Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I never gave much thought about death. To me it was always something there, and I was unable to change, so why worry about it or fear it? It may also be do to the fact the only death I witness were pet, still sad but nothing like losing your best friend or family.

And now I will never know.

For you see, in July a few days after my 21 birthday, I was the one who had a meeting with death. I can't even remember what happened anymore. I find myself forgetting a lot of things since I found myself in a...void.

It seems there was something after death, and it was nothing. No light, no darkness, no air or water or sounds. Just nothing. And I knew I died for I no longer had a body. Things that I was so use too like breathing or my heart beating, were  gone.

I wondered if this would ever change.

I wondered if I will go insane before that happens.

As It is, I keep track of time by telling myself everything I can remember. Anything from shows and books that I liked to what I could remember my friend telling me  one simply uneventful day so, so long ago.

It got shorter each time. Humans aren't meant to be in total isolation, and if I was still alive, well I wouldn't have lasted as long as I did.

The list of things I could remember we're starting to be outdone by the what I can no longer remember.

My birthday was on July 22....

I couldn’t remember my name....

I enjoyed watching animated shows and movies, the most recent being one called one punch man....

I can’t remember the title of my favorite book, but it was the reason I loved reading...

I don’t like potatoes....

I can’t remember what my favorite food was....

I can....

I can’t....

I just waited.

One moment I was in the void. Next I wasn't.

The rush of sounds, smells, and being able to feel was too much, but I also loved it. I felt like laughing, but my body so unused made it sound more like a baby's giggle like when they farted.

Even though I tried my best to experience everything, it still overwhelmed me as soon felt my eyelids (I has eyelids!) fall, plugging me into darkness.

Even that was better then the void.

After some moments of wake and rest, I discover my body was different. It was a child, no a newborn's body.

I watched as my fingers moved when I wanted them too (though slowly and as if I was underwater). It was fascinating and made me wonder if reincarnation was a common process or if my memoirs just got implanted into this child's.

I liked the idea of reincarnation better, but that still makes the problem of why I remembered my past life. Not only that, but I already had more memories than a newborn show have. I took classes in Neuroscience, and studied a good chapter or two on human brain development. So my new brain (weird!) shouldn't have the neruo-connections necessary to even process long term memory. Yet I clearly could.

My mind didn't match my body and I didn't know why. (I don't want to remember why)

Still, I was happy. It was a challenge, and why my body would react to even my slightest thought was interesting. A Passing thought about my brother (was he younger but by how much?) and I started crying. It did make me more aware of my actions on my family then any baby should.

And my family is weird. I now had a mother, a father, and a older brother. Yet that isn't the weird part. No that was where My new brother's name is Uchiha Itachi. Sure I got that in between trying to understand  another language that seemed similar to Japanese but not exactly. However, I heard it enough times that It had to be his name.

And so there is two reason as to why my brother is called that (that I come up with). One, my new family was crazy Naruto fans who changed their last name to Uchiha and proceeded to name their children after then. Or I was in another universe that were the events of Naruto was real.

Now, While I still can recall a fair bit about that story, it wouldn't be my first pick in starting a new life. More like in the bottom ten. But once I came to that realization I turned my focuses from trying to get my body to do what I want it to, to watching my new family.

The more I watched, the less hope I had that they were just some crazy crossplayers. Slowly, whenever I was able to concentrate enough to have some serious think-tank time, I realized that I might really be in the Naruto world. Which after my first freak out, I came to realization that if the multi-verse hypothesis was true, then why wouldn't it end up in a universe where events were just like those I remember from the fictional one. Baring that the laws of physics might be different, but once again the multi-verse hypotheses explained that too.

So Chakra. That's cool and I was totally up for being a overpowered Uchiha with my life-hack eyes. Even if I don't agree with the whole killing thing. I worked so much in my past life that I was more than ready to have it come to me easy (thank you old brain for being abnormal enough to have me on a IEP in school, it was really great having to go to speech therapy since I was 2).

Though is Itachi is already alive and is my old brother, that shortens my life expectancy. Assuming that events in this universe will play out like the one I recall, and Itachi doesn't leave Sasuke and myself the only survivors.

Which I hope this is a weird universe where there is no need for that. Or that somehow my birth caused a butterfly effect where the Uchiha clan never felt the need to plan a coup, 'cause I'm sure  in hell don't remember Sasuke having a big sis.

Also Itachi as a small child is the cutest thing. He probably spends as much time care for me as my new mother. And maybe I do remember that Itachi was my main in the Naruto games, and maybe I had a little crush on him after finding out his true motives for killing his clan. But hey! He's my Onii-chan now, I have a right to be biased. I mean, Sasuke was so much worst then I would ever be in the brother worship. I will probably just annoy him in front of his love interest or something. Oh, and Sasuke with his endless fangirls. That's what I did to my little brother after all.

I do miss my old family. They were great and whenever I have a passing thought about everything I lose, my body start crying without any control on my end. Maybe I could find a way back, but for all I know I could be in the future where everyone are bioengineered humans. No, It would be better for me to move on.

I was Uchiha Chiyome (which just makes me think about that old women who brought Garra back to life). Might as well get use to it.

Just as I come to that concluded, as if the universe wasn't happy with me being at peace.

Everything.

Fell.

Apart .

Chapter Text

Itachi love his new sister. She always smiled at him and Mother, and while Mother says that's just what baby's do, Itachi knows she was smiling at him.

So when the alarm starting going off and both Mother and Father had to leave, Itachi ran to his little sister.

She wasn't smiling when he come in, but also wasn't crying. Itachi leaned over the crib and lifted her up, carried her like Mother showed him. Chiyome was staring wide eyed over at the window, hardly blinking or moving in general.

"Imouto? What are you looking at?" Itachi asked hoping she didn't also feel that oppressive chakra that just emanated evil.

She didn't answer, but Itachi held her closer like she did. He knew. There was no way she couldn't feel it.

"Don't worry, we're going to be going to the Hokage Mountains. Otou-San said we'll be safe there."

This time Chiyome blinked and turned her head to him, as if questioning why they would go there.

Or maybe because Itachi didn't like hearing the Ninjas all around them frantically trying to stop the Nine tails and needed a reason to talk.

"My Sensei in school told us that there is a bunker there for wars. It's the most well protected area in the whole village, so even the Kyūbi would have a hard time with it."

"Wahda'uck?"

Itachi chuckled at his sister attempt at talking. She was normally so quiet and only noises she made was laughter or cries. None of the Baby babble that his cousins do.

"It's okay. I promise I wouldn't let anything thing harm you."

Once they arrived, some people ushered them in a room with some other kids and elder people who were all from clans. Apparently Chiyome wasn't the only baby who was being completely still.

"Itachi-chan, so good you made it. Is this little Chiyome-chan that I've head so much about."

Itachi saw Misaki walking in like she wasn't one of the oldest person in the room.

"Hello Oba-San." Itachi said with a shallow bow as he didn't want to disturb Chiyome anymore then she already is.

"Oh, none of that. Call me baa-chan, you're around Shisui-chan enough you might as well be another grandkid." Misaki said as she said next to him.

"Thank you Obaa-San."

"Hn. You're definitely Fugaku's son alright. Want me to take Chiyome-chan off your hand for a bit?"

"No thank you." Itachi said a bit more sharply than he wanted to. It was his job to watch Chyiome when Mother and Father was gone.

No one else's.

"Alright, Kid. Just let me know is she starts smelling."

"I've helped Okaa-San change her before." Itachi said, even as he gave a sniffed to make sure she hasn't pooped yet.

"Ah, I'm sure you have." Misaki said as she patted him on the head.

Their conservation fell into the background as the others got louder. The chakra that must have been from that daemon was much less, but Itachi could still feel it in the air. It was like the killing intent their teacher showed them what seemed like so long ago. But even that was nothing compared to now.

"I'll get the kids." Was all Mikoto said before she used a body flicker to leave her husband and the few others who stayed even when they got ordered to stay away.

It was near morning and all she wanted to do was sleep. But not with first getting her kids.

This is why I'm retire. There is no way I'll be able to raise two kids and go on missions. I'm not a Uzumaki. Mikoto thought, before frowning at the thought of her best friend.

Who was pregnant and about to give birth before the Nine tailed attacked.

Yet since they are just now counting the dead, Mikoto will have to wait before finding out what happened. Right now she has to make sure her kids are alright.

"Itachi!" She said in a loud voice, not quite a yell but the others fell silent nevertheless.

"Kaa-chan?" Came a quiet voice that Mikoto was next to in a second.

She hug her little boy who she noticed was still holding onto Chiyome like his life depended on it.

"It's ok. It's done." She said as he picked the boy up in her arms.

"Kaa-chan, some of the baby's are really sick. Okaa-San said it was due to the Kyūbi chakra." Itachi said in a busted voice.

Shocked, Mikoto looked to her little girl to see if she was one of those babies. But was relieved to see her looking at Mikoto and blinking. Still, Mikoto has heard that lot of foreign Chakra could kill a child who's Chakra's coil weren't all the way developed. Of course that included medi-nin which means there was little they can do to help the children.

"I'll keep an eye out for Chiyome. You can sleep now Itachi. You did a great job keeping her safe." Mikoto said, having a small smile of her own at Itachi's proud looking one.

She had a feeling that it was going to be a while before she'll be able to smile again.

What. The. Hell.

No really. I would like to know, because I was just coming to terms of my new situation when life decided to fuck with me.

I haven't even had time to decide if I wanted to mess with the plot line or not, but now I feel like I don't have a choice. 'Cause there is no way I'll be able to act like Sasuke, not that I would want to.

I feel so stupid for not realizing that Itachi was too old, that there was four faces on the mountain, that... anything really. Anything that would have given me an idea that I was Sasuke. Or at least female Sasuke.

Now that sounds like one of those Naruto/Sasuke fanfic where the author seems to change one of their sexs just to make it into a hero-relationship. Now I was alway partial to the cannon shipping, and I didn't mind gender/sex changes fics, but when the only thing that seems to change was their love for each other? Ya, that's seemed a little wrong to me.  And there is no way this 'female Sasuke' will be getting with Naruto.

Though considering how in my past life I never went on a date (nor wanted to) by the age of 21, it might be more accurate to say I might not get with anyone.

Not to mention they're all mentally my physical age. That would just be weird... and relationships are honestly the least of my worries.

No, I was more worried about the events Sasuke went though that I might have to go though.

I already considered the massacre, but before when it still seemed just a story. The whole Nine tail attack made it very clear to me that this was really life. My life.

A lot of things changed since that day. First off, I now am self consented of my own Chakra. It was like paying attention to your breathing, or feeling your own heart beat. Something that is there but you are hardly aware off. It was like a live wire under my skin.

The other thing was that there was tension in the compound. It was possible I didn't notice it before, as being only a few month old and was hardly out of the house, but now it was clear. There was ready a separation between the Uchiha's and the rest of the village. I do remember that the Sharingan can control the nine tails, but was that common knowledge? Or something only the higher ups know.

I don't want to massacre to happen. I don't want to see little Itachi turn into that badass Akatsuki member. But just wishing for it wouldn't change anything.

I need a plan.

And quickly since I don't know how long I'll even remember my past. It would be great if I could write it down (though it would have to be coded in a way that would make sense for a child).  I was trying to learn how to walk, let alone have the motor dexterity to write. So that method was soon disregarded.

I was able to recall some memory tricks. Word association, visualization, and the like.

I believed I had seven or eight years before the massacre, and I needed to start asap if I wanted to try to keep my family alive and my brother safe.

I had to try at the very least.

Chapter Text

It was time.

"Are you ready Chiyome?" Kaa-chan asked as I finished eating my breakfast.

"Yes!"

Placing my bowl into the sink and running over to the entry to put my shoes on, I heard my mom laugh.

“We’re just going shopping. I don’t know why you’re so excited.”

“Ya, but we’re going outside of the clan ground!” I told her.

It was important for my plan after all. The first step I need to take in order to try and avoid the Uchiha Massacre.

“Oh? And it has nothing to do with you wanting to see Itachi doing ‘ninja chores’ as you put it last night?”

“Maybe a little.” But can you blame me? The idea of my genius of a brother having to do d-ranks like any other Genin is too good.

I even got my camera that Kaa-chan gave me for my third birthday around my neck.

“You do know you will have to do d-rank like your brother when you first become a ninja right?” Kaa-chan reminded me and it took all of my effort not to roll my eyes at her.

“I know. That’s why I got this!” I explained, holding up my Polaroid looking camera. “Then if Ni-chan tries to make fun of me I can bring out a friendly reminder of his starting days.”

Also maybe I could use it as blackmail if my first plan doesn’t work. ‘Itachi, you can’t murder everyone in the clan. I have photos of you cleaning up Inuzuka nin-dog poop.’

Ok, so maybe I just wanted them for myself. I can’t spend all my time training and planning. So taking annoying pictures like my old grandma did will be my free time.

“What did I do to get two genius?” My mom said as she grabbed my hair in order to get it under control.

Ah, yes. Three years old and already i’m being called the next Itachi. or Kakashi, or Orochimaru depending on who you ask.

It was completely my fault. I took no care in trying to dumb down my intelligence. I figure that ninja were paranoid and I wasn't ready to lie for my whole life. I already have enough secrets that will never see the light of day, I didn’t want more.

And maybe I wanted to be known as a genius that I had to work so hard to get in my past.

“There. Now we can leave.”

I reached back to see what my mom did with my hair, only to groan at the two high pigtails that I could easily feel with the turn of my head.

“Really Kaa-chan? I look like a baby with my hair like this.” I told her, counting the days until I can cut my hair shorter.

Long spiky hair was even more of a pain then long curly hair.

“That’s because you are my baby.”

Then I was up on Kaa-chan’s hip and out the door before I knew it.

It was the end of summer, and was hot. There was even Cicada like bugs that were called Semi making noise that had me frowning. I am fine with most bugs, just not ants or Cicada.

“What’s that?” I asked as we passed the gates to the compound, pointing over to the masked ninja talking to the guards.

Oh, I was pretty sure they were the super ninjas, ABUU or something? They were the stereotypical ninja, which is why it was odd to be able to see them in broad daylight.

“That’s Lion-San. She is a ninja like Otou-San and I.”

“But Otou-san doesn’t wear a mask when he is on duty” I pointed out, because there was no way I was going to drop this.

I’ve been trying my best to be able to sense Chakra, but so far my range is the size of my bedroom. Yet I was close enough to tell that this Lion-San’s Chakra was even harder to locate than usual.

It was like every time I tried to pin it down it changed, yet when I try agian it was still there. It felt like I was trying to touch a rainbow. Or a cloud.

“There is lots of different ninjas. You know Otou-San and I are Jounin level and Itachi is a Genin, and in between is chunin. But there are also special Jounin and ANBU.”

“ANBU? Is that what Lion-San is?” I asked, looking back in time to see her disappear. Or use a body flicker as is so common to see around the compound.

“Why would you say that?”

“Special Jounins are known for their knowledge in a certain area. Why would they need to cover their face and their name?” I answered, well use to my mother’s method to promote critical thinking.

I like playing along and try to figure out how to reach the answer I knew with only the information I should know. It will be good  practice for later when I have paranoids ninja as my associates instead of  just family.

“That is true. The names of all the Jounins and special Jounin is common knowledge for us.”

Us being ninjas.

Wait if is is commonplace knowledge then why did none of team seven know of Kakashi?

“Now, I know you just want to figure out where Itachi is - if you don’t know already - but we need to get dinner first.”

“I’ll be good!” I lied through my teeth. But it’s not like I was doing it to be mean or anything.

“I know you will. Just be sure to stay close to me. Don’t want you getting lost now.” Kaa-chan said as she put me down.

I made sure to stay close without grabbing her hand. Trying to get away from a ninja wouldn’t be easy, but the streets were busy and it should give me enough time to ‘get lost’.

I didn’t have to wait to long before some people got between the two of us and I turned around. It was a good thing I was a second child, because Kaa-chan shouldn’t be too much of a worry as some of the other new parents that were around.

Though as I looked around, I noticed all of the young children were younger than three. There was no one close by who was my age.

That, complicated my plan, but I didn’t spend  all that time trying to memorize the map of Konoha for nothing. There was only the question of which Clan grounds I wanted to visit first.

“Chiyome?” Mikoto called, hoping that her little girl wouldn't be too far.

Who am I Kidding? Itachi did the exact same thing when he was three, why would Chiyome be any different.

Mikoto jumped onto the nearest roof, grocery bags still in hand. She wasn't that worried, since there was no war this time. Almost five years of peace, baring that night. Yet As Mikoto looked, she couldn’t see any sight of her child.

“Do you need any help Uchiha-San?”

Mikoto turned slightly to see a Genin team come up to her. It must be strange seeing a ninja in their civilian clothes on the roof like this...

“kaa-chan?”

“Itachi? Oh Is this team 2 under Minazuki Yūki?” Mikoto asked with a polite smile even though she knew the answer.

“That is correct. We are even performing general patrols right now, so If you need any help...” The young man said as Itachi got over his shock at seeing his mom here.

“Kaa-chan, where is Chiyome?” He asked, and Mikoto questioned,  not for the first time, why she got two very insightful children.

“That is why i’m here. We were shopping, but Chiyo-chan got separated in the crowd.” Mikoto explained, already accepting that Itachi’s team will soon be looking for her.

She would have looked for one if it took her much longer to find Chiyome. Konoha was a big village after all, and Chiyome is a very curious child.

“A Missing child. That does sound like something we should help with. Itachi? Do you know where your sister might have gone?” Yūki asked.

