Time passed, and nothing altered between them.
The situation between the Uchiha clan and Konoha only escalated, with Itachi being sent back and forth to find out information and find a way to end all of this. Throughout it all, regardless of how top-secret it all supposedly remained, he kept on discussing it with Imi—because she always seemed to know before it even happened. When something big had occurred and he came to her house, she looked at him in a way that conveyed everything. Not that Itachi was complaining; if anything, it was a relief to have someone else know about it—even if he didn’t feel like discussing it, just having Imi there to understand certainly helped him through it all.
Imi began to receive more freedom. The ANBU had pushed back any signs of activity from missing nins around the village that might be from the group, but recently there had been nothing. They had waited a while, being cautious to make sure that Imi wouldn’t be attacked the moment they lowered their guard, but as all signs remained clear, Imi was allowed to resume her training again. Itachi most often accompanied her there, as he could act as a bodyguard in the meantime, and in the times when she was allowed out into the village as well, to just get some fresh air and space. Protecting Imi was one thing, but there was a difference between that and a prison—the Hokage had agreed that she needed to return to a degree of normality in her life, and ultimately she had received it.
Her ninja abilities had surprised Itachi, however. Though he knew she had skills, evidently, whether innate underlying abilities such as her sensing powers or others like her heightened strength which she had told him about as well—Itachi was still impressed with what he saw. But after that moment of shock, he had to shake it off; to remind himself that he shouldn’t be feeling this way. After all, she treated her ninja skills the same way as everything else—with such focus and concentration. It was almost like she went into a trance, similar to that of meditation. But Imi had told him afterwards that she had to be that way—that it was the only reason she had started training to begin with.
And it revealed another reason that connected her further to Itachi.
Imi had never considered fighting an option in her life. Arguments and confrontations weren’t her thing and never had been, preferring to solve things in a more peaceful manner. But her sensing abilities had showed up, and she couldn’t stop them—and they needed to be controlled. Plus, others in her family had been ninjas and it had been suggested that it would be useful to lots of people, and so she had trained with the idea of protecting them in mind. Which is why she had felt even more affected with their deaths—a part of Imi blamed herself for what had happened. That she should have done more to protect and save them. Itachi immediately rebuked that idea, telling her that she shouldn’t feel that way; she’d been put at a disadvantage being taken off guard trying to focus on her.
Still, it didn’t take long for her melancholy feeling to disappear as Itachi confessed to a similar attitude towards his ninja abilities. He’d always known they had a lot in common, but then abruptly something else would pop up that surprised him. And he also found that as the time passed, it wasn’t the only thing that was surprising him. Itachi had to deal with the Uchiha clan’s planned coup d’état, how the village was going to respond—though he didn’t know how at the moment—and what he was going to do in all of this. He’d been worrying about Sasuke and his place in the situation, and how he could keep him safe after it all…but Itachi now found he was worrying about Imi, too.
It was Imi his thoughts first turned to a little while later, as well, when everything finally came together—when it was decided what was going to happen. The moment Itachi realised what he would have to do, though he accepted it, understanding there was no way out, he could concentrate only on heading to where she was, forcing himself to put one foot in front of the other, his mind whirling with the news. But Imi was already waiting for him; though she didn’t know the details, as she had been sitting there a chill had run up her spine and she felt as if a cloak of darkness; sadness had settled over her. And she knew it was to do with Itachi.
When she saw the look on his face she knew it was bad; his emotions were already starting to show through, and he always kept everything back. Imi led him inside and sat him down next to her on the bed—she didn’t push him to say anything, knowing this was difficult and wanting him to do it in his own time. Yet there was still a part of her that wanted to simply pat him on the hand, tell him that everything was alright and that he didn’t have to tell her. Imi hadn’t sensed that many bad things in her time but she couldn’t tell which one was worse; this or what she had felt around her parent’s death. In a way, she wanted to say this one—and that was what scared Imi the most.
For a while, things had been spent in silence while Itachi rested a little. They drank tea, watched the world outside…normal things, and they both knew it didn’t feel right, but Itachi just needed to compose himself. But still, even with those few minutes of regular activities, the evening hadn’t been a pleasant one. Itachi eventually told Imi what had happened in a robotic voice, barely able to recount it, only for it all to fully hit him as he fell once again into silence. The weight of what he would have to do occurred to him, and that he was going to do it, and automatically tears began to spill from his eyes. Imi couldn’t stop herself from doing the same, knowing it would mean he would have to leave the village, and did the only thing she could do: wrapping her arms around him and pulling him into a hug, Itachi responding by burying his face into her shoulder.
How long they both simply lay there staring out of the window, they didn’t know. But they didn’t want to get up knowing what would happen if time continued. If Itachi went on with his life. Maybe if they just stayed where they were, nothing would change—everything would be ok. Though they both understood this was a lie; and that Itachi had work to do. Eventually he sat up, and voiced out loud his wish to save Sasuke, regardless of what he had been told, and sitting up with him, Imi went through it all. Neither of them enjoying it in the slightest, they discussed what he would do, what his plan would be…everything that needed to be taken into account.
By the time Itachi left and went home, though there were no more tears left for either of them, sleep wasn’t easy that night—able to do nothing but stare at the wall.
They tried not to mention it after that. It had been talked about and Itachi knew what he had to do, after all—there was no point repeating the details. Imi comprehended how important this whole thing was, and she wasn’t about to try to convince Itachi otherwise. Though it pained her to know he was leaving, that was the way it was—and she would enjoy the time she had with him while it was still around. Itachi took the same viewpoint, visiting her whenever he could—when he wasn’t training and organizing everything for his plan—and just living for the moment.
But little did he know just what it would end up with him doing…
