Dear author... all I could think about after reading this installment was the awful image of a cute tiny Itachi from Shippuuden on the battlefield where he offered a dying nin water, only to be attacked. I love Itachi as a character and he got so totally hosed in canon, so reading Ramen-verse makes me happy happy happy because you've fixed so much that I hated in the manga! Poor pacifist Itachi gets to enjoy a loving relationship and leave the traumatic world of ANBU behind - thank goodness for Ramen-verse! Thank you so much for this stellar chapter!

damn these are really good.
I really like all these emotions and themes.
Well done!

You got such a striking talent for one-shots. Kudos! And every single one of them hit me hard every damn time. Applause!

This is one of my favorite Ramen-verse fics so far. It was written so well, and I loved to see just how human he really is.

I've been reading the ramen-verse series, and this was a good addition. The only thing I didn't understand completely was Sakura's last line "You won't make the same mistake again, Itachi." I didn't see it necessarily as a mistake. It was extremely unfortunate for the child to die, but Itachi couldn't have proceeded with any other course of action right? A mistake implies that he would have made the right choice by letting the child live, which would've jeopardized the mission. I can't think of another way Sakura could have rephrased her last line though. Those were just some of my thoughts. But a beautiful piece as always. Love your work. :)

This was really powerful! Rarely do I see such meaningful stories on fanfiction, and I really enjoyed this one.

Sad installment :( but interesting turn of events!

Damn, poor 'tachi-kun! I barely stopped the tears at how detailed the murder seemed.

powerful and touching. I cried for him.

I really liked the way your portraited this side of the shinobi life... like you said before, it had ups and downs, hard decisions to be made, priorities to be sorted out, no hesitation, and the fact that Itachi lasted so long in the ANBU team is remarkable. In the end, I think he found his redemption, he's gonna teach Genin and he also have the support of his beloved, so everything will be quite fine :)

Very intense.

Minor nitpick - the past tense of 'drag' is 'dragged' not 'drug'. It was enough to jar me out of your story since for the most part your grammar and spelling are really very strong.

Going back to the story, I could feel Itachi's pain and the trauma to his gentle soul. He's a ninja, but he is not immune from feeling and this expressed that beautifully.

I think Itachi's decision to step down was a good one. He's not emotionally able to take the demands of ANBU anymore.

Good Fic.

aww D: tub ti saw yllaer doog.

This was a personal favorite of mine, where Itachi was a gentle and peace-loving man. This has always put me on a story, I can relate to Sakura and Itachi, I'm hot-tempered and violent most of the time...in fact, my boys nicknamed me 'Haruno Sakura II' it was an amusing tittle that I gladly accepted. But by nature I too am a pacifist, I make my boys repent when they prod and test my volatile mood and ill-temperamental self, but sometimes, I'm just plain uncaring or maybe send them off with a vicious death-threat...haha. That doesn't sound pacifistic, does it now..hehe.

Always and forever will be your faithful reader,

Shura

You are right in your assumption. Itachi is not above himself to not feel guilty when he takes someone's life be it out of duty or necessity. Even if he is heralded as a killing machine, he is still a man and very much human and thus will be prone to emotions that would otherwise break a lesser man had they not have Itachi's training. It was clearly shown in Sasuke's retelling of the aftermath of the Uchiha massacre in the later chapters when Sasuke remembered that Itachi was crying after he tortured his beloved little brother with tsukuyomi. I don't see any loopholes in the flow of your story and I very much love this story. Humanizing a killing machine is never one's cup of tea but it is the reality, if anybody ever bothered to think about it. Thanks for sharing this.

I was expecting this, actually. Every story has sad parts.

I agree with you there. In my theory, everyone has chakra. The difference is just the amount. A civilian has lesser amount and a ninja has more. The child, being a child and a civilian at the same time, must have had an almost undetectable chakra signature thus Itachi's ANBU group failing to detect the child's presence. Basically the same thing you said. :D

I am also a research geek. Google and Wikipedia are my most visited sites aside from . And I think things through a lot. Don't be surprised if you see me blankly staring at nothing. That happens a lot.

Ooh, how exciting! And unique! I'd love to read about Itachi-sensei.