“This was her first time in the main village, Chiyome might have wanted to get a look at the academy building.” Itachi figured, forcing himself to stay with his team and not just go looking for her by himself.

It was nice that Yūki-Sensei is letting them deal with this now.

“Which is a few streets away. How old is your sister Itachi-kun?” Shinko asked as they moved.

“Three.” Itachi told his teammate as they gave a skeptical look.

“Well, this should be easy.” Tenma commented with a smile.

How hard could It be to find a three year old?

“What are you doing?”

I turned around, to see one of the people I was looking for.

“I wanted to find a deer!” I said with a cute smile as I held up my camera.

The tiny Shikamaru looked at me in confusion while the boy next to him that could only be Choji continued eating.

“They ran away tho,” Choji said food spraying though Shikamaru didn’t seem like he cared.

“Not if you’re quiet.” I pointed out, keeping up my happy innocent child persona.

Choji nodded like that answered all him questions while Shikamaru just continued to stare. It was starting to freak me out a little, but he was three. This is the safest part of my plan.

“Shika can we see the deer too?” Choji asked his friend and I did a happy dance in my mind.

Choji is now my favorite character. Who else would be able to get the lazy Shikamaru to do anything?

“Fine.”

Stage one in motion.

“Great! Is it just you two?” I asked since I couldn’t remember if Ino was part of their friends group or not.

The two boys looked at each other before Shikamaru gave a shrug.

“It’s just us who are here.”

I nodded and waved the boys over. I didn’t really come here to see the deers, but It could be fun. I just have to make sure we don’t get into any real danger, but as I am part of a major clan - even with how low Uchiha is in popularity- even if it did happen I shouldn't be the one blamed.

“See? You can see footprints in the mud.” I pointed out, noticing at Shikamaru got closer to take a look.

“It’s deep.” The black hair boy commented as he practically had his nose to the ground.

“Which means they were running, or really big.”

“There’s bits in the leaves!” Choji pointed out, also seeming to enjoy their tracking game.

“So the deer was eating before they got startled.” I summarized before getting back up.

“And if we follow the path, we should find them.”

“Cool.” Choji said as he continued eating his bag of chips.

Which would make a lot of noise, but I don’t want to get the child made at me. Not when we have just met.

“Did you know there are plants you can eat?” I said, shocking both boys by my seemly random change in topic.

“Really?”

I nodded, thankful that I was able to read the Herbology book that Ka-chan has lying around. Some of the plants I recognized from my past, but that might not be score there. Still...

“This is called a honey suckle. The flower tastes like honey if you suck on it.” I said, giving the boys one and myself.

Choji wasted no time in try, but Shikamaru was more cautious. I watched silently as he looked over the plant, before sniffing it.

“I read you can also use this for tea. It’s the one you’re mom likes Choji.” Shikamaru said as he gave the flower to his friends.

“Oh, do you want to pick some more then?” I subjected as Choji nodded eagerly.

The three of us had a good handful each before I ‘sensed’ someone next to us. I could tell it was a ninja, since compared to civilians their chakra seemed more refined. If Civilians chakra was like a fog, Ninja’s would be a cloud.

That is if they are not hiding it like the ANBU was earlier.

“Your mothers were getting worried.” The ninja said, and I acted surprised.

“Tou-San.” Shikamaru said, looking blushful as did Choji.

“Sorry, we forgot.” Choji said before Shikaku’s eyes turned to me.

“No harm done. However, I don’t believe we have met.”

“My name is Uchiha Chiyome! Nice to meet you Nara-San!” I said with a polite bow and child filled excitement.

“Uchiha? You wouldn’t have by chance left your mother down in the market place.”

“Ya, I wanted to see the deer!” I said, sad that I probably wouldn’t be able to stay much longer.

Still, meeting two clan heirs in one day wasn’t bad.

“Troublesome. We should get you back as well.” Shikaku said with a sigh as he picked all three children up.

I didn’t even have time to protest before there was a gush of wind that had me squinting my eyes.

“Found them.”

We were no longer in the forest. Shikaku dropped off and the the two boys ran off. Or Choji ran while Shikamaru quickly walked. Two women who must be their mothers hugged them, and I realized I was at the head Nara house.

“Your mom is worried as well.”

I turned back to Shiaku who was staring me down, and I smiled sheepishly as I rubbed my neck.

“Ya, I should get back to Ka-chan. But Can I come back later?”

Turn cuteness to max.

“Of course you can child. But you need to ask your mom first.” The women who was hugging Shikamaru said before looking to her husban.

“And where is she?”

“There's a Genin team looking for her. I’ve already sent a message.”

When did he have time to send a message? It's Only been a few minutes.

The women nodded, before turning to be with a bright smile.

“Well, why don’t you stay here then? Your mom will be back soon.”

“Ok. Thank you very much Nara-san” I said as I took the women’s hand.

“ Oh You can just call me Yoshino-chan. It’s nice to finally meet you Chiyome-chan.”

“You know my name!” I asked, looking up in wonder.

Though I shouldn’t really be surprised. These are ninja's after all, they probably know all the children's in the major clans. At least the one who are being called ‘proges’.

“I was on the same Genin team as your mom.”

“Really?”

“I’ve been meaning to have you meet Shikamaru, but it seems you did that by yourself.” Yoshino said with a smile.

“They’re my friends!” I said because, hello three year old here.

“Ka-chan can she come eat lunch with us?” I heard Choji ask as we arrived over to where they were hanging out.

Looks like I interrupted their lunch. Oh well.

“Two new friends in two days? I think that’s a new record my little butterfly.” Choji’s mom said as piles of food appeared out of a scroll.

“Imouto?” A familiar voice said.

“Nii-chan!” I yelled, jumping up generally happy to see my brother.

“How did she get over here? This is miles away from the town center!” A brown hair boy complained.

“Imouto, you can’t leave without telling Oka-San.” Itachi said as he pointed me in the freaking forehead.

“Ah, don’t do that!” I complained as he picked me up.

Which a 7 year old carrying a three year old is just wrong. I’m like the size of his body and his legs weren't that long just yet.

“We can go back now. Thank you for watching her.” Itachi said with a bow, I mentally rolling my eyes.

“It was no trouble. Tell your mom to come and visit some time.”

“Ya, I still didn’t get to see the deers Nii-chan!” I said as I nodded my head.

“You came here to see some deers?” The female on their team asked.

“Yep.” I said with a wide grin.

Now I can mark Nara and Akimichi off my list.

Chapter Text

“Chiyo-chan, next time you want to go somewhere, ask me first.” Ka-chan scowled at me.

Honestly, I was surprised I was getting off so easily. Ka-chan and Otou-san both treat me like an able thinking person, so I thought that Ka-chan would ground me for knowing better.

Itachi has been frowning the whole time, but I think he was more worried then Ka-chan.

I suppose one of the benefits in living in a militaristic government is that the streets are safer. When you don’t have weirdo stealing orphans off the street to do experiments or raise them into emotionless soldiers that is.

“Sorry. Can I visit Shikamaru and Choji tomorrow? Please?”

“We’ll see. Why don’t you clean up and help me make dinner?” Ka-chan asked and I was about to agree before I saw Itachi walk outside.

“Can I train with Nii-chan? I promise to do the dishes tonight!” I asked even as I run after my brother.

“Alright.” Ka-chan said with a chuckle.

Itachi didn’t look back when I arrived, but I knew that he knew I was there. Itachi didn’t often practice in our training field, preferring to go to the clan one in the forest or whatever one his team uses. Even watching him warm up, it was easy to see why he was a prodigy. Not even eight yet and he is already mastered the advance set of uchiha fighting moves.

Otou-san just started my own training a few month ago, after a long argument with Ka-chan. So while Itachi started going through his Katas, I jumped off the porch and began my own. And if I looked over a few time to Itachi and started mimicking his stance, well they looked so much cooler than the beginning ones I had to perform.

“You need to bend your left elbow more.” Itachi commented and I saw a small smile.

Good to know he thinks my training is funny.

“Right.”

I corrected my stance, glancing over to see Itachi full out grinning now. I might have rolled my eyes at that sight, but it was soon out out of my mind when someone entered our backyard.

I didn’t even notice before Itachi was responding.

“When did you come back?”  My brother asked calmly like there wasn’t some shaggy haired boy hanging off him like a sloth.

“Not too long ago. How’s the missions going? Have you meet the cat from hell yet?”

I turned my full attention on the boy. He looked to be only few years older then my brother, and the fan on his back marked him as a fellow Uchiha. Yet, Itachi had the social capability of a bug and didn’t have any friends. Sure he was friendly and polite, but he also prefers silent to small talk and graduating so early made it all that much harder.

Which makes we wonder who the hell this person was to be talking with my brother so friendly like.

“Who are you?”

The two boys turned towage me - or Itachi turned and the other boy went along with it. Then the boy gave a wide grin that had me frowning even more.

“You haven’t told her about your best friend? I. Am. A-ppalled.” The boy said, poking Itachi’s headband in time with his words.

My mouth opened as I stared at this random boy performing my brother signatory method of showing his affection.

“It was you !” I realized as I pointed at the boy whose name I still don’t know.

“You are the one who introduced him into the poking thing!”

Because of course Itachi didn't come up with it himself. This boy must have done it once or twice as a joke and since he might be Itachi’s only friend, my poor social stunted brother compared the poke to a show of affection. Ka-chan gives hugs only rarely, and Otou-San is even more emotionally constipated then Itachi.

“Poking thing?” The boy repeated before smiling like a fool. “Itachi! I didn’t know you wanted to emulate me that much!”

Itachi sighed, but didn’t move to remove the other boy from the hug. This was turning out to be the oddest training section I have ever witness.

“Imouto. This is Shisui, our cousin. Shisui, this is Chiyome-chan.” Itachi briefly introduced and I naively thought that would be it.

“Nice to meet you Shisui-San.” I said with a shallow bow, looking down to show that I trust him.

Honestly there was so many different ways to bow that I still have trouble understanding. Don’t bow deeply to Those in a lower standing, but do always bow at the hip if it’s a unknown ninja. Never take your eyes off strangers, but doing the same to family or Teammate is a great offence. And so on.

It was one of the few times I truly felt my physical age.

However as I looked back up, Shisui was no longer hanging over Itachi. I only had a moment where I hoped the boy had just left before I was attacked.

“Guh! Let go of me!”

“No wonder you always talk about her! She is the cutest thing I have ever seen!”

“Shisui-San, if you don’t stop trying to hug the air out of me i’ll end up the cutest dead thing you have ever seen.” I said in a deadpan voice, and for a moment I truly thought I seceded before the pre-teen picked me up.

“I’ll let you go if you start calling me Nii-san.” the boy said with a grin.

He was enjoying this way too much.

“Sure thing. But you have to let me down first.” I argued, tilting my head slightly.

As soon as my feet hit the ground I pulled out of Shisui’s grasp and ran.

“NII-CHAN!” I yelled running full toddler speed to an annoyed looking Itachi.

Hopefully not at me.

“Protect me Ita-nii!” I called out as I hid behind him, sticking my tongue out at Shisui who was looking quite shocked.

“You promised.” The boy said, sounding like he was going to cry.

Honestly, he was acting more like what I would expect from a Uzumaki then a Uchiha.

“Shisui, please stop harassing my sister.” Itachi said and I let out a short laugh at Shisui fallen expression.

“Oh alright. I just dropped by to see if you wanted to spare.” The boy said, his smile back in place.

“Can I watch?” I asked since I haven’t yet seen Itachi spare since graduating.

He use to spare against Otou-san but that was a few years ago and I doubt either one was going full out. It would be interesting to see where he was already.

“I do not want you getting hurt on accident.” Itachi said, and while I felt touched it wasn’t like I was planing on running around while they had a spare.

“I’ll stay on the porch.” I compromised, tuning my cuteness to the max.

“One foot off and you are going inside.” Itachi said and I nodded in agreement.

I sat legs crossed on the porch, giving the boys a thumbs up. Shisui laughed and Itachi smiled softly at me.

“How do you want to do it? Just Taijtusu?” Shisui asked as he jumped up looking like he was trying to stretch in mid air.

“No ninjutsu above c-rank sounds better. Wouldn’t want this to end too early.” Itachi said with a straight face that made both Shisui and I laugh.

“I see being on a team really helped your modesty.” Shisui joked and he stepped into a basic Uchiha stance.

The same one i’ve been learning in fact.

“I suppose?” Itachi responded looking the most uncertain I have ever seen him.

I looked to my brother in disbelief. Because of course he was just being honest. Sometime I wonder if he was the reincarnated soul and not me for how wise he acts. I’m having a lot of fun acting my physical age, thank you very much.

Shisui just keep smiling and soon some signal passed between the two and their spare began.

It started out tame enough. The two threaded blows, dancing around and over each other in a fluency that can only be obtained from familiarity. Then Shisui seemed to fade in and out of the battle and Kunai started being thrown as they moved from close range to mid.

“Whoa.” I couldn’t help but let out as I leaned in closer.

It was one thing to see a ninja use body flicker to move from point a to b, but another thing to see it being used so freely during battle. It looked more like Shisui was teleporting rather than just using his chakra to improve his speed momentarily.

They both increased their base speed until I could no longer keep up. With their individual blows. The fireball made it pretty obvious what was happening now.

“What do you think you are doing?”

I saw the two boys freeze before I turned around to see Ka-chan standing behind me with a hand on her hip.

“Ohhh, someone is in trou~ble.” I said in the way all the kids in school would when someone got called to the principal.

Funny how I can recall that, but not what my name use to be.

“Uchiha-San, how are you today?” Shisui said with a bow so low I wondered if he was going to hit his head on the ground.

It looked pretty funny when both him and Itachi were covered in scorch marks and dirt.

“I apology Okaa-San. I did not mean to break your rule.”

“Rule?” I asked looked up to Ka-chan.

“No fire Jutsu in the backyard. And I know I’ve told you that as well Shisui-kun.”

“Yes Oba-San. Sorry about that, I got a little too excited seeing Itachi.” Shisui said, smile still on his face.

At least Itachi looked fazed.

“Come on. Dinner’s ready and you might as well eat with us since you’re here.” Ka-chan said before leaving.

I got up without using my hands and ran in after her.

“You didn’t tell me Ni-chan had friends.”

“You mean Shisui-kun? He’s also your cousin.”

“Cousin? Are we talking about an actual cousin, or a third cousin twice removed cousin.” I asked, taking a look back at the boys.

“Well, his grandmother was your grandfather sister.” Ka-chan said with a thoughtful look before turning around to Shisui. “Shisui. Why don’t you go home and see if Misaki-San would also like to eat with us. There should be enough for you two.”

“Yes ma’am!” Shisui said with a loose salute before disappearing.

“And you two can help me set the table.”

“Yes Ka-chan.” We both said before I rushed into the kitchen to get the serving spoon and chopsticks.

Utensils are much easier to hold then plates and bowls.

Misaki watched as the youngest child rambled on and on about her little adventure today. It was assuming to be sure, Especially when the child would only talk about it when her mother was busy. Not that that stopped Mikoto from looking up at the ceiling every time her daughter talked about her plans to see the deer.

It was nice to see that some of the children in this generation were able to laugh so freely. It reminded her a little too much of her first grandchild, but Misaki didn’t dwell  on that too long.

“Sounds like you had quite the day Chiyome-chan.”

“I sure did Misaki-Baachan!” The child said and Misaki smiled at the sight.

“And you are a smart girl, so I bet you wouldn’t be going alone next time?” Misaki said as they cleared the table.

“No. I worried Ka-chan and Nii-chan too much. I think I’ll trying convincing Nii-chan to come with me next time. His day off should be coming up soon.”

“You know, I’m sure Shisui would also love to take you to your friends. He just came back from a long c-rank so he will be home for a few days.”

“Really?” Chiyome said, thinking it over.

Misaki will never get tired of little children. Their thought process was very interesting to listen to.

“Maybe I’ll go ask him.”

“You do that. It might keep him out of trouble.” Misaki said, not missing the way Chiyome’s eyes light up.

Like she knew what Misaki was hinting at.

It wasn’t until Shisui left with his grandma that I realized why the name was so familiar.

Shisui’s death was what allowed Itachi to awakening his mangekyō Sharingan and what ultimately was the last straw before the Uchiha Massacre.

Chapter Text

"Kaa-chan, can I go now?"

She was been brushing my hair for the last hour. Trying to straighten my hair was looking to be a pointless effort. At least when flat irons aren't a thing.

"Don't you want to look pretty for your little play date?"

"I'm not going to have a play date if you take much longer!"

"Oh shush you. Shisui-Kun hasn't even arrived yet." Ka-chan reminded me as she pulled on my hair again.

Why does it hurt so much!

"There. You're so cute I could just gobble you up!" Ka-chan said as she proceeded to start a tickle fight with me.

Well, I say fight but it was really one sided.

"Ni-chan! Help! Ka-chan turned into a zombie! She said she is going to eat me!" I screamed when I saw Itachi walk through the living room.

Like the good brother he is, Itachi immediately stopped what he was doing at my cry of help. However then he saw Ka-chan, and relaxed.

"She is not going to eat you. I will see you late. Have fun Imouto." Itachi said as he posted my forehead before leaving.

Then to making it even better (note sarcasm) Ka-chan laughed as I rubbed the spot. However before I could come up with an awesome comeback, there was a knock at the door.

"Looks like Shisui-kun is here. Why don't you grab the lunches I made and We'll go?"

"Finally!"

I rolled off the couch and ran into the kitchen. With the help of a chair, I grabbed the four boxes Ka-Chan made for my friends, Shisui, and I. Though I didn't think it was enough for Chōji.

