Tension. Stress. On the bridge of insanity.

Those were the best words to explain a camp made up of all sorts of ninja. Leaf, Sand, Stone, Mist, Sound, Cloud, Rain- Akatsuki.

Normally there would have been no way to get so different people together without having them all kill each other. It just didn't work like that. The world didn't work like that.

But desperate situations require desperate actions.

The shinobi world had finally been faced against such a big threat that not even all nine tailed bijuu assembled, the Akatsuki or even a world war including all five great nations could compare.

It was literally out of their world. An alien. The mother of shinobi, the first human to wield chakra and her powers seemed to have no weaknesses, no limits.

She was like a goddess.

She was a threat against the world, a threat that made leaders desperate enough to cooperate with criminals and made unstable murders and villains think rationally enough to realize that the only way any of them would survive this was by working together.

Everything was frozen. Twists. Revenge. Hate. It was all paused to fight a foe no one could take on by themselves.

When she had attacked, it had been straight out of the blue. It had been explosives, fire, and death. No one had seen in coming and no one had been prepared. Villages had been wiped out, and with them had entire civilian populations perished. More than a few people believed that the end of the world had come, and for many that was true as they saw loved ones die like flies and felt the decomposing smell of dead bodies lying unburied everywhere. There wasn't enough time or energy to bury the dead, all resources had to been given to the still living.

But right now, for five weeks straight, all there had been was waiting.

Ninja were used to fight. Adrenaline kicks. Challenges. And while it might have been a challenge at time to get food, the shinobi was truly running out of patience.

There was no missions. No use of chakra, because they never knew when they needed to be at top condition. No nothing.

All there were was waiting. Hard, uneven and cold places to sleep. Long nightshifts. Light sparing. Lack of sleep. Injured people. Dead people. Soldier pills. And they were all losing their patience.

There were no toothbrushes, no hair combs, no soap and no clean clothes. And really, it was driving all of them insane, criminals and kages alike.

Friendships were stained. Kage and high ranked jonin causally discussed things and made up battle plans with Akatsuki members. Missing nin seduced loyal shinobi of lack of other things to do. Kunoichi mourned their dead friends and husbands. Respected, strong ninja broke down. Quiet ones stepped up and took charge.

Never before had black and white been blurred into such a grey-zone.

Kakashi was watching the fire one night on his shift. Everything seemed surreal at the moment, friends and foes waiting impatiently, and Kakashi tried to figure out when their temporary peace was going to break. Sooner or later, somebody was forced to explode.

Probably one of their many unstable allies.

Sasuke had attacked his brother more than once, until Tsunade had threatened to execute him on the spot if he didn't calm down. They didn't have time for his vendetta. Right now, it was not the time to get revenge. Right now, the world was in danger and everyone was forced to join forces to stand a chance to take down a much stronger enemy. In Kaguya's presence, everyone else was merely ants in her way.

So many had died in her first attack. So many were injured. Medical ninjas had been forced to choose between their friends and even now, over a month after the first attack they were working 24/7 to heal vitally wounded ninja and save lives. Sakura and Tsunade worked alongside Kabuto. There was no difference between friend and foe anymore. No difference between Konoha- shinobi and Akatsuki, no difference between Sand, Cloud or rouge-nin. All survivors had gathered out of seer survival instincts. There was no time or place for minor or major difficulties- this was about the survival of the world.

The survival of humanity.

Itachi came and sat down by his side, roasting a fish over the fire. The stream they camped by was out fished so the only way he would have gotten it would have been to follow it a good part up streams. Sneaking out of camp was against the rules, but nobody really cared if the criminals did it as long as they didn't cause any trouble, so Kakashi didn't call him out on it.

He shouldn't feel comfortable in an s-classed rogue nin's presence, but whether it had to do with his tiredness, long forgotten memories about anbu missions with Itachi or simple madness- he did.

"This kind of reminds me of that time we camped by the border of Grass." Kakashi found himself saying, probably surprising himself as much as the Uchiha that he was willing to make small talk.

Last time they had seen each other, Itachi had put Kakashi in coma for several weeks after enduring his Tsykoyomi.

"Hn." Itachi put the roasted fish on a big leaf, wrapped it in it and broke it in half, giving one of them to Kakashi. Why, Kakashi didn't know. Perhaps out of nostalgia. "That one time we didn't eat solider-pills because we finished the mission early." Itachi remembered.

"This beats spoiler-pills." Kakashi said, biting into the hot meat. Itachi had no reason for poisoning him right now, and food was low and rationed in camp. He wouldn't say no to free food now and he needed the protein. "But it could use some pepper."

"Hn." Itachi agreed, silently missing spices too. And dango. Definitely dango.

