as we have long suspected, yeah… itachi is THE guy. not the goody-good guy, coz he WAS an anbu taichou once upon a time, and he killed his kins too, so definitely not a good guy. but he’s the kind of guy who did what needs to be done. when i first read a fanfic potraying him as one, i had no way not to believe it is the same for the canon storyline. thanks to XD-san for her stories.

well, it was *the*most shocking revelation of this chapter… in a way… Probably something that should have been avoided though. There was Itachi happily murdering family and friends when suddenly pow! there was his lover. I mean his lover. Where the heck did that come from?

Originally I wanted to go for a softer “loved ones” but according to tora-chan (translator) the original term koibuto is used with very romantic connotations. However is does not specify gender (so girlfriend could be wrong) or the number (harem no jutsu?).

And with all the subtle yaoism Masashi has been introducing in the manga ever since part 2 started, we can’t exclude that possibility either.

and glad you liked the side notes. they tend to be sometimes confusing… even to those who wrote them.