"Let's go!"

Shisui looked like he was getting ready to knock again when Ka-chan opened the door, but quickly put his hand down with a smile.

"Good morning Oba-san."

"Good morning Shisui-kun. Thank you for taking Chiyome-chan to her friends today."

"It's no problem. I love spending time with Chi-chan." Shisui said with a grin while I rolled my eyes at him.

We just meet yesterday. Why would a 11-year-old want to hang out with someone who is for all intent and purposes is three?

"Be good you two. I do not want to hear about any shenanigans." Kaa-chan said with a serious look.

"Don't worry Ka-chan."

Ka-chan didn't seem any less worried, but left regardless.

"Hey Chi-chan, do you want to get there fast?" Shisui said as he looked down at me.

"What, are you going to carry me or something?" I asked with a rise of my brow, only for Shisui to flip me over his shoulder and onto his back.

"I've been practicing this new jutsu that will get us there in a sec."

Before I had time to ask what he was talking about, we moved. It was like falling, but without any sense of direction. Then when I looked up I saw we were no longer at the gates to the Uchiha compound.

"What was that!"

"That was a body flicker!"

"Oh." I said a little disappointed.

It was still cool, but I was hoping it wasn't just a common technique.

"Just an 'oh'. Not a 'that was the best thing ever, I want you to be my nii-chan now'."

"Why are you insistent on that?"

"Who wouldn't want a cute little sister?" Shisui simply said and I gave him a blank look.

"I'm sure that's the reason. Anyways, let's go!" I said as I grasped his hand and pulled without much interference.

Shisui is quickly becoming one of my favorite family members with how he doesn't have a stick up his ass at all times.

"Do you even know where you are going?"

"Ya, to Yoshino-san's house." I said, figuring that would be the biggest house in the Nara compound.

"Which we already passed, but i'm sure you knew that." Shisui said with a cheeky grin.

"How do you know that?"

"Your mom told me before leaving." He told me even though I knew she said no such thing before we left.

Unless she signed it to him since you don't learn that until your last year at the academy.

"You both are just trolling me now."

"Why would you think that?" Shisui said but he didn't say I was wrong, in fact he was still grinning like an idiot.

Deciding to be the mature one, I walked ahead to the house Shisui gestured at and knocked on the door.

It didn't take long before Yoshino opened the door.

"Good morning Nara-San! I'm here to see my friends and the deer!" I said with a polite bow and a huge smile that forced me to close my eyes.

"Ah, Chiyome-chan It is so good to see you again. Who is this young man?"

"Uchiha Shisui, I'm her other brother."

"No he's not. Don't listen to his lies."

"Chi-chan, how can you wound me so?"

"Come in. As it so happens, by husband should be feeding the deer soon." Yoshino said with a smile, opening the door for us.

I held my shoes in my hand as I ran through the house to the backyard where I could sense a few people. There the Three of us saw the sight of Shikamaru asleep on Shikaku's chest, who looked to be cloud gazing. Nearby Choji sat next to a blonde girl who seemed moments away from throwing a tantrum.

"Shikaku! What are you doing!" Yoshino yelled, waking up Shikamaru and cause Shikaku to shoot up at the sight of his angry wife.

I put my shoes back on as I watch Yoshino chew out Shikaku. They really seem like a case of opposites attract, but before I could think more about it someone came up to me.

"Who are you?" The girl - who was most likely Ino - demanded to know.

"I'm Uchiha Chiyome, Nice to meet you!" I said regardless.

I could deal with a bratty kid.

"I'm Ya-ma-na-ka Ino. We should be friends since you're a girl like me." Ino said before grabbing my hand and pulling me off the porch.

I let her, since I do want to be her friend. But that doesn't mean I didn't glare back to Shisui who was laughing at me.

"We should be best friends." I said and Ino stopped dragging me.

"Best friends? Okay! Make my hair like yours then!" Ino announced before sitting down in front of me.

"Um... but your hair looks so pretty how it is now."

"Really? I like your hair too! I like black hair like yours and not his!" Ino said pointing to Shikamaru who was now napping next to Choji.

Not sure what to say to that, I walked over to save Shikaku from his wife.

"Excuse me, but can we see the deer now?" I asked as I pulled on his pants, making sure to use my cutest expression.

Not sure if it worked on him, but it sure did on Yoshino.

"Fine. Why don't you take the children to go see them." Yoshino said before walking back inside.

"Ya! Deer!" I yelled as I grabbed Shikaku's hand.

"Who else wants to come?" Shikaku asked, not bothering to shake me off like I thought he would.

He did look like he was contemplating if it was worst having four disappointing children or his sanity when everyone raised their hand. Shikaku did give Shisui a pointed look when he raised his hand as well.

This was turning out way better than I thought was possible.

Shisui never had a reason to visit the Nara compound before. In fact, all of his other cousin don't have any friends from the other major clans. Makoto was a year older then Chiyome and Shisui was sure she has never been outside the Uchiha compound.

It was crazy to think that Chiyome was able to befriend three of them when she wasn't even in the academy yet, though maybe it was just because she was so young. Even though she was clearly more mature than the other children, Chiyome was still able to play with them. It was odd seeing how similar she was to Itachi, but at the same time so different.

"Since their eye are on the side of their head, they don't see as well as we can, but they can see further back." Chiyome explained as she moved her arms to show how much further deer could see then normal humans.

"Really? I wish I was a deer, then I could see Ka-chan and now when I can get candy!" Ino said as she jumped up and down, causing some of the deer to back away.

"Shisui-kun, would you like to try feeding them?" Shikaku asked, pulling Shisui out of his thoughts.

"Yes, I would Nara-San."

"You can just call me Shikaku, your sister already does."

"Shisui's my second cousin. Not brother." Chiyome said, not even bothering to turn around.

"Just you wait Chi-chan. You will be calling me Shisui-nii before you know it." Shisui promised, smiling when Chiyome turned around so he could see her blank look.

"In your dreams, maybe." He heard Chiyome mumbled, but Shisui decided to pretend he didn't this time.

Then Shisui found himself next to the Chief Jōnin commander, learning how to feed deer out of your hand.

Maybe he was still dreaming, because this didn't seem real. Everything he had heard about Shikaku doesn't match this man in front of him how. It was likely because he was home with his family, but it was still not what Shisui was expecting.

All this, just because Chiyome wanted to see some animals.

"We should probably leave now." Shisui said when they got back to the Nara's house.

"NO! You can't leave yet!" Ino yelled as she grabbed Chiyome like a teddy bear.

"Why don't you two stay for lunch." Yoshino said, and how was Shisui going to refuse.

"I'm always up for free food."

"Why don't you kids come help me in the kitchen?" Yoshino said, ushering the kids insead.

Shisui followed, not because he was a kid or anything, but because he was hungry. And it was easy taking some sample of the food while Yoshino was trying to get Shikamaru to help.

"Wasn't there more noodle then this?"

"That's because Shisui has been eating it raw like the monster he is."

"Really?" Yoshino said with a truly scary look.

"Sorry!" Shisui said before getting the hell out of the kitchen.

On the way out he heard all the children laughing at him. He may not have a mom but Shisui knows never to mess with one.

"Bye!" I waved to Shikamaru as we finally left.

Playing with three three-year-olds was exhausting, and I couldn't wait to go back home and practice my reading until Itachi came back.

"Sorry we needed to head back, but do you want to meet some of our cousins? They are around your age. You could play with them until Mikoto-san gets back." Shisui said even though I clearly was tired.

Okay, maybe not clearly because I felt fine physical. I was just emotionally drained. However meeting Uchiha kids my age might be beneficial.

"Ya! Sounds like fun!" I lied through my teeth.

"Good, I was supposed to help Yuina today anyways. She's my aunt and she is going to have another baby soon."

"And you thought taking me to my friends was more important? What if she need your help babysitting or something."

"She could have hired a Genin team. Plus baa-chan was the one who wanted me to take you. No one questions Baa-chan."

I'm assuming Baa-chan was Misaki, who 60 if that. Then again, there wasn't a lot of old people in the Uchiha compound who weren't civilian. A 60 year old ninja was something worth respecting.

It was a long walk back to the compound since Shisui refused to body flicker since I 'insulted' it. It did give me the chance to look around and really notice how out of the way the Uchiha lived. All the other major and minor clans lived close to the city wall or the Hokage tower. While we lived on the other side.

"Yuina-Ba! I'm back!" Shisui yelled as we entered a house not to far from mine.

"Ka-chan the weido is back." A little girl said as soon as we entered the door.

"Makoto-chan! How are you?"

"KAA-CHAAN!" The girl yelled, running deeper into the house.

"I see now why you want me as a little sister if this is how our cousin react."

"Makoto-chan is just a little shy." Shisui said and I stared at him.

It was pretty obvious that Shisui scared the child with his happiness. Maybe Uchiha just can't take that much physical contract all at one.

I'm still thinking that Shisui has Uzumaki blood or something just from how hyper he acts.

"Shisui thanks for coming, oh and is this Mikoto-sama daughter that i've been hearing so much about." Said a very pregnant women with dark brown hair that was in a braid.

"Nice to meet you Yuina-san." I said with a bow.

"Why don't you go play with Makoto and Rina, they should both be in the backyard by now." Yuina said and a headed that way.

I have meet some of my cousin during my birthdays, but honestly I can't recall their names. Hopefully It isn't expected in this society for a three year old to know that. However this is the same place that allowed an 8 year old to graduate when the average age is 12.

I have a feeling chakra might enhance mental capabilities as well as physical.

"You're doing it wrong. Tou-chan said you have to wait a year before doing this." The little girl from before said to a baby.

A walking baby, so maybe a two year old at most.

"No."

"Rina, let go!"

"No. Mine."

A two year old with a kunai in her mouth. What the hell is wrong with this place?

"Please tell me those are training kunais." I said, apparently shocking both of them.

"You were with the weirdo. Why?"

"He took me to see my friends. I'm Chiyome by the way. Nice to meet you cousin."

"Oh, I'm Makoto, this is my sister Rina."

"Hi." Rina said, dropped the kunai in favor of waddling over to me.

"How old are you?" Makoto asked picking up the kunai before throwing it.

It hit the tree just a little off from the bullseye that was drawn on it.

"I'm three!" I said with a smile, but Makoto sighed.

"Another baby."

"How old are you then."

"I'm four." Makoto said holding up her figures.

Yes, everyone knows how big of a difference three and four is. Especially to a four year old.

Just as I was trying my best to stay polite and not sass this child, I felt something wet on my hand.

"Does your sister normally put people's hands into her mouth." I asked as I tried to remove my hand, but Rina looked like she was about to cry.

"I don't know. You're the baby here not me." Makoto said as she threw another kunai at the tree.

"Come on... Rina? Don't you have some toys to play with." I asked as I finally pulled my hand free from its wet prison and used it to grabbed Rina's.

"Kuna-chan is inside."

"Then let's go get him... or her." I said as I pulled Rina will me to walk back insead.

"Yuina-ba, are you okay?" I head Shisui asked from the kitchen.

"Yes, just... my body getting ready for the big day." Yuina said soundly slightly out of breath.

I really hope she is just talking about Braxton-Hicks contractions and not something else.

"Are you sure? Didn't you say your due date was yesterday?"

Nope. This is not happening.

"Well, yes but... arggh."

Okay, I heard enough.

"You should still go see the medic just in case Yuina-san." I said still holding onto Rina's hand.

"I can carry you there." Shisui added, looking wide eyed and disheveled.

"But Yoshiro doesn't get back until tomorrow."

"Maybe if you are... having the baby now the medic can delay it? But if you don't leave then you'll have less time to make a decision." I calmly explained, which keep Rina from freaking out and Shisui.

"That... does makes sense." Yuina said and no sooner than she did, Shisui picked her up.

"We'll be back later." Shisui said before running out the door carrying the women twice his size.

Only once they leave did I realize they left me alone with the children.

Chapter Text

Note: Shishi should be Shisui and Izumi date of birth should be 64, no 67.

 I knew there must have been easier options for me to try and befriend Hinata. However what I hoped to do wasn't easy, and I knew it wouldn't be as easy as just walking into their compound. Even if I did try that a few times.

For one, the Hyūga clan was just as big as the Uchiha clan. Maybe even bigger if you don't count civilians. It was going to be much harder to form a positive relationship with them then it was with the Nara's and the others. It was also more important with all the connections they have to other departments.

Uchiha are either in active service or with the police. Nara are known to be in T&I as well as drug research, which the Yamanaka are as well. They also supply Konoha with a surplus of herbs and plants to be used for medication and poisons. Akimichi are connected to almost every restaurant in Konoha and a good number of the food merchants.

The Hyūga though, they can be found in the hospital, in T&I, patrol, as well as desk jobs. Apparently the Byakugan makes it really easy to find files, or that was what Shisui told me.

It made sense though. The Hyūga was one of the founding clans, and they doesn't have a questionable history like the Uchiha. No, they just make slaves out of the branch family.

Moral standing aside, they have the power known as influence which is something I need if I want to keep my family alive. Hinata is my best shot with how she is my age and the heiress, and I can remember a failed kidnapping that happened on her third birthday.

A Kidnapping where her father killed a foreign ninja, and to avoid any wars, his brother, Neji's father, was sent as a sacrifice. If that can be avoided, if I or Itachi or Shisui or anyone from our clan can be the one to save Hinata, that would mean the Hyūga have to pay their respects.

Assuming that I remember that information correctly and I really am not in a alternate universe where the kidnapping is never going to happen.

"Imouto."

"Ita-nii!" I yelled when I noticed Itachi was back, abandoning my 'notes' in order to jump on his back.

"I have to say, I'm wasn't expecting you to still be here."

"Why wouldn't I be here?"

"Ka-San makes it sound like whenever you are left alone you try to leave the clan grounds." Itachi said as he walked us out to the back.

"I just get bored." I said in response.

I wasn't sure when Hinata's birthday was, but I knew it was in December. So I've been testing to see how far I can get before someone is sent after me. Then once I figure out when Hinata's birthday is, I can sneak out and go to the Hyūga compound on the excuse that I was bored. Once someone is sent to get me, which takes about ten minutes i've noticed, I'll try to stall until they notice the kidnapped either sneaking into or out of the compound.

Not the best plan, but there wasn't much I could do personally. I don't have time to befriend Hinata and get invited to the party.

"You should ask one of us then."

"You guys are busy though, I can take care of myself for a few hours." I said, since that is true.

"I'm sorry Imouto. I'll try to make it up to you." Itachi said after a pause so long I didn't know what he was apologizing for at first.

"You shouldn't apologize for something that's not in your control." I said off handedly.

"I suppose." Itachi said and I could just hear the faint smile on his face.

To my surprise, we didn't stop in the backyard, and continued walking until we got to the more civilian area of the compound.

"Where are we going?" I had to ask, noticing that I never really bothered to explore this area.

Connecting with the rest of the clan was on my to do list, but It wasn't as time sensitive as befriending all the clan heirs and heiresses. The academy doesn't start until you're seven, and that will be too late.

"We're getting a treat since you stayed home by yourself for so long." Itachi said and I rolled my eyes.

More like he was rewarding me for not 'running away'. At least Itachi seems to realize that positive reinforcement works better the negative. Or maybe he just wanted a treat. Itachi is only 8.

"Itachi-kun! Been awhile since i've seen you around. How's the Accademy been treating you." A middle age man with black hair and black eyes said.

He was definitely a Uchiha, even with the lack of clan symbol on his clothes. I wonder if it was because he was a civilian. Maybe there was some kind of rule where only Uchiha who become Shinobi are allowed to wear the symbol on their clothing, otherwise they can just have the red and white fan hanging outside of their house. Or shop in this man's case.

"I graduated last year Akiko-San." Itachi said like the little gentleman he is.

"I think I remember my daughter saying something about that. And who is this with you?" The man said looking to me with a real smile.

I was starting to wonder if Shisui was the only one in this clan who could plainly show positive emotions on their face. Nice to see there was others, even if they weren't Shinobi.

"Hi, I'm Chiyome!" I said still on Itachi's back.

"Nice to meet you Chiyome-chan. Are you Itachi's little sister?"

"Yep!" I told him as Itachi finally let me slid off his back.

It was one of those bar style restaurant that didn't have a door but flags that you have to duck under. I followed Itachi as he took a seat on one of the stools that I had to climb up.

I can not wait until I am taller.

"Now what do you want? I have some Botchan Dango already being made for the new year festive at the end of the month." Akiko suggested as he started messing with all the pots and pans in the back that were already being used.

"I'll have that. Imouto?"

"Mitarashi!" I yelled earning a few chuckles from those already eating.

Mitarashi might be type casted for children and women, but it was sweet and I like saucy things. In my mind it is much better then the three color ones, but that might just be because I'm not a huge fan of red bean paste.

"And green tea!" I added before Akiko completely turned around.

"Of course."

Itachi got his before I, but he still waited before beginning to eat. The dumpling were still a little hot, but it was worth it. I wondered why Ka-chan never brought me here before.

"Itachi-kun?"

I turned around along with Itachi to see a girl maybe a year or two older the Itachi come up.

"Izumi-San." My brother said with a nod that had me laughing at the girls uncomfortable expression.

"You really don't need to call me that. Izumi is just fine." The girl pleaded before noticing me.

"Hi I'm Chiyome." I said before plopping another dumping in.

"I know. Itachi and Shisui talk about you all the time." She said with a small grin.

It seemed that my brother did have friends. She had the Uchiha clan symbol on her back, but she seems friendly with him. Not like that disconnected respect that I see most of the clan treat my brother with.

