Chapter 52 - Loss and Truth

"Either people change or they die before they do. It's one or the other." – Orochimaru.

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While the houses bore some resemblance to what Itachi was familiar with, that wasn't the difference that Itachi saw, nor the one that drove the cold blade of realization through his stomach.

The small city below them and the people moving at this time of the evening was familiar with Itachi, but what wasn't familiar was the lack of anything that showed that a ninja was down below, especially in a big Hidden Village like this, if it was a Hidden Village at all.

There were practically no defenses as far as he could tell. He had thought that it was because they were too high up in the sky but it was still the same even when they made their way to the ground. No signs of Chakra or a Shinobi in sight. No anti-sensory barrier around the city or any sort of defense at all.

Even the architecture looked different as he got a closer look.

Itachi was blankly looking around when their team leader called out to him. "Itachi, mind focusing? The souls we're releasing are around here."

'Everything is different.' Though it was possible that he was in some foreign land in or around the Elemental Nations, his instincts told him it wasn't so. It was familiar to some level from what Itachi remembered, and yet it felt foreign.

It was like he could just tell that his ho– where he came from was nowhere near.

He remained silent as the leader directed them to where the soul of a man wandered around, except that this soul had a phantom chain stuck on their chest.

Konsō – this is a purifying technique that Shinigami used in sending wandering souls like this to the Afterlife by tapping the hilt of their blade on the forehead of the souls.

He watched numbly as the man performed the process twice and led them to other souls to do the same.

When it got to Itachi's turn to perform the Konsō, the frightened and unsure soul asked him rather shakenly.

"W-will I really go to heaven?"

Itachi didn't know how to feel when looking at the soul. "I wouldn't truly call it heaven, but it is the Afterlife if that helps."

He pressed the hilt of his blade against the head of the man's spirit and watched as it slowly disintegrated into lights to be reborn in the Soul Society.

"Well that takes care of that. Now it's time to kill some nearby Hollows."

Itachi was still out of it when he tracked down a Hollow and swiftly killed it without it ever sensing him.

There was still the hope that if he could figure out where he was, he might be able to find the Hidden Leaf Village and see how it was doing after the war. Hopefully maybe even find his brother and find out how he was doing after his second death.

'And then what?' This was a thought that started appearing to him recently any time he thought back to the Village or Sasuke. What would he do now as a wandering soul that he couldn't do in his life, one he spent practically running away from Sasuke?

It wasn't until the end of this small exercise that Itachi was finally able to come back to his senses after taking a major step towards the closure he wanted.

'Very good, Itachi.'

He heard a voice in his head that he hadn't heard before. It wasn't anything like Tsukuyomi's soft thrumming voice that sounded both young and old, this one sounded old and harsh – full for the lack of a better word.

'Amaterasu?' No matter how many times he called, he didn't hear any other word from the voice that was very well the other half of his Zanpakutō spirit.

Seeing he wouldn't be getting an answer any time soon, he stopped and reserved speaking to Tsukuyomi about it when he got back to the Seireitei.

"And that takes care of the last Hollows in the area. It's time to head back." A Senkaimon opened a moment later and they all passed through and arrived back at the Soul Society.

Despite not having exerted himself on this assignment, Itachi felt as if he felt lighter. His heart no longer felt heavy as it did. His visit to the World of the Living made him start accepting that there was nothing still holding him tied to the Village, or even Sasuke.

Sasuke made his wish of dying come through so he should have less attachment with anything concerning his life and he was beginning to understand that.

"Itachi, follow me." His team leader said as they left the Senkaimon area. "Captain Shihōin said I should bring you along with me when coming to give my report."

Itachi said nothing before Body Flickering in his next direction while his poor team leader struggled to catch up.

The man arrived at Yoruichi's office while panting a bit after a minute of Itachi waiting for him.

"Fast fuckers." He grumbled and knocked before pushing the door open. "My team and I have returned, Captain Shihōin."

The man gave his account of the assignment he and his team carried out, saluted and left Itachi behind as he left.

With the three of them left behind, Soi Fon hiding in the roof, Yoruichi regarded Itachi with a knowing smile. "Your eyes are looking a bit healthy. See anything good?"

Seeing the knowing smile on her face, Itachi realized that Yoruichi might have singled him out for this particular mission and for the particular reason why she said his eyes were looking healthy.

"What I didn't see is more apt." Itachi spoke with melancholy. "It's a bit different from what I remembered. And besides, I don't think there's anything I would have done if it was as I remembered it."

Though she didn't fully understand what he meant, he could relate a bit to what he was feeling.

"Well then. I'm looking forward to the type of Shinigami you'll become." She said before dismissing him. Watching as he left, Yoruichi thought about what must be going on in his mind now and how she wanted to see how it'll affect him.

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Time slowly passed in the Soul Society and with it came the consequences of its passing – change.

For some souls, this meant nothing important while for others this meant drawing ever so closer to the answers they sought.

For others it represented the dawn of new beginnings and achievable dreams.

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A/N: And that's it for the super extra long beginning, a little short chapter but there's nothing to write on this topic other than unnecessary drawing it out, and I think It's about time I picked up the story's pace.

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