His hands fumbled with his hair locks like how a cat played with its strings.
C-cute! She could feel her heart throbbed a bit. “Here, I’ll help you. Turn around.”
Standing behind him, she began to pull the white clay lumps gently and combing his thick, silky blonde hair that oozed out the faint lemongrass scent. If the author would be so kind, he and Ino could be siblings, seriously. She remembered that when the young man was first introduced in the series, there were many predictions that he was related to the Yamanaka clan, even though it ended up not being true.
“Your hair is so soft,” she said as she brushed through the tangled hair locks. If he were to exist in her modern world, he would totally be a popular hair model.
“Th-thanks, hmm.” Rose pink aura radiated from him.
For some reason, she felt that Deidara's rose pink aura had a purer feeling compared to Sasori and Itachi's one. Maybe it was because he was the youngest of all three, and new to romance? Even so, she did not want to ruin his feelings--
“Hey, [First Name],” Deidara started. “I don’t know what is troubling you right now, but cheer up. I don’t like seeing you with that facial expression, hmm.” He turned to face her. His bright azure eyes were fixed onto her [eye color] ones.
Her heart throbbed again.
Crap, I’m starting to fall for him too! Oh no.
***
With a sigh, [First Name] started to head back towards her room. Just what was going on? Why the hell was she suddenly in love with three people at the same time?! How weird was that! Even of Suigetsu, White Zetsu, and Juugo's supposed love advice did help her a bit, she could not make up her mind.
As soon as she walked past the dining room, she spotted Sasuke and Karin discussing with each other at the table where a rustic map was laid out in front of them. They had to be so dedicated for sure.
It was then she realized that the two were staring at her as if asking what she was going here.
"Oi, [First Name]," Sasuke called out.
"Yeah?"
"I don’t know what’s going on between you and Nii-san, but if it’s in terms of romance, he's still new to it, so give him time.”
“WHAT?! Oh, so that’s how it is!” Karin adjusted her glasses. “No wonder why you said that Sasuke wasn’t you type.”
The young woman could feel heat rising to her cheeks, so that was the reason why Itachi could not confess to her, but she did not expect Sasuke to be aware of it! "R-right."
“And also, I’ve been wondering for a while, but are you four-timing?” he asked.
“W-what?!”
“To come think of it, Sasori, Deidara, Itachi, and Shisui all treat you differently than the other members here,” Karin placed her thumb under her chin. She then smirked. “Wow, [First Name], I didn’t know you have it in you.”
I’ve been found out already?!
“If you are, you’d better stop letting Nii-san being involved in this. Although we do have intentions on restoring the Uchiha clan, a woman like you is not needed.” His eyes narrowed.
So blunt.
“What about me, Sasuke?” Karin purred.
“You’re not needed either.”
Karin clicked her tongue and huffed.
“I-I’ll keep that in mind…” she softly said.
Maybe reverse harem is not all fun as it seems to be!
Before the young woman could leave the dining room, White Zetsu barged inside with gasps. “Oi, [First Name], Danzou Shimura has died!” he yelled.
"... What did you just say?!" Karin asked with her mouth slightly opened.
[First Name] face turned pale as everything seemed to have stopped in time. How could that be?! Sasuke had not even encountered him yet—
“Looks like things have gone worse, huh?” a familiar voice called out.
She moved her head to the direction of the voice seeing Shisui crossing his arms, and three more figures were standing behind him. One was a wrinkled old man with pale skinned like the moon, and a noticeable long goatee and horn-like protrusions on this head. The other two both wore a high collared white kimono, but one had long brown hair tied in a pony tail with blue markings under his eyes, while the other had short spiky brown hair and a blank forehead protector.
Hagoromo, Indra, and Ashura...?!