"Izumi-chan you're back. How was class?" Akiko said, coming out from the back area to talk.

"Good. Sensei suggested I take the test the next time around."

"How old are you?" I asked, figuring that was a perfectly normal question for a three year old to ask.

"I turned ten a few months ago. How old are you Chiyome-chan?"

"Three!" I said, even holding up three figures as I thought.

Even though we weren't at war at the moment, it seems like kids still graduated early. Itachi is a freak, but I also assumed he was just the exception. But Shisui also graduated when he was ten, though that was because his grandmother Misaki didn't want him to graduate too early. I thought that 12 was the normal age just because of Naruto's class, but now I wonder if that was just a special situation.

"And you're going to become a ninja like your Nii-San?" Izumi said with a giggle as she sat at the bar with us.

"Yep."

"I haven't seen you around. How are your mission?" Izumi asked and I pretended to be focused on my food.

"We are going on our first c-rank soon. It is in the village, but they need extra patrols for the peace treaty with Kumo."

I paused for just a second, realizing that they must have been the one who kidnapped - will kidnap- Hinata. That means her birthday must be some time in the upcoming week.

"Chiyome? What's wrong?" Itachi asked, and I cursed inside my head.

Of course he noticed.

"Isn't Kumo bad people?" I said with what I hoped to be an innocence look.

"We fought with them in the war, but they are coming to stop the fighting. It will be fine, and even if it wasn't, I will make sure you are safe." Itachi said and what right does an eight year old have to say something like that?

"Okay then." I said regardless of my true thoughts, barely listening as Izumi continued to talk to Itachi.

Now I just need to figure out the exact date of Hinata's birthday. Shouldn't be too hard since I bet the whole clan needs to go and that means lots of presents. I'll be sure to go with Kaa-chan on shopping trips so I can listen in on gossipers.

Fugaku came home late, like he has been doing ever since the Kumo ninja arrived. It has been a long week with Konoha police working over time, but tonight was their last night in the village. It couldn't come any sooner in Fugaku's mind.

It seemed that everyone was already asleep. He could feel the presents of Mikoto above him, and Itachi in his room.

But not Chiyome.

With a frown, Fugaku checked the room of his youngest child, already knowing that she wasn't there. For some reason, Chiyome who has been a perfect child, devolved quite the wanderlust once she turned three. Shikaku found it funny that she ended up in the Nara woods and befriends his son the same day. Fugaku didn't really care since the clan elders were already happy with Itachi, Chiyome wouldn't have to be pushed as hard with her training.

It has happened a few more times, most worrying was when Shisui found her hanging around the Hyūga compound for some reason, and Mikoto ended up telling Chiyome to leave a note if she leaves.

'Got bored. Taking a walk. Be back soon.' Were the messy words written on the letter left in Chiyome's room.

Any other day, Fugaku would trust the the patrollers or even ANBU to keep an eye on Chiyome, but with so many watching the Kumo-nin Fugaku isn't going to put blind faith on that. With how overworked his people have been, Fugaku didn't need to imagine what it was like for the rest of the force.

Even Itachi was too tired to notice that Chiyome left, and Mikoto has been back on active duty for a month now, even though it has mostly been during the nights.

Fugaku body flickered to their roof, taking a quick look to see if she was anywhere in the compound. When it became obvious she wasn't, Fugaku first checked the small shopping area, then the town center, before fearing that she was over by one of the clan grounds.

Fugaku hoped it was the Nara, but he had a feeling there was a reason why Chiyome has been asking about the Hyūga so often. She must have seen something there the other day and knew she couldn't just ask to visit like with her friends. It was quite a ninja like reaction to wait until people were asleep before figuring out the information yourself, but Fugaku had a bad feeling he just couldn't shake.

"Chiyome."

The three year old turned around, her mid length hair spinning out behind her, before looking at him in shock.

"T-tou-san?" She asked, blinking a few times.

"You can't sneak out of the house at night. If your mother or brother wake up with you gone they would have worried regardless of the note you left."

"Sorry. I wasn't trying to sneak out. I thought they knew."

"They are both very tired. And I think it is time for us to go to bed as well." Fugaku said noticing how Chiyome kept looking at the wall that lead to the Hyuga grounds.

She wasn't even near the gate to get in, so Fugaku wondered what here gained her attention. It couldn't have been the people. None of them would be interesting enough for his daughter.

"But I haven't finished my walk!" Chiyome said with a yawn that she bit off halfway.

"Why don't we walk back home then?" Fugaku said right before he caught something out of the corner of his eye.

A figure jumping out of the Hyūga compound.

With barely any thought, Fugaku's Sharingan spring to life as he went through his mind of who should be guarding this area. Only to realize that it was a minute between two patrols. The perfect moment for someone to slip in.

"Chiyome, go to the gate and tell them there was an unidentifiable Shinobi was leaving their compound." Fugaku said quickly before following the person.

"Okay." He heard his daughter say before he was too far away.

It didn't take long to caught up with the Shinobi, and even less time for Fugaku to notice the cloud symbols or the child paralyzed in the person's arms. Of course they weren't here just for peace treaties. Kumogakure is too power hungry for that.

"In the name of Konoha police, release the child or you will be killed." Fugaku said as he waved a genjutsu over the Kumo-nin.

The Shinobi only fell for it for a moment, but that was all Fugaku need to disarm and place a chakra sapping tag on him.

"Good thing I didn't have time to change." Fugaku commented before calling in reinforcements as he grabbed the Kumo-nin and the girl.

I only just finished telling the guards what happened when Tou-San came back.

"Uchiha-San." A new voice said and immediately the guards stood up and bowed.

"Hyūga-San." Tou-San said with thinly covered disguised. "This Kumo-nin was found escaping with this girl. I intercepted and immobilized him. The girl seems to be unharmed beside a paralysis seal that was on her."

The man looked to Hinata who looked so tiny with all the adults around her, before nodding.

"We should talk to the Hokage about this at once. Your daughter can stay in my home if you wish."

"That might be for the best." Tou-san said, though it looked like he was eating lemons.

I gave Tou-San a brief smile to show I was still doing fine before he left and the guards motioned for me and Hinata to go into the compound with them.

"We should go, don't you want to see your Ka-chan?" I asked when Hinata didn't move.

She looked shocked, and I don't blame her. Being abductive during the night would be scary for anyone, let along a three year old.

"Do you want to hold my hand as we walk?" I asked holding my hand out as Hinata stared at it.

I heard a few sniffles before she grabbed it. Though grab might be a strong word since it was more like she put her hand next to mine. While we walked it got stronger, and I let myself think about what just happened.

Tou-San was the last person I expected to come, but it went better than I thought. I didn't even notice a fight, and the bad guy wasn't dead which means that things are already different then from canon. As long as Hinata's dad doesn't kill him during interrogation, Neji's father wouldn't have to be used as a scapegoat.

"Hina-chan!" A woman cried from the doorway of the biggest house I have ever seen.

"K-Ka-c-chan." Hinata said so quietly that I could hardly hear her and I was standing right next to her.

I moved to remove my hand to let Hinata go to her mom, but the girl refused. Instead I was forced to walked over along with Hinata who was now crying too much to walk straight.

"Oh sweetheart. It's okay. You're safe now." Hinata's mom said pulling Hinata into a hug after she finally let go of my hand.

"Here, let's come inside and I'll make some tea for us all." The woman said and it took me a moment to realize she was including me in that statement.

"Thank Hyuga-San." I said as I removed my shoes and walked in.

No sooner then I put the guest slippers on did Hinata grabbed my hand again. I could see through her bangs that her face was covered in snot and tears and I got flashbacks to when I was stuck babysitting Makoto and Rina. It was almost enough to have me pull away and walk away.

I gave her a smile regardless of my thoughts, and we both walked into the kitchen.

I'm sure it was a very cute sight.

"So you are Fugaku-san's daughter?" The woman asked as she turned around from the kettle, smiling at the sight of Hinata.

"Yep! I am Chiyome. Nice to meet you." I said, making an awkward bow since Hinata was still holding on to me.

"Nice to meet you too Chiyome-chan. My name is Hikari, and I see you have already meet my daughter Hinata."

"We're friends now." I boldly said, and since Hinata got closer to me I figured she agreed.

Or just liked me too much as a teddy bear. Might go either way with how the night was going.

I talked to Hikari was we had some rosebud tea, and I found out that she was pregnant, which I was surprised about since I couldn't remember if Hinata had a sibling. Doesn't mean too much since the kid would be three years younger and therefore would be around Konohamaru's age. I never payed much attention to the younger kids, so it might as well slipped my mind.

"Why don't you two go to bed. I'm sure Hina-chan wouldn't mind sharing her bed with you." Hikari said and I felt Hinata nod on my shoulder since she has been nodding off.

If I wasn't also completely exhausted, I might have argued more because I ready don't mind sleeping on a sofa or the floor, but instead I just nodded and was out before my head hit the pillow.

Chapter Text

I woke up in my bed.

Apparently Tou-San didn't want me spending the night. Not like I really cared since my plan worked! Kumo-kidnapped captured, and Neji's father is safe. This is good. This meant I can change things from what I remember happening.

It also meant that otherwise things are going the way it did in the story, but I already planned for that.

Needless to say, I work up that morning in a very good mood.

Well, until I actually opened my eyes and looked around my room.

"Itachi? What are you doing in my room?"

"Good morning Imouto." Itachi said looking like he didn't sleep at all last night.

Which is weird since he was asleep even before I left the night before.

"Ita-ni, I love you but why are you in my room before Ka-chan?"

"No reason." He said and I raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Do you always watch me when I sleep or something?"

"I haven't before."

I gave my loving brother a glare because that sounded like he was planning on watching me sleep for the indeterminable future. Just what happened last night to make him so paranoid?

Wait.

"Is this about how Hinata-chan almost got kidnaped last night? Like, are you worried that might happen again?" I asked, slowly looking over Itachi.

I never claimed to be like Sherlock Holmes and able to know if someone was lying by their eye twitching or whatever, but Itachi had quite the poker face. Not even having a three (and a half) year old glaring at him broke it, and I know I would be laughing my ass of if I saw a mirror.

"The Kumo-nin would be willing to try that again."

"I meant in general. It's fine that you are worried, but don't forget that Ka-chan and Tou-chan are here as well." I said before finally getting out of my bed.

"Can you leave so I can get dressed now?" I whined.

Itachi got up with a nod and I got ready for the day.

The day passed normally. After breakfast Itachi left to go train or do a mission with his team (I might have not been paying attention). Ka-chan then had me help her in the garden until she decided it was time for my written lesson.

That was when there was a knock at the door.

I continued working as Ka-chan got up to go answer it. Since this was the head family, there was lots of people that would come by for one reason or another. I never payed too much attention, but maybe I should have. I know a few members of my clan, but there is a lot.

"She's in the back, why don't you go say hi."

I looked up when Ka-chan said that, just in time to see a small child run over to me. She stopped right in front of me, before looking down at her feet.

"Hey Hinata-chan." I said with a smile.

That seemed to break Hinata out of whatever reservations she had about talking to be.

"G-good afternoon Chiyome-san." Hinata said with a small smile of her own.

Looking slightly past Hinata, I saw Ka-chan talking to Hinata's mom Hikari. Seems like the Hyūga are already making it thanks to the Uchiha clan known. Otherwise if it was just them trying to set up a play date for Hinata and I, it wouldn't have been at the house.

"Would you like to draw with me?" I asked, pulling out some clean sheets of paper.

Hinata hesitated for a moment before nodding so much she looked like a bobble head. I wondered if Hinata has ever played with a kid her age before. Not that i'm really her age, but she doesn't know that and why else would a three year old be worried about drawing?

I pulled out some crans that was only a few colors. Nothing like the 24 packs of crayola like when I was a kid. Still Hinata didn't know better and I had had fun trying to draw the character that I could remember.

Ones that weren't from Naruto. I already have a journal for that and I would rather not fill it with loose papers.

"That looks scary." Hinata commented on my red dragon and I tilted my head.

"Well Smug isn't a good dragon. See, he stole their home and took all their stuff." I said before loosely retelling the plot of the Hobbit.

Hinata was completely mesmerized and I wondered if I could make a living publishing stories from my old life. Might be a good retirement plan. Like what Jiraiya does, only less porn.

"Hina-chan, it's time to go home." Hikari said and only then did I realize the sun was setting.

I didn't even do my physical training today!

"B-but..." Hinata said looking to me with what only could be called puppy-dog eyes.

"We should play again tomorrow!" I said before tears could fall.

"Actual, I was wondering if you and Chiyome-san would like to accompany us to the new year's festival." Hikari said to me, before looking to Ka-chan who was looking very pleased.

"I think that is a great idea. This is the first year her brother wouldn't be able to join us, so I'm sure Chiyome would love the company."

"YA! Ino-chan, Shika-chan, and Choji-chan should come too!" I said figuring it would be good for them to meet Hinata.

"You have a lot of friends." Hikari commented with a light laugh that she covered with her hand.

"Yep, and I bet they want to be your friend too Hina-chan!" I said with my brightest smile.

If Ino was able to make Sakura into a confident girl in the show i'm sure it would benefit Hinata as well.

"Really?" Hinata said in complete shock.

"Of course! Who wouldn't want to be your friend?" I asked with a tilt of my head.

Without having to look, I knew the mothers were just cooing at how cute we were. Seems like those drama classes I took were useful even though I can't even remember them now.

Mikoto always loved the new year festival. Waking up before the sun was always a challenge, even more so once kids were involved, but was always worth it. It was sad that Itachi had a mission - his first c-rank - but seeing her youngest nodding off on Fugaku's shoulder was worth it.

Mikoto laughed silently at the sight. Chiyome was so excited to see all of her friends that she hardly went to bed the night before. Not to mention that Fugaku would bark at a police officer that was slacking off every so often, scaring them despite the sleepy girl that would smile lazily at them.

"Mikoto-san!"

"Yoshino-san, It is nice to see you again." Mikoto said noticing that her old teammate was hold Shikamaru who also seemed unable to stay awake so early.

"Are we there?" Chiyome said with her face stilled barred in her father's jacket.

"Yes, Shikamaru is here."

Chiyome pulled away and Fugaku put her down. It didn't take long for the other children and respected parents to arrive at the temple by the Nara forest. Chiyome didn't waste any time in introducing Hinata to the rest of her friends, and effortlessly folded Hinata's cousin in with them.

"Hi I'm Chiyome!" Her daughter said with a smile as Hinata was practically hanging off her arm.

The boy looked to his father who gave a nod.

"I am Hyuga Neji. Nice to meet you Chiyome-san."

Mikoto smiled at the boy who was only a year older then the kids and yet already had his forehead covered. Mikoto was never very close to anyone in the Hyuga clan, but Kushina was friends with Hizashi. There was even a few times where the redhead would wonder out loud if she could remake the seal.

"Come over here and meet my friends!" Chiyome said leading the boy over to where Shikamaru and Choji were, and Ino was walking over to.

It was great that Chiyome was effortlessly getting along with the kids, but the same couldn't be said about Fugaku and Hiashi. Those two have always had a rivalry, and how that they are both clan head it has only gotten worst. It was taking all of Mikoto control not to laugh at the sight of Hiashi trying to thank Fugaku for saving his daughter.

"Hn. I was just going my job." Fugaku said and Mikoto would have swore that Hiashi's eye twitched at that.

"Yes, well, It is still appreciated. The Hyuga clan will not forget your... good work."

"Now that's taken care of, I think some of the children want to go see the festival." Hizashi said in a light tone despite his blank face.

Mikoto looked to see that Chiyome was already leading the pack of children to one of the stalls, problemy doing a better job of keeping the kids together then most adult would.

"Yes, I think that would be wise." Mikoto agreed as she walked over.

It was enjoyable.

Mikoto didn't realize how much she missed her old teammate and it was interesting seeing Ino-shika-cho outside of the field. The fact their kids got along was good. Great for connections and the fact that they will all be in the same academy year as long as none graduate early. Or there are no wars.

It was a good start to a new year.

Chapter Text

One thing I didn't take into consideration was how much upkeep there was to friendships. Maybe it was just a child thing because I remember how there would be months between the last times I talked to my friends. Then again, with cell phones and social media it wasn't hard to contact your friends. Here, in this life or age or whatever it was, I would get playdates from my friends everyday!

It wasn't that bad, but it was something I didn't plan for. Before I knew it was only a few months before my fifth birthday. Which means I only had two-three years before the massacre.

Part 1 is almost done. I still need to get in contact with the Aburame clan (not looking forward to that) since they are considered one of the four major clans of Konoha. Then it would help to get to know some of the Inuzuka (also I love dogs) and maybe even members of the Sarutobi family. Konohamaru should be born by now, and Asuma was always one of my favorite teachers. Not to mention that could be a good way to get the Hokage on my side.

What I need to work on is part 2 and 3 of my plan. Uniting the Uchiha clan and getting civilians on my side.

I have been meeting more members of my family. Shisui and Misaki are my unoffical babysiters, and I have had a few play dates with Makoto and Rin, along with baby Hanae. Then there is Izumi and her dad who are part of the weird group of civilian Uchiha (not Izumi, she is on a Genin team).

Then with Civilians so far I have just been acting like a good samaritan. Helping older people carry their stuff, getting babies or young kids to stop crying and give their parents a break, and the like. I need to do more, but I hope they will see me and think all Uchiha are like this and not that i'm the exception.

Maybe I would try bring Makoto along one of the times. Charity would do the kid good with how annoyed she is with her siblings taking all of her parents time.

Basicly, I had a lot of shit to do and the deadline is slowly creeping up on me.

