Like a Fairytale
The first time she met Itachi, he is just a replacement member for Squad Three, and since she's operating on perhaps two hours of sleep, Kiyomi isn't as gracious as she likes when she snipes at him for staring at her.
Masumi nudges her - hard, and pulls her a short distance away to chew her out.
"I know you're shaken up about Daiki…" he ignored her minuscule flinch. "But his death is just one of the casualties. We rely on each other, we can make it home. Just...give the kid a chance."
Ironically, he's ten, she's six. They're just kids themselves, or they were, a horrified part of her is screaming - "I gave Hanako, Aimi, Jun, and Hideaki, a chance." Kiyomi points out grimly and is only half disappointed with how little his expression changes. "What makes you think he will be any different than the rest?"
"Because, like us, he's an Uchiha," Masumi says. As if that explains anything and it doesn't. "He wouldn't be here unless the Hokage was sure that he is ready."
And isn't that interesting that he says 'the Hokage' instead of Hokage-sama, as he had during their first meeting. Before Kazuki-sensei's death, before they were sent directly to the front lines and lost so many comrades since.
Perhaps like her, he had lost his hero worship for their Kage.
"Fine. I'll be nice." Rolling her eyes, she turned around and walked back towards their teammate. "I was rude earlier. Didn't mean to snap. Sorry."
Itachi blinks, expression blank then, "Hnn", goes back to sharpening his kunai.
The War ends several months later.
Masumi had died, choking on his own blood, head barely attached to his shoulders, garrote wire wrapped around him, as well as a tree, leaving him trussed up like a macabre present.
Being the only original member of Team 3 when it's filled with so many ghosts is too much and she can't handle anymore of this. Once a shinobi, always a shinobi, though, so while officially, she's taken off the active duty roster, Kiyomi knows that should the Hokage give the order, she's expected to answer the summons and take on any mission he gives her.
It's a bitter pill to swallow, but she does, forcing herself to be content with the fact that she is alive, not dead. Her hands shake and sometimes, she wakes up screaming, body perpetually in a state of fight or flight but she is alive and that is what matters.
More months pass and sometimes, she spots Itachi, always from a distance and he seems to be doing well. Not like her, who's being pulled apart at the seams, her weakness and shame visible for all to see. The disgruntled expression on the faces of her clansmen that have the Sharingan is particularly grating, they believe that she's being willful, too willful, but none of them outright say that to her face.
The silent condemnation is enough and she's happy for that much.
"Oh…!" A tomato rolled out of the brown paper bag filled with groceries that she's carrying, rolling on the ground and Kiyomi chases after the ripe piece of food, rubbing it against her shirt and in a distant thought, reminds herself to wash it clean.
Someone cleared their throat and she glanced up to see Itachi.
"...I can carry the bag if you want?" he phrases the words like a question, even as he's reaching to take the burden anyway.
"Thank you."
It takes several more meetings like this before they do more than speak a sentence to each other while on the walk to her home. A month before Kiyomi calls him a friend, only to blink in surprise when Itachi smiled, his expression far more open than ever.
Privately, she wonders if she's his first friend but doesn't ask.
Kiyomi is good at that, keeping her thoughts to herself and letting Itachi let his guard down. Years pass by and Shisui is brought into her life because of Itachi, of course, and while it takes a bit longer for her to warm up to him, once she does, all three of them are thick as thieves and twice as close.
It's perhaps only thanks to Shisui's interference that Kiyomi is enlightened to Itachi's crush on her. Itachi is positively mortified when she corners him and asks, but when there's no denial from him, she realizes it's the truth. And, like everything monumental that happens to her, Kiyomi retreats to weigh the pros and cons.
Tossing and turning for half the night, she gives up on the idea of getting any sleep, especially when she admits to herself that she feels similar to her former kohai.
When she tells him that she reciprocated his crush, that she likes him, Shisui whoops with joy, and Itachi's expression is relieved and happy. Being with Itachi, as his girlfriend, doesn't hinder their friendship, only adds another layer to the complexity of their overall relationship. He confides in her more, and they both navigate kisses and less than platonic touching; they're each other's first.
It's peaceful and at the same time, fragile. It's wonderful.
Kiyomi has learned to live again.
Which, of course, is when everything goes terribly wrong. Shisui's drowned body is found in the river and people believe that Itachi killed him, but that's wrong. It's impossible, he wouldn't, he couldn't-!
The clan is plotting something and although it's been years since the war, Kiyomi trusts her instincts. Tries to get Itachi to open up and trust her, confide in her but he only pulls away even more.
Part of her wants to go to the Hokage, ask him to make some subtle inquiries and investigations, but she must have caught the stomach flu because she can't keep anything down. Her neighbor, Sei, eventually tires of hearing her puke her guts up and causing a ruckus and calls for an Iryō-nin.
This is when Kiyomi finds out that she's pregnant.
And she wants to share the news with Itachi, equally dreading and needing his input on what he wants, but he's an ANBU member, making it all the easier for him to avoid her. The further along in her pregnancy she gets, the more that anxiety increases until her doctor tells her that it's bad for the baby and she puts Itachi out of mind for now.
"I'm going to name you Ran if you're a girl, and Naoki, if you're a boy." Kiyomi rubs her stomach gently, smiling widely when she feels a kick. "You like those names, eh? Good. I can't wait to meet you, little bit."
Preparing for bed, she startles when she spots Itachi already in her bedroom, and for a moment, Kiyomi wants to rush to him, demand where he's been, and get a hug, but her instincts are SCREAMING at her to run, to flee, especially because when he turns around, Itachi is crying, a bloody sword in one hand and a baby rattle in the other.
Voice stuck in her throat, she takes a step back. There's no need to ask what he's doing as the evidence is in his hand and all over him.
"Kiyo-"
Her name had barely left his lips before she's making the tiger hand seal to Shunshin the hell out of there when pain exploded through her chest. Blood dribbled down her chin, and her eyes glanced down to see that someone's hand is right there…
'My baby, my baby…'
"KIYOMI." Itachi is calling her name, voice choked with tears, but he sounds so far away. "Kiyomi, please, only you…"
There is no time to say anything, as it is, she's having trouble focusing on his face, there's no time to ask why, to inquire further about the other person in the room, watching.
It's simply not enough time and she is tired.
So, Kiyomi closes her eyes.