Reincarnated as Uchiha Itachi´s Twin.

The kids were walking back home as the sunset cast its golden glow along their path.

"You know, I never thought you'd be able to see them," one said.

The other kid gave an imperceptible shrug and replied,

"You weren't particularly sneaky about it."

He avoided eye contact, focusing instead on the road ahead.

"Wait… so…"

"Yeah, Mom realized first, and Dad figured it out third. Talking to yourself at the cemetery didn't exactly help."

"But if they knew, why didn't they…"

"Ask you about it?" The other kid smirked faintly. "To give you time, I guess. Dad told me he found some records about ghosts from the Land of Demons."

Sora sighed deeply.

"I thought it'd be harder to convince you about this. It's not every day you admit to your family that you can see ghosts."

The other kid shrugged again.

"There was a precedent, a ninjutsu that turned people into ghosts to gather intel and assassinate enemy ninjas."

Sora smiled wryly.

"That was Ka-san, wasn't it?"

Itachi only smiled in return.

"She was worried about you, you know?" he said, making a bold move.

He hugged his anxious brother.

"Don't forget, we're family. The whole clan is."

"Thanks," Sora said, his eyes teary.

.

"Okay, so, to what extent can you see them?" Sora asked after a pause to recompose himself.

"A faint silhouette, and sometimes I hear whispers. You?"

"I can see and hear them without the Sharingan. Altough the hard part is distinguishing real people from the dead."

"Any progress?" Itachi asked, throwing a kunai toward a distant tree. It hit the target perfectly.

"Well, the dead tend to be more absentminded. Nice shot."

Sora continued

"It's the look in their eyes,"

...

"a deadness that gives them away. But kids are harder to spot."

"Like you're not a kid yourself," Itachi said, a rare hint of humor in his tone.

"You're also a kid ," Sora shot back, prompting a nonchalant shrug from Itachi.

Itachi turned his gaze toward the horizon, reflecting on his short past, his precious family, and the lives within the clan.

"Do you think there's an afterlife?" he asked, his voice tinged with melancholy.

"Don't know, don't care" Sora replied immediately, aware of his own special circumstances

"Not curious?"

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't. But does it matter?"

"…" Itachi remained silent

"Let me put it this way, if, and i repeat if, we knew, what could we even do about it? For now, I've got bigger priorities, like getting home before sunset, or Ka-san will whoop our asses."

Sora's casual response left Itachi momentarily speechless before a faint smile crossed his lips.

"You're right," Itachi said softly.

"We should,wait, where are you?" Sora looked around, noticing Itachi had disappeared. His eyes fell on a note lying on the ground.

Last one home does the dishes.

"Itachi, you sly bastard!" Sora yelled, sprinting toward their house.

As he ran, he spotted a small figure leaping across the rooftops. Itachi glanced back at him, nodded and continued jumping.

"Wait! That's cheating, you bastard!" Sora's shout echoed as he ran faster.

_ _ _ _ _ - _ _ -- - _ _ _ _ _ _- _ _ _- _ - _ - 

In a damp, ancient cavern, a woman and a massive fox were locked in a heated argument—or more accurately, the woman screamed while the humongous fox ignored her.

"TALK TO ME!" Kushina's voice echoed through the cavern as the Nine-Tails rolled his eyes, unimpressed.

"YOU…" Kushina's fury grew, her back glowing with a golden hue.

'Looks like the old man was wrong,' thought the Nine-Tails, now seated calmly on a grassy hill within the mental landscape of his prison.

Kushina took a deep breath, her anger simmering down as she looked at him—not as her enemy, but as a being she had chosen to coexist with.

"I know I can't change the past, but at least I won't be petty enough to deny you a better environment," she said softly, a faint smile on her lips.

The fox finally responded, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Minato must be cheating on you, you red hot pepper."

Something cracked in Kushina's mind, but before she could retaliate, the Nine Tails used his diminishing restraints to vanish her from his inner domain.

He waited, expecting the chains of the seal to reassert themselves.

...

Nothing happened.

The Nine Tails closed his eyes, savoring the fleeting moment of freedom.

_ _ __ _-- _ _ _ _ _- _ _ _ _ - -- - _ - - _ _

A/N: I struggled to write something, until my power went out, i was alone/afraid so i tried to write something. Hope that you have a great 2025.

As for the title, its an idiomatic expression from the colonial ages, were servants were prized with hot chocolate for giving their masters gossips or news. Nowdays is used to express annoyence for stale piece of news.