"Chiyome? Can I come in?"

I looked up from my half disguised plans to the door of my bedroom.

"I don't know. Have you decided to wait a year or two before taking the Chūnin exam?" I asked, sounding way more irritated then I was really feeling.

I figured this would happen. In the story, Itachi was an ANBU captain by the time Sasuke was 7. Meaning that Itachi was only 12. He's going to be 10 in a few weeks and I have no doubt that my brother will be able to pass the exam his first try.

But I couldn't help but wonder what would change if Itachi doesn't become ANBU captain. Would Shisui be asked to kill everyone? Izumi? One of my Clan mates that I haven't met yet. Some random ninja? It would be in my best interest not to change this, but I still don't like the idea of my brother participating in a battle royal.

"Chiyome, we talked about this. Next year the Chunin exams are in Ame and Kuno." Itachi said as he opened the door.

"I know."

"My sensei thinks I am more than ready, so you think he would say that if that was not the case?"

I rolled my eyes at that. More likely his Sensei is only nominating Itachi now because he finally caved before the elders demands. Though I do have to give the man credit for taking two years to do so.

"Chiyome. I'll be fine. You will even be able to watch the last part."

"Fine."

Not like I have much choice at this point.

"Nii-chan is going to the Chūnin exam." I simply said looking over to where Itachi was with his new teammates.

No one told me exactly what happened, but apparently one of their teammates was killed during a mission, the girl on their team decided to quit being a ninja, and Itachi got two new members. I never met Itachi's new team until today, but I was surprised to see an Aburame was one of them.

"Really? Do you think we can watch?" Ino asked a little loudly.

It probably wasn't the best idea to bring a bunch of kids to the park right next to the academy were the first part of the exam will be held. But it wasn't like we weren't allowed near the foreigners, not to mention Yoshino and Ino's mom Inoe were here.

"Ka-chan said it isn't public until... the third part?" Chōji said, though he sounded uncertain at the last part.

"Otou-san said the same. D-do you think it would be okay if we watched them with you Chiyome-chan?" Hinata asked from on top of the monkey bars.

"Sure." I said without thinking.

They weren't allowed in the building until noon, so we were able to see almost all the teams that would be starting off. There was a lot. More than could fit in a college lecture room, and if I am remembering that correcting though rooms were huge.

"Oh! We should have a sleepover the night before, then make signs for Chiyo-chan's nii-chan." Ino said with a clap of her hands.

"That sound like a drag."

"No it doesn't! It sounds fun, right Chiyo-chan?"

"Ya." I said, and the idea of holding a bunch of poorly made sign for Itachi does sound funny.

Maybe I could embarrass him so much he fails.

"Hey you all should play ninja with me!" Some kid demanded, and I looked down to see a brown haired boy with red triangles on his check.

No way, was it really Kiba? I didn't even bother trying to find him! How is this fair?

"No." Shikamaru said from his sleeping position next to Hinata and me.

"WHAT? WHY NOT!" The kid yelled.

Like, really yelled. I'm pretty sure if I looked some of the team would be staring at us.

"Why don't we play latter? Nii-chan is going to take his exam soon and I want to see him go in." I said with a smile, hoping that will calm the boy down.

"Nee-chan is taking the exam too. I bet she'll finish before your Nii-chan." The boy said with crossed arms.

Really? I mean, I'm sure his sister is quite the ninja, but Itachi is on a whole nother level. There is just nothing to compare.

"I don't think they will be testing their speed to finish a written test."

"Ya, so why don't you leave dog breath." Ino said and I almost facepalmed.

"No, you don't need to leave. Don't you want to cheer your sister on? You can do that here with us, then the six of us can play ninja." I said, quite proud of how diplomatic I was acting.

Now for Ino to get the hint. With how easily the trio excepted Hinata (and Neji), I didn't think I would have to worry about this.

"Fine. But Hana is the best ninja, like, ever!" Kiba said as he climbed up the monkey bars that we have taken over.

"Where is your sister?" Chōji asked, and I looked to where Kiba pointed.

"See? She's the one with the three Ninken. She's so cool she got triplets, does your brother have a ninken?" Kiba asked obviously looking at me.

Hana was holding two puppies, one in each hand, with a third one on her head, walking with her team as she discreetly let them smell everyone there. Probably having her dog remember their sent for later. It would be useful if the second part is anything like the one from the show, but every exam is different.

"The short boy with the long black hair is Itachi. He just turned 10, but he's been a genin for a few years now." I said, showing off my brother who was about to get sniffed by Hana's dogs.

"He doesn't look like much." Kiba said and I just gave him a unamused look.

Honestly, it's like the only way the boy knows how to socialize is through competition. And he doesn't even have a dog for me to pet instead of trying to operate this landmine!

"Oh look. They're heading in." I pointed out.

"Great! Now we can play ninja. I want the boys on my team 'cause boys are stronger then girls!"

"WHAT?!" Ino yelled, and I have to agree with her.

Not even two seconds ago he was talking about how strong and cool his sister is, and now he thinks that boys are automatically stronger then girls? The game of ninja is more about strategy than strength, and I think Chakra has more to do with strength in this world then hormones.

Not to mention that Shikamaru wouldn't even play, and if he leaves then Chōji will be too worry about him being lonely to take the game seriously.

"You know what? I think this will be great teams. Come on Ino-chan and Hinata-chan, I have a plan."

There was only 10 teams left after the written exam. Now they were standing in front of the Training Grounds 44 waiting for the second part of the test. They had an hour to prepare, which some of the teams left to get survival mission equipment, but some teams were already prepared.

Itachi was aware the the second part of the chunin exams are normally a mock mission that can last up to a week and packed accordingly. Aburame-san had a storage scroll on his back that Itachi assumes is his supplies, and Suzukaze-san had a small backpack. That was a little odd since Itachi is aware that Suzukaze family owns a well known Shinobi supply store and knows as much about Fūinjutsu as Itachi does. In fact in the few missions they have been on Suzukaze-san only carried a storage scroll.

"Himuka-chan!"

Itachi turned to see a Inuzuka girl running to his teammate with three ninken yipping at her heals.

"Hana? I thought your team was going to wait another year." Suzukaze-san said with a smile.

"Nah, Sensei thought we are ready. Well, more like she said we are ready enough that we wouldn't die to the first team we meet, but same thing really. Seems like there will be three rookie teams this time around. Man, how cool would it be if we all make it to the finals!" Inuzuka-san said with a ecstatic look before turning to Itachi.

"Hey, I know you! You're that boy who graduated super early and was in our class for like... a week." The girl said before turning around, cupping her hands to her face and yelling, "SAISU! IS THIS THE UCHIHA YOU CALLED SHISHOU ALL LAST YEAR!"

Itachi was surprised to see he did recognize one of the two boys who came running over, looking slightly winded. It was during the time Itachi keep being transferred to a higher level class, and at one point there was some older kids who tried to bully him. Izumi-san often stepped in, but that was only when Itachi was the target.

"Hana, can you be any lounder? There's foreign ninja here! You might as well yell, HEY EVERYONE! WANT TO KILLS SOME YOUNG NINJAS RIGHT OUT OF SCHOOL!"

"I don't need to do it now that you just did." Inuzuka-san said with a smug look that had Kamano-san pulling his hair out.

"Sorry about that. Um, it's nice to see you again Itachi-kun." Kamano-san said once he calmed down.

"Same to you Kamano-san. I was not aware you graduated already."

"Um, ya, I tried to graduate early last year with Izumi-chan, but I didn't pass."

Itachi gave a nod to show he understood, but an uncomfortable silence fell nevertheless. Inuzuka-san and Suzukaze-san talked like the old friend they are, with their Akimichi teammate adding the occasional comment. Kamano-san remained next to Itachi, looking like there was more he wanted to talk about, but no matter how long Itachi waited, Kamano-san didn't say anything.

Itachi other teammate also didn't talk, but that was normal. Aburame-san had a hard time saying anything since he can only talk using his intects. Small talk like this would be a waste of chakra.

"Hey, we should meet up after the exam and catch up. You can bring your team, I'll bring mine, and we can see if Izumi-chan want to join us."

"I even know a good place we could go." Suzukaze-san said right before there was a loud bell ringing.

The hour was up.

"Hey you waste of skins! Shut up and listen to what I have to say." A young man wearing a T&I outfit said in front of the gates to the Training Grounds.

"Good. I'm Morino Ibiki and I am the examiner for the second test. Now for this part of your exam each team has to transport a special packet to the center tower located in the center, exactly ten kilometers from our current location. As for rules? You have to make sure every item in the packet is in good condition, or you fail. Your team must enter the tower at the same time, or you fail. Killing other teams is allowed, as is sabotaging them. However, only the first five teams will even be allowed into the tower, meaning that half of you will fail." The man said with a smug looking smile.

Itachi thought the first part of the exam was the scare tactics, but it seems that this Examiner was giving them another round.

"Most likely though? I doubt five teams will even survive. There is a good reason why this place is called the forest of death after all.

"If you still want to try, then go sign your consent forms and get your packet."

Itachi looked to his teammates just in case, but Suzukaze-san gave him a confident smile and Aburame-san inclined his head slightly. Then they walked to the both, with Inuzuka-san team the only other team in front of them. They couldn't see what the packet was, but Itachi didn't need to see.

"WHAT THE HELL? IS THIS JUST A BENTO BOX!" Inuzuka-san yelled and Itachi heard Morino-san laugh heartedly.

"Oh did I forget to mention? You're going to deliver dinner to all of the members of I&T, so you better not be too late. Some of us get cranky when hungry."

Chapter Text

When Tou-chan told me he wouldn't be able to train me for a month in order to teach Itachi super special secrets jutsus, I naively thought that would mean I didn't have to train. Of course I would still practice my form and do all the exercises that Kaa-chan does with me every morning, but I was looking forward to a break from being pushed to the point where I could barely walk back to my bed to sleep.

I forgot tou-chan wasn't the only Jounin in our clan.

"Chiyome, why are you back so late? You're going to be late for your training today."

"But isn't tou-chan still helping nii-chan?" I asked with a raised brow, pausing from taking my shoes off.

"Your uncle will be taking that over."

"Yoshiro? I thought he was still gone." I said even though I knew he was still gone.

Makoto has been complaining nonstop about how long the mission is.

"No your other uncle. You haven't meet him yet, but Souta offered to train you along with his kids this month." Kaa-chan said, making a weird face.

"O-kay? Is this another second cousin once removed?"

"No. Souta's my brother."

"What?! You mean all this time I have legit cousins and I am just meeting them now?!" I said in disbelief.

Why are clans so big? At this rate I'm not even going to meet everyone before the massacre happens!

"Yes, well, they are a very busy family." Kaa-chan said making that face again.

Okay, so it sounds a lot like Kaa-chan isn't on good terms with her brother. That's... not good, but I can work on it. I have the power of cuteness on my side.

Their house wasn't too far away from ours; down the street and two houses down the alleyway. It looked like all the other houses in the compound.

We didn't knock on the door, instead Kaa-chan lead me to the back where I could hear some people training. I could sense three people, but chakra sensing still felt like a sixth sense to me. As in it was something I really had to focus on to get anything useful out of it.

"Souta, I brought Chiyome-chan." Kaa-chan announced, not even pausing before entering the back yard.

There stood a man looking like the stereotypical Uchiha, with his arms crossed and a frown as he turned to us. Souta looked to be a few years older then Ka-chan, but besides a few more wrinkles and a scar across his eyebrow, the two looked similar.

"Hn. Souma, come over and meet your cousin. I'm going to have you two spar so I can gauge how well my brother-in-law has been training her." Souta said, and holy shit, he had some balls to say that about the clan head.

It was a good thing Kaa-chan already left.

A tall boy with light brown hair come over from where he was throwing Kunais. He looked to be 7 or 8, but as he sighed and stomped over it was more like a bratty pre-teen.

"Nice to meet you Souma-nii, I'm Chiyome!" I said with a slight bow at the hip.

Shisui is going to be so piss when he finds out I've been calling other family brother before him.

"Do I really have to fight her?" Souma asked, turning to his dad and completing ignoring my cuteass introduction.

"It shouldn't last too long. She is only a girl." Souta said, and I immediately made a face at him.

Okay, so he's probably right, but if I lost it wouldn have been because he is older and more experienced than me. There was no reason for him to bring sexsis ideas of gender into this. I was starting to think that type of thinking didn't exist here since Chakra trumps over any biological differences, but I guess it is just some peoples natural to be huge assholes.

No wonder Kaa-chan doesn't get along with him.

"I'll try my best." I said with a sickly sweet smile.

I was going to make this spar last as long as I can. There is no greater motivated than spite afterall.

I stood in front of my cousin in the stance that tou-chan and Itachi forced me to do until it become second nature. Souma was in an identical stance, which means he is still learning the basics. He should be in the academy, therefore he would also know the academy Standard.

Question is would he use it.

"Begin at the count of three. One... two... three!" Souta announced, and before I could react Souma was rushing at me.

I stood my ground, frantically looking for a weakness. I knew I wasn't going to win if I relied on strength or speed, since Souma would bet me on both because of his age and size. But he was a kid. I was mental an adult (I think) and I can force myself to think logically even in adrenaline filled situations.

When Souta went for a punch I was just able to deflect it, but before I could perform a counterattack, he attacked again. I took a step back as the other punch glanced my shoulder. It hurt like hell, but only for a moment. Probably nothing more than a bruise and I was able to recorrect my stance into a more defensive position.

Souta did a battle cry as he tried to kick my legs, but I flipped backwards before using my momentum to push forward. I made it look like I was aiming for his chest when I was really go for his throat.

Not somewhere you want to go for a friendly spare, but in my defence Souta didn't tell us the parameters of the spare. Tou-chan tells me that every time we spare, and the same for Itachi when he spare against Shisui.

Souta gasped as I hit him, the air getting knocked out. I tripped him, using mainly his own weight to cause him to fall. I then scrambled to get ontop of him, pulling back one of his arms and pinning it back.

"Get off!"

"Say I win and I will." I retorted way more calmly than I was feeling.

"Tou-san!" Souma yelled, and I made the mistake of looking over.

I don't know if that was Souma's plan, or if he was just reacting in the moment, but Souma reeled his head back and slammed it into my nose.

I felt the blood run down my face as I fell on my butt.

"That's enough. Good job getting out of the hold, but you shouldn't have fallen for her tricks in the first place." Souta said, and I really wanted to spit a gob of blood at him.

Insead I tilted my head back and pressed my tongue up against the roof of my mouth. The flow of blood seemed to slow, but I wasn't sure if it was just because of timing or from what I was doing. I wasn't even sure why I was doing it.

Maybe I got a lot of nosebleeds in my past life?

"Chiyome, you have a lot of work, but at least I don't have to go over everything with you. I want to both of you to do 15 repetitions of the fifth cycle." Souta said before leaving.

That's right. He just left an almost 5 year old with a 7 year old. To practice martial arts by themselves.

I wondered not for the first time, why this place was so weird when it comes to children.

Chiyome's fifth birthday was even more crazy the usual. It might have something to do with all the dogs, but who knows. Mikoto was just happy that Itachi was able to take a break from training to come.

But what makes it even better was he was socializing! With a girl.

While Chiyome wasn't getting along too well with the younger Inuzuka, she also seemed to catch on that Itachi was spending lots of time with Hana. Mikoto even caught Fugaku stifling a laugh from watching their daughter ask Itachi and Hana 'innocent' questions. Mikoto thinks she was doing it on purpose, but she has no idea who would have told Chiyome about dating.

It was Shisui. No doubt about it.

Mikoto would have to talk to the boy about that, but it could wait.

"Chiyome-chan do you want to work on the... um... p-project now?" Hinata said, finally stopping Chiyome from embarrassing Itachi and Hana.

"Oh ya! I almost forgot."

"You kids are working on a project?" Hana asked with a raised brow, and disturbingly enough it seems like all the kids were in on this project.

Even Shikamaru.

"Sorry Hana-san, but you and Ita-nii can't know about it. It is important for your fight." Chiyome said with a oddly serious tone.

Oh she must be talking about the signs. Mikoto realized, unable to stop the smile from showing on her face.

"I have to say, I was expecting this party to suck balls with how stuck up your clan is, but this isn't too bad." Tsume said as she walked over, a cup of sake already in her hand despite it still being the early afternoon.

"Thank you for your approval of my daughter's birthday party." Mikoto said she stared the head of the Inuzuka as the women just grinned wildly.

"Always happy to give my party rating. But seriously, the only reason I came was to keep my kids from starting a fight. I didn't expect any of this!" Tsume said as she waved over to the other adults at the party.

Inoichi was talking to Yoshino and Hizashi about something, probably the academy teaching methods. Hiashi was by the cake with Hikari, who was trying to calm down little Hanabi. Inoe was talking to Masami, the only other civilian here. Choza was watching as Shikaku played a game of Shogi against Fugaku with Yuina trying to give suggestions. Then Yoshiro was alone taking care of Hanae who was also crying.

"I can't even remember having so many clan heads in one place without it being a meeting." Mikoto said.

"Definitely not since Minato died." Tsume said before taking a drink.

Though they weren't all in the same class, everyone here knew either Minato or Kushina. The two of them were just too charismatic not to try befriending everyone. That's what made their deaths so hard, not to mention that rule surrounding their only son.

"That probably shows that we should have done this sooner. Even the older kids are getting along." Mikoto said instead, and somehow got wrapped into helping Tsume plan Hana's next birthday.

The day of the tournament reminded me of a sports game. There was a lot of people, and food was being sold everywhere. Not to mentioned it smelled really good even though Kaa-chan refused to buy any.