Kakashi turned his body away from the fire and towards Itachi as he leaned back against oak, looking up in the clear, starlit sky. "I've always wondered why you did it. I never got the chance to ask. But now... We have all time in the word to kill."

"Wondered what?" Itachi said despite knowing what this was about. He put on a few more sticks on the fire. Bright sparks rose up in the dark air and slowly died away.

"Why you murdered the clan. I know you never were power-hungry. So why did you really?"

Itachi closed his eyes, breathing out softly. "To test the limits of my power."

"That's what you told Sasuke."

"Hn."

"I know that wasn't the only reason."

Truth was, he didn't know, not really. Itachi Uchiha was a mystery. But Kakashi had been working with him, and not once before the Uchiha massacre had he seen any tendencies that Itachi was going insane and the boy had always seemed to have a reason for everything he did. The question was what that reason really was. Could it honestly be about testing himself? It had never seemed like a reason valid enough to Kakashi.

"Things aren't always as they seem." Itachi said as if reading his mind. He opened crimson orbs to look at him, leaning closer. "Wouldn't you agree, Kakashi?"

The trunk helped Kakashi resist the urge to yield away from the Uchiha. "Yes. Few things are as they appear to be."

"To see underneath the underneath…" Itachi turned fully to him, his hand lifting to Kakashi's face, two fingers gliding down his jaw as he moved closer. "That's what you tell your students, is't it?"

Kakashi was surprised that Itachi touched him, especially in a way that almost seemed intimate, but he didn't let it show on his face. If Itachi touched him, he must have had a reason to do so. There was always a reason behind his actions, but no matter how hard Kakashi tried to look underneath the underneath, he had never been able to uncover Itachi.

"It's easier to say than to do, it seems."

Itachi got up on his knees, facing Kakashi as he tilted the silver-haired jonin's head up, his sharingan looking into Kakashi's charcoal eye. For a second time it almost closed on sheer instinct, but Kakashi forced himself to meet the Uchiha's gaze head on.

"At missions, I never had trouble with taking lives."

"You didn't." Kakashi agreed, feeling there was some vital part he was missing. "But you never killed for the sole sake of killing either."

"How do you know that was not your illusion of me, Kakashi? Even if I only killed when ordered to, does that really make me any better of a person? Does it necessarily mean I didn't enjoy taking lives? How would you know? A reason doesn't change the fact that I murdered my family. Even if I give you a reason, it doesn't change anything I've done or who I am."

"I want the truth."

"Many people say they do, even having convinced themselves that that's how they feel. But in reality the truth is too harsh for them. They refuse to believe; covering the truth with what fits best with how they see their reality. I could tell you anything, and you wouldn't know if it were a lie. Even if I told you the truth, if you do not like what I tell you, it's easy to for you to dismiss my words. You have no reason to believe what I say."

"Then let me hear your lie."

Itachi leaned closer, his lips almost touching his ear and his breath ghosting over Kakashi's neck. Kakashi tensed, but kept still and waited for Itachi's next move.

"Mission." Itachi whispered, low enough for no one but Kakashi to hear.

It was because of a mission? Kakashi didn't know how to respond to that. Itachi started pulling back, but Kakashi caught his shoulders. Within a millisecond, he had him pressed down against the ground.

"Itachi." He growled, leaning closer with a murmuring, "Why?"

Why would he get such a cruel mission to eliminate his own clan?

Itachi smirked, took Kakashi's hand and brought it to his lips. "Coup."

"The Uchiha?"

Itachi gave him a small nod. The Akatsuki's hand ran down his arm, index finger creating a pattern on Kakashi's gloved hand. 'D-A-N-Z-O'

"He ordered you?"

Itachi gripped his neck and pulled his masked lips against his own. "Yes. Took Shisui's eye." Itachi said silently, lips brushing against the material covering his face. "He escaped and gave me the other one before committing suicide. Shisui was planning on casting a genjutsu to stop the coup, but apparently Danzo didn't feel it was enough."

"Sasuke?" Kakashi murmured back.

"Should have been killed." Itachi looked stoic, unbothered by their proximity. He brought his hand to pull down the material covering Kakashi's face and kissed him. "We're watched. Touch me. You're blowing our cover."

Kakashi kissed him back, hands pulling open the Akatsuki cloak.

"I couldn't do it." Itachi said. "Threatened to leak classified info…"

"I wondered about that. Why you never did, I mean." Kakashi froze when Itachi spun them around, swiftly zipping open his west. His hands pulled up his shirt and Itachi leaned down, putting lips against his naked chest. Kakashi's heart leaped when he felt the other's mouth against his skin and his pulse gradually picked up speed.

