Stand By Me

STAND BY ME - chapter 24

It had been three years since Itachi left for his mission. Was it fair to even call it a mission anymore? The longing pressure since that day became too much to bear. How much more waiting until I feel lost for good?

---

"This is exactly what you need." Shisui said, confidently.

"A mission?" I moped. I hadn't left the house for about a week or so, mainly because I was simply not in the mood to. I spent most of my time training my two younger sisters. They seemed to enjoy that, at least.

"Uh-huh. A mission. C'mon." Shisui grabbed my wrist, and dragged me inside of the Hokage's office. Both of us bowed down.

"Hokage-sama." I spoke.
"Aya, you're still on active duty, and this is a rather simple mission. Just gather some information about the stuff detailed in this scroll." Tsunade said, handing me the hefty scroll.

"That's unusually a lot." Shisui said, eyeing the scroll.

"No matter. I'll be back soon, Hokage-sama." I said.
"You mean, we'll be back soon." Shisui retorted. I looked at him.
"You're with me a lot lately." I snarkily replied.
"You've an attitude lately." Shisui rolled his eyes.
"You stink lately." I attacked him back.

"Enough!" Tsunade said, smashing a clenched fist on her table, some papers flew away by the sudden force. It was enough so that Shisui and I were somewhat shocked. "You two may be dismissed, now."

"My apologies, we'll take our leave." I said, ashamed by my sudden burst of annoyance.
Both Shisui and I bowed, and left.

---

"What was that all about?" Shisui said, hands in his pockets, nonchalantly strolling throughout the woods.

"Huh?" I looked at him, and recalled our bickering in the Hokage's office. "Oh. That. I'm sorry, Shisui."
Shisui's pace slowed down and looked down on me, eyes clearly concerned by my erratic behaviour.

"You can tell me if something's up." Shisui said.
"I appreciate that."
"It's because Itachi's gone, isn't it?" Shisui asked.
"Why do you think that is?" I asked him.
"Your temperament is back, now that he's gone."
I sighed.

"Shisui... it's been three years since Itachi has left me - no, this village. I think I'm okay now." But I knew deep inside, I wasn't. I was still trying to get over him, because now it was clear to me, that there was no way he was coming back to the village. It's just been too long. "But I just can't seem to nudge this feeling that you know what Itachi's up to, Shisui." I stared at him. "I'll find out soon enough, with these eyes." I pointed my finger to my Byakugan.
"If you say so." Shisui looked up at the sky, hands still in his pockets. "I'm waiting for Itachi, too."

---

"It's been a while since I've had a mission as simple as this one," I relaxed onto the cushioned chair, sipping my cup of tea, "It's nice."

"Yeah. We're in a state of peace, so.. naturally, the missions are less violent, I guess." Shisui reasoned.
"Shisui, can I ask you something?" I set my cup of tea to the side.
"Anything." He said, running a hand through his hair.
"You always seem to be around me. Why?" I knit my hands together, narrowing my eyes into his. Shisui chuckled.
"You're my friend." He said.
"Of course, but..." Sighing, again, "At the most convenient of times, you always show up. You're sort of like a messenger of some -"
"Itachi, the day before he left, told me something." Shisui looked much more serious now. My eyes were on his, ready to hear what he was going to say next.

"Itachi told me to take care of you."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped.
"In case you go out of hand. I promised him I'd keep an eye on you."
"Seems like Itachi's been making people make all sorts of promises." I spat, crossing my arms.
"Now you're acting childish." Shisui closed his eyes, and laughed.
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway..." I looked out to the window, and then back to Shisui, smiling, "Kayumi told me you want a child."
Shisui, who was drinking his tea, met my eyes, "She told you that."
"Yes."
"I do want to have a child. A family with someone I love is one of my dreams."
"I get the feeling." I smiled more, and for the slightest moment, I had thought of what it would be like having a family with Itachi. The thought vanished quickly like dust being blown away.

---

Shisui and I were back to Konohagakure next day.
"Well, it was good working with you as always, Shisui." I extended my hand in his direction, and his palm shook mine.
"It was good." He smiled.
"I'm sorry for giving you a hard time. You can go on ahead, I'll hand in the mission report." I smiled.
"No worries." Shisui waved goodbye.

---

A note was taped to the Hokage's door.

Be back in 15 minutes. Lunch break with Shizune. - Tsunade

I'll just walk in anyway, I thought. I opened the door, as quietly as possible, and placed the mission report on Tsunade's desk. I quickly grabbed scrap paper, and wrote out a note to place on top of the report.

This is Aya reporting in from my mission with Shisui. Mission success. Hope it's no problem you don't mind me walking in even though you're not here. - Aya Hyuga & Shisui Uchiha

I placed the note on top of my mission report, and walked towards the door. But for the slightest second, I hesitated to twist the door knob, as if the gut of my stomach was telling me "No. Stop. Don't leave. This is your chance." A weight hung over my body.
If Itachi was gone for so long, the Hokage had to know why. The mission details must be somewhere here in Tsunade's mountains of paperwork. I could quickly scan out anything under Itachi's name with my Byakugan, and no one would ever know I was here.

Byakugan!

It took me a couple of moments, but Itachi's name was quickly spotted. And there was the paper. The paper that had determined Itachi's absence. I could finally have some closure.

It took me a couple of minutes to digest what I had just read, and my legs felt heavy. This was not an easy mission. What the hell? Itachi, oh my Kami. The pain you must be going through.

---

I couldn't sleep that night. I stared at the ceiling, worried about Itachi's wellbeing. I let out a frustrated sigh. The Akatsuki were certainly no joke, they would kill you and walk away as if nothing happened. That's the kind of people they were.

Uchiha Itachi is to find members of the Akatsuki and gain intel on their abilities and ideology was the first sentence of the mission details. It was burned into my memory. He is to spy on the organization.

"Poor Itachi..." I muttered, a pained tear leaving my eye, "I wish I was there with you." Now that I understood why he was gone for so long, I felt ashamed for having doubt in him. I knew he was still out there, doing his thing, and for that, I would wait for as long as I would have to.