To my surprise all my friends were able to come. Well, not my family who are friends like Shisui and Makoto, but everyone else.

"Did you guys bring them!" I yelled as I jumped over the benches to where the kids were seating.

It seems the adults decided we were fine by ourselves and to try and have fun themselves. I am so proud that my parents also have friends now. I could weep.

"Yes." Shikamaru said, and I could have sworn he rolled his eyes if it wasn't for the fact that would have been too much effort for the boy.

"Good." I said with a smile as I sat myself down between Hinata and Chōji.

"You guys have to cheer for Nee-chan too!" Kiba reminded us, yelling loudly enough I wouldn't have been surprised if the whole stadium could hear.

"Ya, ya. Don't worry. I just hope it will be awhile before she goes against Ita-nii."

"Ya! I don't want you to cry because my sister bet your brother!" Kiba said and I laughed.

"Oh you sweet summer child." I said while shaking my head.

"What do you mean by THAT?!" Kiba yelled, but before I or anyone else could respond, a voice rang out over the area.

"Welcome to the last part of the Chunin exams. I will be your announcer, Shiranui Genma. Now let's get things started with our first match, UCHIHA ITACHI FROM KONOHA VS. MAKI MASARU FROM KUSA!" The Senbon wearing ninja said from the both where the Kage were.

I could see the third was there, and there was man around my parents age with the symbol for wind on his hat. So it seems like only the Hokage and Kazekage were here. I was kinda hoping to see more, but I guess things aren't that great even on the macro scale.

As soon as we saw Itachi walk into the ring, looking like the perfect boy soldier, we lifted up our signs.

"GO ITA-NII! BEAT HIS BUTT!" I yelled along with my friends.

And to my utter amazement, I saw him blush in embarrassment. That would be the second time this month! I am getting so good at this little sister thing.

We calmed down once the fight actually started. No need to be distracting. The guy from grass was a weapons specialist or something. It didn't really matter because Itachi was able to knock his ass out in less than five minutes. I bet that is like a new record as well.

"UCHIHA ITACHI IS THE WINNER!" Genma announced with a roar of applause.

"NICE GOING NII-CHAN! YOU'RE THE BEST BROTHER EVER!" I yelled and Itachi waved at me.

Next was some puppet guy from Suna who was fight against Izumi. I felt bad that I didn't even know she was taking the Chūnin exam, let alone made it this far. I cheered for her nevertheless, but it didn't help. Izumi had to be carried out due to being poisoned.

After a short break, Itachi's Aburame teammate fought against someone named Tachibana Haru. Aburame-san won because he had his inchest eat the other guys arm. It was so cool, there was even bony fingers sticking out.

Ino had to go sit with her parents, but Hinata and Kiba agreed with me that it was cool.

"NOW, LET'S SEE HOW INUZUKA HANA FROM OUR BEAUTIFUL VILLAGE GOES AGAINST SASAKI NATSUKI FROM SUNA!"

She was another puppeteer, but unlike the other guys, her puppet looked like a vulture. It was even moving its wings in the air like it was flying and not just being held up by chakra threads.

"GO NEE-CHAN!" Kiba yelled as his sister laughed and give him a thumbs up.

"Don't worry, this isn't going to take too long." Hana said with a evil looking grin while her three dog howled.

The fight did look more impressive than Itachi's, but that was mainly because it lasted longer and they were closer in terms of skill. It seems that the other girl had three animal themes puppets, and they were much better at combat then the first guy's. Still, after Hana and her dog destroyed one, the girl forfeited.

"See I told you my sister was better?" Kiba said just as intermission was called before the next round starts.

"It was a good fight, but just because something looks cool doesn't mean it's better." I said, but unfortunately Kiba didn't seem to care about the wisdom I was offering him for free.

When the next round started, Itachi faced off against Hiroto, the boy who beat Izumi.

"LET'S GO ITACHI, LET'S GO! LET'S GO ITACHI, LET'S GO!" I sung, the other easily repeating along with me, despite having never heard the chant before.

As soon as Genma started the fight, Itachi turned on his sharingan. That surprised me because I didn't know he already had it. I assumed he did, but part of me hoped that it was when be was in ANBU that he got the sharingan. And the Mangekyō sharingan.

I really hope he doesn't already have that, I thought that didn't happen until Shisui's suicide.

Itachi gracefully dodged the puupet's poison strings, which putting poison on ninja wire is a good idea, even if i don't like the boy. Then with a overkill fireball, the guy passed out from the heat.

Itachi closed his eyes while we cheered, completing ignoring Genma's words of praise.

I feel like there was something else going on. Itachi is friends with Izumi, though I don't know how close. Not as close as he is with Shisui, but Itachi doesn't have a lot of friends. Seeing Izumi fail probably wasn't easy for Itachi to watch.

Man, now I feel even worst for not knowing she was here.

"NEXT WE HAVE TWO OF OUR OWN! INUZUKA HANA VS. ABURAME YōJI!" Genma said, only for the Aburame to raise his hand.

"I forfeit." He said, his voice sounding like one of those kid voice manipulators.

I hope the kid isn't already starting to smoke. His voice sounded awful.

"Um, okay. WELL IT SEEMS LIKE OUR FINALY WILL BE INUZUKA HANA VS UCHIHA ITACHI! THERE WILL BE A SMALL BREAK FOR THEM TO GET READY, THEN WE WILL BEGIN!"

"Who do we cheer for now?" Hinata asked, frowning as she thought with her fingertips touching.

"Who ever you want. You could cheer for both, but this is the moment you show your supposed to whoever you think deserves it." I told them, and I was a little curious about what they would do.

Hana's pretty cool, and definitely more charismatic than my brother. She spent time playing with us during my birthday, while Itachi just waited until everyone left before spending personal time with me. I actually hope they cheer for Hana, since it will make the blow of losing to Itachi less.

"IT IS THE MOMENT YOU ALL HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR. THE HEIRESS OF THE INUZUKA CLAN VS. THE HEIR OF THE UCHIHA CLAN. WHO. WILL. WIN." Genma said, clearly taking this announcer role as far as he could.

I wonder what the Kazekage thinks of this. I have a feeling that this isn't what most Chunin exams are like.

"GO ITACHI!" I yelled as loud as I could while shaking the sign wildly.

"GO HANA-CHAN! I NEED YOU TO WIN SO EVERYONE KNOWS HOW COOL OF A SISTER YOU ARE!" Kiba said, and damn, that was good.

"DO YOUR BEST ITA-NII! I KNOW YOU WILL WIN!" I yelled again.

"GO ITACHI-SAN!" Hinata yelled, and I didn't even know Hinata knew how to yell.

"GOOD LUCK HANA-CHAN! I LIKE YOUR HAIR BUT CHIYO-CHAN'S BROTHER IS CUTE!" Ino yelled, and I really hope she doesn't have a crush on my brother.

"Good luck Itachi-san and Hana-san!" Choji said, Shikamaru helping him hold up both signs.

Neji just crossed his arms staring intently at the fight that was about to begin. Oh well, at least he held up the signs for the previous fights.

"LET'S LET THIS FIGHT STARTED!" Genma yelled and Hana was the first to move.

One of her dogs transformed while the other two flaked Itachi. Or at least tried to. Itachi flipped backwards onto the wall, making a seal before dissolving into ravens.

"G-Genjutsu?" Hinata asked, and when I looked over I saw her Byakugan was activated.

She has already started training with that? Hinata's fifth birthday is, like, four months away. Wouldn't that be too young or...

Right. I forgot. Ninja village.

Somehow (genjutsu probably) Itachi appeared behind Hana and kicked her into the hall, causing a crack to form from the impact. Itachi did have to play 'ground is lava' with how Hana's dogs were going after him, and one got a lucky bite in.

Hana was back, and was angry. Itachi hasn't even used his sharingan yet, so I wasn't too worried. Itachi played keep away for a little longer, and Hana got more and more annoyed.

I don't know if Itachi was trying to irritate Hana, but it was clear that she wasn't one of those people who get better when angry. She made mistakes that even I noticed, and at one point triggered a trap Itachi was able to set up. While fighting.

"I see you are still good at this. Well, maybe we can fight again." Hana said after she tried to get out.

"I would like that." Itachi said, though he didn't relax.

"I right, I am willing to admit when I've lost. I FORFEIT, OKAY?!" Hana yelled, and Geman jumped down.

"OUR WINNER IS UCHIHA ITACHI!"

I felt like I was going to lose my hearing from how loud our area of the stadium was.

Chapter Text

“Why?”

I shrugged my shoulders after I placed the bag down on the floor.

“It’s been an Hour!” Makoto complained, dropping off her own load.

“It hasn’t been that long.”

I know that Makoto wasn’t expecting this when I asked if she wanted to go to the park with me, but I needed to do this. If I keep doing these good deeds by myself, I run the risk of people think It is because i’m good. I need them to think that the Uchiha clan is good.

We will still go to the park, but I want to set up a pavlovian conditioning where whenever they help a civilian out, they get a treat. Makoto just has the misfortune of being my first participant.

But I can’t let her know any of that.

“We have only gone a block. You made us stop five times!”

Okay, so maybe this isn’t working out like I hoped. I suppose this was enough for the first day.

“Sorry about that. But doesn’t it make you feel better helping others?” I asked with a hopeful smile.

Makoto pursed her lips and looked like she was going to complain even more, when the Mother we were helping come in with her own load of groceries and the baby was was on her back.

“Thank you two so much for the help. I don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t show up. Probably would have broken something again...”

“It was no trouble. Makoto-nee is already in the academy, and ninjas always help people!” I said, though my smile was directed at Makoto.

That was the whole point of d-ranks after all. To show how the ninjas are helping the general populous and to humanize them. In a way, what I was trying to do was very similar. However, while genins are being payed to do d-ranks, I’m going in for ‘free’.

“Still, thank you. You know what? I’ll tell my husband to get you two some free candy next time you go into our store. Hows that sound for me taking up so much of your time?”

“You’re going to give us free candy?” Makoto asked in amazement.

I was planing on doing the rewarding myself, but this works too.

“Of course. It’s the least I can do. You two are like the sage himself with how you arrived.”

“It was really no problem.” I said before waving good bye as we left the small house.

“Is it always like this?” Makoto said, looking deep in thought as we started walking to the park once more.

“More often than not. Most people don’t like to feel indebted to another, but it’s not always in the form of candy.” I told her, taking in the nice spring weather.

I honestly didn’t mind helping strangers. It was something familiar to me, so much so that I assume it was something that I use to do. Doesn’t really matter now, since I have to do this, but I does make it easier.

More so than my plan to befriend the major clans. Or my own clan. I am just not someone who can do all the socializing that I really need to. Yet this isn’t really something I can get lazy on. I still need to formally meet the Aburame clan. Kiba was friends with Shino, but I have yet to meet him. I still have a year before I start classes, but that is also the year I’ll be 7 and turn 8.

My ambiguous deadline.

“Chiyome-chan?!”

I turned around to see Hinata running after me with a smile on her face.

“Hey Hina-chan!” I said with a wave, waiting for her to catch up.

Behind her was Neji who was walking next to his father who was holding Hanabi’s hand. It wasn’t too odd to see Hizashi take Hinata and Neji outside of the clan ground instead of another branch member, but more often than not Hikari would be there too. Especially if Hanabi is coming along.

“H-hello Makoto-san.” Hinata said when she noticed I was with my cousin, and I almost laughed at how quickly she changed from an energetic little girl to a prim and proper clan member.

“Good morning Hinata-san. Are you going to the park too?” Makoto said before also noticing the rest of Hinata’s group.

She didn’t look to happy.

“Yes. Oji-san wanted to take us outside.” Hinata explained, also giving Makoto a weary look.

“Good afternoon Chiyome-san and Makoto-chan.” Hizashi said as we came over, lacking the usual upturn of his lip that was the Hyuga’s version of a smile.

If that wasn’t odd enough, then Neji was also giving Makoto a stare down. Neji wasn’t the most social person, but he isn’t one glare at people for no reason. And it wasn’t like this was their first time meeting either.

“Argh, as if I didn’t see him enough during class.” Makoto said under her breath, but I don’t think it fooled anyone.

“Ah, so the girl you have been complaining about is Makoto-chan.” Hizashi said with a half smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Just what is up with him? Hopefully just taxes and not something more serious. Like a war. That would be pretty bad, and while I can’t remember any wars happening besides the fourth shinobi war near the end of the show, who knows just how the butterfly effect would work. Maybe my interactions were enough of a wing flap to cause a hourican known as war.

I really hope it’s just taxes.

“You tallied on your dad?” Makoto asked with a raised brow and a smug look, dragging me out of my thoughts.

“Wait, you two are in the same class?”

“Yes. Makoto-san is just upset that I am currently top of the class, and has been acting like a child about it.” Neji said, though he looked borde

“I’m not the one acting like a child Hyuga-kun!” Makoto yelled back, pointing her finger at him.

“Whoa, just what happened? You have only been in class for a few months.” I said, stepping between the two, Hinata right at my side as back up.

“You want to know what Neji-kun did in order to cheat-”

“I did not cheat!” Neji interrupted, looking a little angry now.

“Ya! Neji-nii doesn’t cheat!” Little Hanabi piped in, still holding onto Hizashi’s hand.

“Makoto, you do realize you’re not even done with your first year right? You can still get first place. There’s no reason to get mad at Neji for doing what you want to do. Besides, you could try helping each other instead of tearing him down.” I mediated, looking at my cousin with a hopeful glaze.

“It would be wise to get long. More often than not the rookie of the year will be paired with the top Kunoichi. The academy isn’t just about learning about the physical side to being a ninja, you also need to form strong bonds with your future teammates.” Hizashi told the two, but they just looked in horror.

“What?! I don’t want to be on a team with him!”

“There is no way that’s going to happen.”

“See Makoto? Maybe it’s a good thing you’re not top of your class.” I said, looking to Hinata.

I wanted the day to be a simple outing. Not to play referee between my cousin and one of my best friend’s cousin.

Hinata gave a shrug, but gave a smile. Like she thought this was funny or something.

“Or I could just be rookie of the year AND top kunoichi. That way they can’t do that team set up!” Makoto said with a full on grin.

“I’m not going to let my grade drop just because I don’t want to be on a team with you.” Neji said, and Makoto dropped her smile.

“I don’t need you to do that. I’m just going to become better than you. Come on Chiyo-chan.” Makoto said as she pulled on my hand.

“Wait, aren’t we going to the same park?” I asked, causing Makoto to stop.

“Right. Hinata-san, Hinabi-chan, you may play with us. It will be a girls only game.” Makoto announced with her hands on her hips.

“YA! Let’s play Nee-chan!” Hanabi yelled as she exchange her uncle’s hand for Hinata’s.

“I’m planning on meeting with Shika and Choji tomorrow, you’re welcome to come Neji-chan.” I told the boy before he could feel too left out.

It wasn’t like he normally played with us since the only girls Neji seemed to like were Hinata and I, but it’s the thought that counts. Besides, Neji enjoys playing Shogi with Shikamaru and I.

“We’ll need the sandbox for our game.” Makoto said, and our game started.

It was a kanji practice game that Makoto modified so that if the fairy (Hanabi) catches you before you can write your word you “die”. More rules got added as time went on, and after a while Hinata and I were the only ones still doodling in the sand.

Makoto found some of her school friends on the playground, and promptly left us. Hinabi was asleep on Hizashi’s lap, who looked to be reading a mission scroll with a frown heavy on his face. I was once again reminded on how odd the scene looked.

“Hey Hinata, where’s your Ka-chan?” I asked, still looking at Hizashi.

He flinched. It was studdle, and the only reason I noticed was because Hanabi moved. But I did see it.

“Oh, Kaa-chan got hurt last week, so she is in the hospitable.” Hinata said in a matter of fact tone.

I couldn’t help but frown. Medicine in this world is an odd thing. The science is somewhere between the 1900 and 2000, but with chakra they are able to heal things much more quickly. The fact that Hikari who is the wife of a hean head is still in the hospital isn’t a good sign. Either the wound required surgery or was something that can’t be solved with pure chakra.

“How did she get hurt?” I asked, trying to keep the conversation light.

“Kaa-chan was really sleepy and fell asleep standing up. Tou-san was worried and took her to the hospital without us, but when we arrived Kaa-chan was already up from her nap and told us she was fine.”

“And she has been in the hospital since then?”

“Yes but Tou-san said we can’t visit today. That’s why Jii-san took us outside.” Hinata said, sounding a little worried now.

I can’t remember anything about Hikari from the show. That could be because she wasn’t important enough to the plot, or she died before Naruto graduated. I want to tell Hinata that everything will be alright, but I had a bad feeling.

“If you ever need to talk, I have two ears.” I told Hinata insead, who giggled.

“I know.” She said with a bright smile that I instantly returned even though I wasn’t feeling very happy at the moment.

I’m sure it will end up alright.

Maybe.

Itachi stood completely still, listening for a sign. He resisted the urge to use his sharingan in the darkness. Not only could his eye give away his position, but Itachi was getting low on chakra. Not dangerously so, but enough that he needed to ration it.

There was movement on his left, and Itachi sprung into action. A quick slash from his kunai was all that was needed before the clone fell into rock.

“Time’s up. Everyone back to the clearing.” An androgynous voice rang out throughout the woods.

Itachi was the first one back, but soon others came. All were still wearing their masks, for even if they do not pass, no one can know their identities. Seals were in the mask to disguise their voice, but Itachi wondered why they didn’t cover their hair as well. One of the hopefuls had bright blue hair that was pulled into a high ponytail, something that could give you away along with your height.