"Jiraiya's spy." One pale hand made its way down Kakashi lower abdominal. Kakashi bit back a gasp.

"Really?"

"Mm. He's the only one besides Danzo and two elder councils that know the truth."

"Do you share info with him like this too?" Kakashi couldn't help asking, biting back an embarrassing sound when Itachi's tongue licked over his skin.

He felt Itachi smile. "No, just you senpai."

"Oh."

"My little brother's watching." Itachi noted.

It wasn't surprising. Sasuke seemed to watch Itachi all the time. In a camp made up of elite ninja, it was hard to get any privacy and if there was one thing they could be sure about, it was that they were not alone. Still, that it was Sasuke of all people who saw this was unfortunate. Unfortunate, but not surprising. Kakashi picked up on his chakra too.

"That's not very comforting. He will hate me as much as he hates you now, you know."

"Sh. Not so loud." Itachi kissed his skin again, teeth nibbling at the warm flesh.

"Madara." Itachi whispered against his body. "Madara helped me."

"Wha-" Itachi interrupted his sound of surprise by kissing his lips again, his fingers pinching into his skin warningly.

After kissing him quite heavily he pulled back. "He's still alive."

"How?"

"Don't know. He's the real leader behind Akatsuki."

"He's what?" Kakashi hissed, accidently raining his voice louder than he should have.

Itachi glared at him. "He means nothing."

Ah. Cover.

His hand slipped under Kakashi's pants. "You, on the other hand…"

Kakashi's breath hitched as he caught his hand. "That's enough."

Amusement passed through Itachi's eyes. "Shy? Well, for a guy who wears a mask all the time I guess that's to be expected. Thankful not Naruto picked up on you fashion style. Knowing him, he'd wear an orange one. To see that colour covering his whole face every time I tried to catch him would make me go blind faster than using the mangekyou."

So… Madara wore an orange mask? Perhaps a full face one?

Itachi caught his jacket before he pulled it back on.

"Aren't you Konoha ninja ever tired of that Uzumaki-mark on your vests?" he asked. "It's unoriginal."

Something that resembled the Uzumaki clan mark? Everything Kakashi could think of was fishcakes at the moment.

"It's fine." Kakashi excused it. "I can't see your problem with it." I can't see your point.

Itachi pulled back and Kakashi hesitantly got up and sat down next to him again. Itachi draw a figure in the dirt with a stick just in front of the fire.

So. A swirly mask. Only one visible eye. And it was supposed to be orange.

That was Madara. The real leader behind the Akatsuki.

'PLAN?' Kakashi wrote with a stick of his own. It seemed silly to worry about future threats right now. They didn't even know if they had a future, any of them. Itachi erased it with his foot, turning to Kakashi and grabbing his shirt, pulling him close again.

"Still working on figuring it out." He whispered just below his ear.

Itachi pulled back and looked at him, lips tugging upward as he leaned closer again and pulled up the mask in its usual place over his face. It was only then did Kakashi notice he had forgotten all about it.

"We'll finish this some other time."

There was no question about it. There were still so many things Kakashi had unanswered and if both lived till tomorrow, as long as this temporary truce with the Akatsuki lasted, Kakashi intended to find out as much as possible about Itachi and the truth behind the Uchiha massacre.

Kakashi believed Itachi. As little as he wanted to think that Konoha would have given him such an order, Itachi wouldn't have mentioned Jiraiya if it was a lie. He made it ridiculously easy for Kakashi to test his words, and the only reason he would do that was if he knew Jiraiya would back him up if Kakashi asked about it.

"I'll seek you out."

With that, Itachi pulled back and stood up, disappearing like a silhouette in the dark.

A/N Oh, so I wrote this and was so damn proud. I wanted to write some ItaKaka doodle and created a scenario where they could have been temporary allies. But then I realized it made no sense since Kaguya couldn't have been resurrected without the ten tails… And my happy world crumbled into pieces. So this is an AU where Kaguya can be resurrected without the ten-tails… Or an AU where Naruto is dead and the ten tails somehow was resurrected earlier. Great. That makes no sense whatsoever. Then again, there are a lot of things in Naruto that doesn't make sense… I pretty much lost it when Kaguya appeared. Logic is overrated, right? Ha ha ha…. Sorry.

I may or may (most likely) not extend this over an oneshot, but I like to keep my doors open.

How do you think the shinobi world would have handled an attack from Kaguya a few years earlier without any preparations for war? I mean, earlier in the series when Naruto and Sasuke weren't super-strong and when a few laws of logic and weaknesses (and not only perverseness) was forced upon even the strongest? Kaguya would have been a bomb, neh?

Please review. :)