Itachi was the shortest one, probably because he was the youngest. Not that it matter much how old everyone was.

“If I don’t call your name, you are dismissed must leave at once. Komo, Tora, Karasu, and Kōmori.”

At once the other six left, and Itachi was left with only three others.

“Congratulations on making it to ANBU. I have you new teams and captains all set up for your first mission.”

Itachi forced any tiredness away, know that this might be the most important moment of his life. The file Itachi was give to only had the team name and leader on it. Ro, and Inu-shushō.

Chapter Text

The funeral was a week after my 7th birthday.

Neji showed up, with a long letter from Hinata explaining why she couldn’t come. I was surprised that Neji even came since Hikari was like a mom to him.

It wasn’t the best party. Tou-chan told me what happened, but I doubt the others were told. But they still knew.

The kids in this world were so much more aware then in my last life.

“There. Now we can go.” Kaa-chan said, and I jumped off her lap.

“Do... we need anything?” I asked.

This was my first time going to a funeral.

In either life times.

“No, I’m sure Hinata-chan will just appreciate your company in these times. Now it is okay to cry during a funeral, but try not to make too much noise. Hikari-san was a Kunoichi, so this will be more of a shinobi funeral then a clan one.” Kaa-chan told me, grabbing my hand as we headed for the door.

Tou-chan was already waiting for us outside, talking to some members of the police. I recognized Yunia, and gave a weak wave, but the other two I didn’t. I was pretty sure they were uchiha, but it was hard to tell.

“Are you two done?” Tou-chan asked as the three ninjas body flickered away.

“Yes, let’s go.” Kaa-chan answered, pulling me along.

“Wait, isn’t Ita-nii coming?” I wondered.

I have been seeing my socially awkward brother less and less these months. He still makes time to hang out with when when he is actual home, but he even started doing that flick ‘perhaps another time’ line he did with Sasuke.

That just reinforced that my ambiguous timeline that I remember from the show is matching up. I have a year max.

“You brother is on a very important mission right now.” Tou-chan said, and I couldn’t tell if he as happy or displeased about that.

My parents would know that Itachi is in ANBU now, right? I mean, they are both ninjas, and it seems obvious to me that is why Itachi never tells me about his missions anymore.

“Okay, I’ll just pass his sympathies along then.” I said slowly, still thinking as I absentmindedly grabbed Tou-chan hand.

When I first heard what happened to Hinata’s mom, I wondered if there was something I could have done. I still don’t know what happened in the show, but even if I did I don’t know if that would of helped.

I don’t like the idea of fate or destiny. I like to think that the meaning of life is what you give it. I think that sometimes bad things happen for no reason, and sometimes it happened because of a series of events that no one could predict without knowing the whole picture.

That’s why I feel like I can affect the Uchiha massacre, but not Hikari’s death. I know all the events that lead to the uchiha massacre, what effects it and how. I don’t know yet how changing what I have already will do, but at that point I will be like everyone else. I have always been a more ‘go with the flow’ person, and while I like plans in games like chess, I am much better at more reactive movements than ten step plans.

You can’t change the past after all. Only the future.

The funeral was being held in the Hyūga clan ground, even though Kaa-chan said it wasn’t a ‘clan funeral’. As we passed the gates, I saw all the people gathered for the funeral. It seemed like the whole clan was there... which might be the case. Hikari was married to the clan head.

I probably would have stopped walking if I wasn’t holding both of my parent’s hands. Just the sight of all these people gathering for one person, even if she was really really nice, was overwhelming for me to think about.

How many people showed up to my own funeral?

“Oh, you did decide to come.”

Hiashi looked like shit.

I didn’t even know that could even happen! The Hyūga always looked the same. Hinata even showed me of her father when he first became a jounin and the man looked exactly the same, just with slightly shorter hair and different clothes.

Tou-chan just grunted, which was better than retorting back.

I looked past my parent’s legs to see Hinata holding on to the back of Hiashi robe thing that I totally know the name of. Hiashi was holding Hinabi on his hip, who thankfully was asleep on the cool summer morning.

Neji complained once or twice how the toddler would cry non stop looking for her mom.

“Want a hug?” I asked, letting go of my parent’s hands so I could hold my arms out.

That’s what you do when someone is sad. Comfort them until they can deal or help them seek out help if they need it.

Right?

Hinata looked at me with red eyes and tears streaming down her cheeks before rushing into my embrace.

“Um, there, there.” I awkwardly said as I closed my arms around her.

Her head reached my mouth, and I had to try my best to keep hair from get in while also making Hinata feel safe.

“S-sor-sorry.”

“Don’t apology for crying. It actually good to cry; help release all the... um... emotions in your brain.” I tried explaining.

I can’t really remember why, but I readed a lot of articles about the brain before I died. One of them talked about the theory that part of the reason why cry is to get rid of extra chemicals in your brain. The specific experiment was comparing tears of sadness to tears of happiness to see if the chemicals were different. They found a significant amount (being less than 5%) of dopamine in the ‘happy tears’ and norepinephrine in the ‘sad tears’. Norepinephrine has more to do with the ‘fight or flight’ reflects, but dopamine is widely considered the ‘feel good’ neurotransmitter.

So crying can help you feel less sad in the end.

Well, assuming that your brain is working properly and all that.

“Let’s begin.” Hiashi said, and gracefully walked over to the stage was, dropping Hinabi off to his twin along the way.

I moved with Hinata closer, always keeping her in a half hug. The funeral was long, as lots of people had things to talk about Hikari-san. There was no casic, just a tombstone that was being cisaled by Hiashi. I figured it was because all ninjas had to be cremated, regardless if they were active or not. Still, it seemed odd that they would make the tombstone themselves.

I always wanted to just have a tree planted in my name and my ashes sent off to space so some alien could find it in a thousand years.

I wonder if I ever told my mom that.

“Do you want to say anything?” I asked when the flow of people slowed down.

I don’t know if Hinata needed to, but talking to the rock that represents her mother might help. Maybe not now but, later.

Hinata just shook her head. She stopped balling a while ago, but I still would feel a few tears shock my dress every so often.

“That’s fine. I’m sure she can hear you wherever you go.” I said, because isn’t that something people find comfort in?

People don’t like the idea that their love ones are gone forever, or that they will too one day. That might be why so many different religions have an afterlife, somewhere you can meet up with everyone who died before and after you. I know that might not be the best way to put it, but I’ve always been neutral on religion.

Even how I don’t know if my situation of reincarnation is the normal or just situational. Maybe it is even whatever you think will happen once you die, is what does happen and since I had no really thoughts about the situation, I got a random pick.

That I messed up my refusing to forget everything.

“R-Really?”

“She loves you a lot. And that love will be with you forever. As long as you can remember the good times.” I said with a bittersweet smile.

Hinata nodded to herself like what I said made sense, and not too long later the funeral was officially over.

More than half of the people left, and I quickly realized they were only here to show their respect to the clan as a whole, not Hikari as an individual. It was annoying, but i’m sure every funeral has people like that.

“Thank you for watching Hinata-chan, Chiyome-chan.” Hiashi said as he walked over, holding a hand out for Hinata who readily took it.

She didn’t hug him like she was doing to me, but I made me happy to see they were still close.

“What are friends for?” I said, not knowing what else to say.

Kaa-chan and Tou-chan were off talking to other people, and for as often as I would hang out at Hinata’s house, I spent more time with Hizashi then Hiashi.

“Still, Hinata is lucky she found someone like you. It is a rarity, exicaly for someone from your clan.” Hiashi said, and an had to force back my immediate reaction.

Instead I just smiled.

“Maybe you just need to know my clan better, because I assure you I am not the only one who would comfort a friend.”

“Maybe.” Hiashi said, and it wasn’t like I was really expecting to change his mind.

It was hard making people think that actions of an individual represents their group. As difficult as the adverse.

“Hey Hiashi-san!” A loud voice called out.

I turned along with Hiashi who seemed to sigh at the sight of the large women running over to them along with her giant dog.

“I was worried you were going to leave.” She said with a grin that was a little sharp around the edges.

It seems that Kiba’s mom personally knew Hikari. At least more than the people who already left.

“Why do you think I would leave before talking to everyone?” Hiashi said with a very even voice.

“Because you have a huge stick up your ass.”

“There are children around.” Hiashi reminded her, who then looked to Hinata and me like she didn’t notice us before.

Which I know is complete bullshit.

“Kiba mentioned that you wanted to see his friend Shino-kun, right?” Tsume said out of the blue.

“Um, yes?”

“Shibi! Umeko! Come over there and meet the brats I’ve told you about!” Tsume yelled, once more breaking the sumber environment.

I watched silently as a stereotypical Aburame with a high collar trench coat and sunglasses walked over with a women wearing something similar but no sunglasses.

“I hope Tsume isn’t bothering you too much Hiashi-san.” Who I assumed was Shibi said, and I could feel the unimpress look he have Tsume.

“Hey, I’m just lightening the mood.”

“It’s a funeral.” Shibi remember her.

“Thank you for coming Umeko. Shibi-san.” Hiashi said with a slight nod of his head as he patted Hinata on the back.

“T-Thank you.” Hinata said with a sniffle.

It did look like she was done crying for the moment at least. I was starting to feel like my presence wasn’t needed, but I did want to form connections with the Aburame clan. Shino’s parents isn’t a bad place to start.

“Did you know Hinata-chan’s mom?” I asked before I could think otherwise.

Probably not the best question to start off with, but I was curious. All the parents of ‘Rookie nine’ looked to be around the same age. Not to mention they are all clan heads.

I keep my face as neutral as I could as I watched Shibi and Umeko looked to each other. How they could read any facial expressions with the collar covering their mouth and Shibi wearing dark glasses I would never know, but they did.

“Tsume and I were on a genin team with Hikari. She became a Chunin a year before us, therefore we were not on a team for long, but Hikari was an irreplaceable teammate.” Shibi said, even bending down to my level.

“Y-You were teammates?” Hinata asked, moving closer.

He gave a sharp nod and Tsume laughed.

“Hikari was known as the wall. Nothing could get past her!”

“You were the only one who called her that.” Hiashi said, though he didn’t look mad.

“That’s because too many people were afraid of making her mad. And if not her, then you. No wonder your elders paired you to off. Hinata and Hanabi are going to be quite the kunoichis.”

“Yes. They will.” Hiashi said, and an awkward silence fell over the group.

I didn’t hear how Hikari died. Only that she was in the hospital for a long time. But after seeing how Hiashi reacted to being reminded that his daughters are expected to become ninja, I wonder if it was because of a mission.

That must be hard, watching your children get excited over such a dangerous profession.

“Hey Hinata-chan, did you ever hear about the time your mom got our sensei kicked out of a hot spring?” Tsume said, and even I was interested in this new topic.

Up until my parents arrived to tell me it was time to go, Tsume and Shibi alternated telling stories of their genin years. Even Hiashi was listening intently, though I was unsure if that was because he never heard them or he just needed the reminder.

Either way, the mood was considerably lighter and Hinata even was able to give me a smile when we left.

Shisui wasn’t planning on waiting for Itachi, but when he saw the young teen walk into Danzo-sama’s office, well...

It wasn’t like Shisui was saying that Danzo can’t be trusted. He is a elder council member and a valuable member of konoha. It was more like there was something about him that Shisui doesn’t like. A gut feeling, which is something Shisui has learn more and more to rely on during his shinobi career.

So Shisui waited for his genius of a cousin, mask still on along with the rest of his ANBU outfit. Shisui wasn’t even purpose to know that Karasu was Itachi, but even with the chakra masking and voice altering seals he still knew. Itachi knows as well, but Shisui isn’t how how the kid figured that out.

Itachi was alway been a bit more fact oriented than Shisui.

“Taka.” Itachi greeted with a nood, and Shisui smiled despite knowing no one could see it.

“Hey Karasu, want to train for a bit before de-masking?” Shisui said, but to his supposed Itachi shock his head.

“No I... I was hoping I could get your opinion on something.”

Shisui frowned as he looked over the shorter boy. Itachi was holding himself straight back and head heigh, ready to fight at a moment's notice.  A very normal thing to see in the boy, but it usually wasn’t so noticeable.

Itachi was worried about being overheard.

“Sure, let’s hang out in my room then.” Shisui said, purposefully leading them past their rooms.

All members of ANBU get their own rooms, but most don’t use it too often. Shisui’s room is completely empty, only a few weapons and and extra set of clothes. Not the place to have what Shisui is starting to think is a very serious talk.

Itachi isn’t one to ask for help, unless he needs it.

Inu’s room was good because the captain was paranoid. Not to mention both Shisui and Itachi served under him, so Inu shouldn’t be too mad about them using his privately seals. With a quick body flicker to get to the other side of the room to deactivate the traps, Shisui smiled and sat on the bed.

“So what did you want to talk about?” Shisui asked as Itachi shut the door, and the only sounds Shisui could hear were from their room.

“I have been promoted to captain.” Itachi announced, and Shisui couldn’t tell is the boy was happy or sad about that.

“But that’s not what you wanted to talk about.” Shisui pointed out, and Itachi shook his head.

“Danzo-sama asked me about how the clan is doing. He mentioned that there has been some cases of unrest, and suggested that some of our clan members have been extremely vocal about their situation.”

“Oh. He told me something similar, probably since we are the only Uchiha active on ANBU right now. It is true that there has been talked about how we are getting pushed aside and belittled, but just that. I haven’t seen the cases Danzo have talked about, but he is a elder. There would be no reason for him to lie about something like this.” Shisui said.

The unrest at the compound was so preselent that Shisui wouldn’t be surprised if even Chiyome knew what was happening. It is true that the nine tail was being controlled by a sharingan, he remember seeing it in his nightmares. But all members of the clan was counted for. Fugaku made sure of it.

Shisui feels like after 7 years it should have died down, but for some reason it hasn’t.

“If he’s right.... if the worst comes to pass, what would you do?” Itachi asked, and Shisui never heard him sound so unsure.

“I am a Konoha ninja, so that will always come first. But the Uchiha clan has been part of the village since its founding. If the worst come to pass, I will just use my curse.” Shisui said, knowing that Itachi understand what he isn’t saying.

“Thank you.” Itachi said, and they walked out like nothing happened.

“Come on let’s go!” I cried as I waited by the door with my shoes already on.

“Chiyo-chan, we still have a few minutes before we have to leave.” Kaa-chan remind me, and I nearly rolled my eyes.

“I know, but I was hoping to find all my friend before orientation.”

One of the bad things about the compound being so far away is that it would be a pain to walk to school or home with anyone. There are some civilian apartments, but no school age kids live there.

It was really sad having to turn down Hinata, Ino and Chōji’s request of walking to school together.

“In that case I guess we can leave now.” Kaa-chan said after quietly laughing.

I waited very patiently until she took off her slipper and put her on shoes, before opening the door. I still think it’s odd that here schools start in April rather than September or August, especially since summer break is still the longest break. It was at least very pretty out. The trees all had flowers on them and it wasn’t too hot yet.

“Are you excited?” Kaa-chan said, though I had no doubt that she already knew the answer.

I haven’t been masking my emotions even though my reasons might be different then what she thinks.

“Ya! Who wouldn’t be excited to go to ninja school?!” I said with a huge smile.

And it was true. As much as I worry about the future, I can’t help but be excited at the idea of learn magic . It still seems impossible to me even though I have seen people do it countless times already.

“Just make sure to pay attention during class and do well.” Kaa-chan told me, along with other helpful tips about school.

“Sitting by the window gives you a quick exit in case you need to escape.”

“Always bow to your teactures; they are all chunin and a higher rank than you.”

“Only train during lunch if you don’t have sparing that day. It wouldn’t help your rank if you are tied.”

I nodded along even though she have already told me this stuff before.

It was a challenge to keep walking when I saw the Hokage tower. I even graped Kaa-chan’s hand to keep myself from running to it.

“Mikoto-san, Chiyome-chan, How are you too today.” A please voice called out.

“Yoshino-san!” I called out, turning about to see the whole Nara family was behind us.

I let go of Kaa-chan’s hand to go to Shikamaru who was looking like he was trying to sleep standing up.

“Are you excited?” I asked and the boy opened one eye to glare at me.

“Don’t worry, if you convince you mom to let you sit next to me you could just sleep through the orientation.”

With that the boy looked more wake.

“It is probably more for the parents anyways.” He agreed.

“I do have to say, I’m surprised Chōji-kun isn’t with you.”

“Kaa-chan was worried we would take too long walking over here and made us leave early.” Shikamaru said with a long sigh.

“So you left, what? Two minutes early?” I asked with a cocky smile.

“No. Three minutes.”

“Oh, so sorry. How dear your mother wake you up three minutes earlier so you are not late on your first day of school.” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm even though I was still smiling.

Shikamaru just sighed again.

“We should go get a seat. Hokage-sama himself will be speaking and I can’t wait to hear his speech for our children.” Yoshino said as she walked over to Shikamaru and I.

“The speech he did for Itachi’s year was quite inspiring.” My mom added and both family started walking to the Academy wing.

There was already a lot of people hanging around the courtyard, and even more as we made our way to the auditorium. At least half of the seat were taken, and I was pleased to see I recognize some of them.

The Inuzuka were the easiest to spot since both Tsume and Hana had their dogs. I waved, but Kiba just snuffed me. At least I got to see Tsume hit the backside of the head for being rude.

Then I saw a little girl with bright pink hair and green eyes.

I couldn’t help but smile. I always had mixed views about Sakura because I felt like she had so much potential . Maybe without there being a Sasuke-kun for her to obsess over, she will become ever more kick ass than in the original show.

We ended up sitting far away from Sakura and her family though, so I didn’t have a chance to say hello. Shikamaru did sit next to me, with Shikaku on his other side, and promptly fell asleep. I listened with half a ear as Kaa-chan talked to Yoshino, looking around.

Seeing Sakura just reminded me of how I have yet to spot the main character. But unlike her, yellow hair and blue eye are pretty common in Konoha. Not as much as black hair or brown, but way more common than blue or green hair. As such, I have yet to see Naruto, and I can’t help but wonder if maybe I should keep it that way.

I mean, as much as I want to become friends with the hero to be, I can’t right now. Naruto is the scapegoat for a lot of people, and if I an Uchiha becomes friends with the Demon boy... well. As much as I don’t like it, I can’t give people any reason not to like me.

Later when (or if) we are on a team we could be friends, but not now. Not until I make sure my family is save.

“Good morning Chiyo-chan.”

“Hina-chan! How are you?” I said as I turned around in my seat to see Hinata with her Uncle.

“Good. I hope we will be in the same class.”

“Probably. They are a lot of clan kids our age, so I bet they will want us all to be in the same class.” I said, noticing that Shino was sitting on the other side of Hinata along with his mom and dad.

For some reason, Hinata and Shino got along really well. Maybe I should be too surprised since they are both much more calm than most children their age, but considering they didn’t even meet until Hinata’s mom died I was surprised how quickly they got along.

“Good morning Chiyome-chan.” Shino said with a nod.

“ ‘Morning Shino-kun! Are you all ready to start class?”

“Yes I am. Why? Because I have trained for the past two years.” Shino said as he pushed his sunglasses up.

They looked to be a little too wide for his face.

“Same. I am more than ready to learn something new.” I said as Hinata agreed with me.

“Is Shikamaru-san alright?” Hinata asked, noticing how Shikamaru still haven’t moved.

“He’s fine. Just taking a nap.” I said and Hinata and Shino both made the ‘o’ face.

Or at least I think Shino did. It was a little hard to see with the high collar he was wearing.

“Everyone please take your seat. Hokage-sama will arrive in only a few minutes.” A Lady wearing a chunin vest said, probably one of the teactures.

I turned around and sat properly in my chair, just in time to see the first speaker get up on the stage.

By the time the Hokage was at the mic, I was contemplating taking a nap like Shikamaru. Not that the speech was bad, it was just so full of propaganda that I couldn’t take it seriously. And I come from American where you ‘pledge alingage’ to the flag every morning. Saying that this was too much was really saying something.

“... but I’m sure the kids all want to start learning. So without further delay, here are the homeroom teacher for this year’s classes.”

And with that, the old man took a step back and three teachers stood up. I recognized one of them, and that was only from the scar across his nose.

“I’m Umino Iruka and when I call your name please walk over to the exit and wait in the hall. Aburame Shino, Akimichi Chōji...”

I looked back to give Shino a thumbs up.

“Fujita Ayako, Fujita Etsuko, Haruno Sakura...”

I looked back to see if I could see the pink hair girl again but there was too many people.

“Himura Hideyoshi, Hisakawa Takahiro, Hyūga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba...”

“Don’t worry, I’ll see you outside.” I told Hinata before she could say anything.

She looked surprised, but smiled as she walked out.

“Kobayashi Sumiko, Minami Yuuki, Nakahara Nana, Nara Shikamaru...”

I nudged Shikamaru awake before his parents could.

“You’re meeting in the hall. See you soon.” I whispered.

“The hall? How troublesome.” I heard the boy say under his breath as he walked past his parents who were wishing him good luck.

“Sato Shuohei, Tsukuda Moriko, Ueda Naomi, Uchiha Chiyome...”

With that I stood up.

“Have a good day sweetie. I want to hear all about it when I pick you up later, alright?”

“You got it!” I said with a thumbs us, almost out the door when I heard the next name called.

“Uzumaki Na-Narruto...” Iruka stubbled over the name, but even if he didn’t I would have noticed something was up from the change in the audience.

Whispers broke out, even though I couldn’t hear anything, I had an Idea what they were about. Then I saw a boy who looked too small in a t-shirt that was too big run out from the back row.

I found myself staring at the main character himself, Naruto Uzumaki.

Then I closed the door.

Chapter Text

In the hall, the kids were lined up and talking. Making sure I didn’t look back, I walked over to Shikamaru, Hinata, Choji and Shino who were the only ones not screaming in excitement.

I like to think I am a good person, and more than that, polite. I may forget to say my please and thank you all the time, but I try to be nice to everyone. Even not holding the door open felt wrong to me, and I could tell that Shikamaru knew something was up.

Which means I need to step up my acting and come up with a cover story. Quick.

“Are you okay?” Choji asked and I felt like bashing my head in the wall for how nice the kid is.

“I’m fine. Just-” before I could come up with a very realistic excuse that I totally didn’t make up on the spot, the door opened again.

I made the mistake of looking over, to where Naruto was and I could see that his eyes were glassy. I was never able to do mean interactions in a video game, how was I going to completely ignore Naruto?

“Okay class, follow me to our room at 1-3.” Iruka unintentionally saved me from having to bullshit my way out of this situation, and I was one of the first to get in line behind him.

I tried my best to pay attention to the maze of hallways that Iruka walked through, but honestly, it all looked the same. I do remember making a note about that being the reason why the Chunin exams were held here. At least for the first part of the exam. I can’t remember for the life of me if that was canon or fandom, but hopefully things will be different enough that it wouldn’t even matter. Butterfly effect and all that.

“This is our class.” Iruka announced, holding the door open as he motioned for the rest of the kids to keep moving.

“Take your seat and we can begin your first day.”

I ended up taking a seat in the second row by the window with Hinata and Shino. Shikamaru already moved to the back row and had his head in his hands while Choji pulled out his snacks, looking a little worried.

Honestly, if anyone here fat-shames Choji I might just get in my first fight. Normally I wouldn’t fight kids, but everyone in the room was training to be killers.

Ino was already talking to some girls I recognize as the ones we played with a few times. I didn’t get too friendly with them yet, since with civilians I’m focused more on the adults, but I’ll have time for that in classes now.

“For now, I’m only your homeroom teacher. We will start class at this time every day except for Sundays, and breaks. Each day we’ll have a different set of classes, but today we’ll start with writing and reading...”

Iruka looked younger than what I remembered. Which, duh, he is younger. It’s still 5 years before ‘canon’. Iruka is still a teenager.

Holy shit we are being taught by a teenager.

Said teenager started handed out a small quiz to see what level we all were. For most kids, this was their first time in a formal learning environment. There was no kindergarten or pre-school. Kids here needed to be taught the basics from their parents.

Which also means that orphans start off with next to no learning.

I that time I resisted the urge to look up to see where Naruto was. It wasn’t my problem to solve. If Naruto doesn’t know how to read, then Iruka would just have to teach him.

I slowly filled out the paper. It was easy, and even while reading over everything carefully and double checking my characters, I was one of the first finished. I waiting until Hinata and Shino turned their sheets over before doing the same and resting my head on the table.

For all I know, the massacre could happen the next full moon. From what I’ve seen, it didn’t seem like people were any more hostile to the Uchiha clan then they were when I start starts paying attention. But it’s not like the show or manga showed it either. Not in a way I could compare and contrast without having the wiki page open. Right now all I can do is continued making positive connects and seems like a good student. Making sure that Makoto and maybe Souma are good students would help too.

Crazy that right now there are only two other kids in school, what which with Itachi graduating so early, and other kids graduating when they’re 10 on average.

“Okay class, pencils down. Now let’s talk about the history of Konoha while your numbers teacher arrives.”

I tried my best not to sigh at the fact that I will be having to listen through a basic math class, but considering how Hinata giggled, I guess I didn’t do a very good job at it.

By the time lunch rolled around, I was seriously considering taking a page from Shikamaru’s book and taking a nap. The only thing of note that happened was learning that Taijutsu class will be all afternoon, and for the girls, there would be kunoichi class. Apparent the boys have Shinobi class, but it sounded more like study hall.

“Are you okay Chiyo-chan?” Hinata asked as she poked me while the rest of the class ran outside.

“I already know all of this.” I told her, though it might have gotten muffled since my head was still buried in my arms.

“I was told our first year will be easy. Why? Because it is needed to make sure everyone is on the same level.” Shino explained, and while I figured that would be the case, it didn’t make it suck any less.

And here I thought ninja school was going to be fun .

Makoto sat down for lunch and immediately started starting at the Hyūga who had the gall to beat her in taijutsu today.

“You know, that was a really good match today Mako-chan. Sensei even mention that was the longest spare he’s ever seen.”

Makoto snapped her head to glare at the girl who looked more amused than scared. Tenten is one of the only girls who care more about becoming a good kunoichi rather than finding a protection spouse. Usually, Makoto wouldn’t bother to befriend a civilian raised kid, but Tenten knows her way around weapons thanks to an uncle who’s a shinobi grade blacksmith and is pretty good company.

“If you keep staring, the fan club will take notice Uchiha-san.” Said the other girl that Makoto regular eats lunch with.

Like her, Nara Sayuri was far enough removed from the clan head that she didn’t get any special training. Of course, Sayuri is like all Nara born ninja and thinks that doing the bare minimum to pass is good enough. At least Tenten trains without being forced to by her parents.

“Tch. I could take them.” Makoto announced, even though she did decide to start paying attention to her own meal.

Purely by chance.

“Yes, I would love to see how you would fair against eight girls and four boys.” Sayuri said in her deadpan voice and Tenten snorted out a laugh before covering it up.

“There can’t be that many people who like that ass.”

“Sorry Mako-chan, but I have to agree with Yuri-chan on this. We even compiled a profile during our last Kunoichi class since we were just going over coded poems.” Tenten explained with a shrug.

Technical, since Makoto doesn’t have a private teacher for it, she’s also spouse to be in Kunoichi class. But after the first week last year, Makoto decided the time was better spent training physically and got her mom to sign here out. It wasn’t required, just took her out of the pool of applicants to become the top kunoichi when she graduates. Which is fine since Makoto is aiming for rooking of the year.

“If it makes you feel better, your fan club has five boys and five girls in it. Perfectly balanced between the sexes.” Sayuri then added, all without even opening her eyes.

“No that doesn’t make me feel better!” Makoto yelled, shoveling as much food as she could into her mouth. “I mean, who’s even in it?”

“Hmm, I wonder.”

“Sayuri. Tell me.”

“I don’t know. I think I’m going to go back to sleep.”

“Sayuri!”

The rest of the day passed painfully slow. Naruto got yelled at during math class by a teacher named Katsuo, and got yelled at later by a different teacher. Sure he was being loud, but so was most of the class. Taijutsu class ended up being just physical conditioning, and the only thing of worth that I learned was that next week we would start on the academic style katas. With that, our day was done.

“See ya tomorrow Ino!” I called out to the girl as I walked with Hinata and the boys to the front gates.

Hinata and I had private teachers and didn’t need to go to kunoichi class. Kaa-chan did ask if I was fine with that since the classes are good for making friends, but since most of it is about disguise mission I declined. While I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to go in this life, I knew that I wanted to be able to through around elemental jutsus like it was nothing. It might be childish, but if I have to deal with this dictatorship then I am going to try to have fun.

One by one, our group of five split up once we saw our parents. Or in Hinata’s cause her cousin. I gave Neji a wave, which he returned with a nod of his head, before catching sight of the last person I thought I would see.

“Otou-san? What are you doing here?”

“Picking you up. How was your day.” The man said like this was a normal thing that he did.

“Um, It was okay. Mostly introduction stuff.” I said as we started walking, looking at my father for a moment longer before my curiosity got the better of me, “Is everything okay?”

“Why would you ask that?”

“You’re picking me up. From school. Even though it’s a ten-minute walk from the compound.” I pointed out.

“Today’s your first day.”

“Aaand?”

“...Your mother asked me to.”

There it was.

“Ah, got it.” I said trying to hide my amusement, but from the look tou-san gave me, it didn’t work.

I should probably work on that.

“I also got done with the clan meeting sooner than scheduled. This wouldn’t be a common accordance.”

“Of course not.” I said before registering what he said. “Wait you had a clan meeting? What... how did that go?”

“It was fine.”

“Had any interesting arguments?” I asked casually.

I needed to know just how the clan was viewing the situation. If they go through with a coup that would still be bad. Maybe even worse than the massacre since they would lose and be written down as the enemy.

“Chiyome, I know you want to get involved, but trust me you do not want to go to these meeting until you have to. They are very dull.”

I frowned slightly, no doubting that most of them are just about budgeting and stuff like that. But still.

“Hey tou-san? Can I ask you something? Privately once we get home?”

I keep my eye in front of me even though I could see his on the back of my neck.

“I’ll have to go to the police station before dinner, but we can talk for a few minutes.” Fugaku said after what felt like way too long.

I nodded and allowed the rest of the walk to be quiet. I had a hard time placing Fugaku, and I need to figure out if he agreed to the coup in canon because of his own beliefs or because the clan pushed him. I hope it’s the later because then I just need to keep doing what I’m doing to improve the public’s view of us. But if it’s the former.

Fugaku opened the door to our home for me and we both started taking our shoes off.

“We’re home. Chiyome wanted to talk to me about something, we’ll be in my office.” Fugaku said before Mikoto could say anything.

I followed silently, starting to wonder if I could just put this off for a little longer. But what if they are planning the coup now? What if I only have a few weeks until everything goes to shit?

“What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Um, Well...” I started to say, looking at everything but my father.

“Are you happy?”

Whatever Fugaku expected me to ask, it wasn’t that. “What?”

“Are you happy, like with how things are right now. In Konoha.... and our clan.”

“That’s a very complex question Chiyome.” Fugaku simply said as he leaned back in his chair, but since it wasn’t him telling me to mind my own business I decided to continue.

“I know, but you’re always working on making the village and our clan better, so I wanted to know what you think. What your ideal vision for both is.”

“Hm...And what brought this on?”

I paused for a second, wondering if it was a good idea to tell him, but... in for a penny in for a pound right?

“Uchiha helped found Konoha, and yet I didn’t see anyone working in the academy from our clan. Not to mention that we are so far away compared to the other clans, and-”

“Chiyome, you are far too observing for your own good.” Fugaku interrupted with an actual sigh.

“Chiyome listen. What I’m about to tell you does not leave this room, alright?” Fugaku said and I nodded.

“There is a lot about our clan that you don’t know. And a lot that the rest of the village will never know. As you’ve no doubt noticed, there is some... tension between the village and our clan right now. Has been ever since Madara left.”

I figured that, but hearing my father say it so frankly is another thing.

“Some people think that even though we exiled him, that one day we will turn on the village like he did. And what happened 7 years ago was all the proof that some needed to believe our guilt.”

“The nine-tail attack?” I asked just to make sure.

“Yes. Few know this, but Madara did the same thing when he attacked the first Hokage. But this village is as much our as it is theirs, and we will not let baseless gossip take that from us.” Fugaku said, giving me a look.

“So you’re just ignoring them?”

“No. We are showing them that Uchiha is a valuable member of this village. That we always have been and always will be. Nothing they say will change that Chiyome.”

I nodded as I thought. Sure the whole, ‘us vs them’ talk isn’t great, but that’s good that he’s still considering the village ours... right?

“But not everyone thinks that right? Yoshino-san is Kaa-chan’s friend, and her family is very nice to us.” I ended up asking when Fugaku didn’t say anything more.

“The Nara’s are a smart clan, even if they don’t always use their potential to the fullest.”

“Then can’t you ask them for help? If this problem has been happening for so long, then maybe just showing others how strong we are isn’t enough.”

Fugaku gave me a look that I didn’t quite understand, but it made me hopeful that maybe I was giving him some useful suggestions.

“Maybe. The elders of our clan like to think we can solve everything by our selves, but there is a reason why Konoha is made up of more than just the Uchiha and what remains of the Senju clan.” Fugaku said, and I couldn’t help but smile.

Look at him saying that help might be worthwhile. Seems like I was worried about nothing.

“Exactly. I bet Hiashi-san would also help if you asked.”

“...I know you are good friends with his daughter, but there is no way I would ask that man for help.”

“Well, maybe you could bribe him? Or if not the Hyūga then maybe Inoichi-san? Ino-chan told him that he works with interactions and stuff so-”

“I think that is enough for today Chiyome. If you need to talk about this anymore you can go ask your mother. She knows just as much about clan politics as I do. If not more.” Fugaku said as he picked me up and placed me into the hall.

“Aww but I was just starting to get some good ideas!”

Fugaku looked at me one more time, then disappeared leaving only some leaves.

...

I really need to learn the body flicker at some point.

Chapter Text

With school in session, it seemed like time passed more quickly and before I knew it, my 8th birthday was coming up. From what I could tell, nothing seemed to change. Shisui and Itachi were busy on missions more often than not, but they were still alive. I haven’t heard anything about a coup or anything. It seemed like everything was the same as it has been for years now. 

But, it’s not like I had a concrete timeline to work with. I was going off the assumption that the Uchiha massacre happened when Sasuke was between the age of 7 and 8, but I don’t even remember if that was canon information or fandom. The only thing I do remember is it happened on the night of a full moon, and Sasuke was practicing the fireball Jutsu. Which I haven’t even started learned yet!

As if summoned by my thoughts, Fugaku came into the living room, interrupting Mikoto’s party conversation that I was totally paying attention to.

“Chiyome-chan, get your training gear and meet me outside.” 

Then he left again. Which in itself was very common, but it has been years since he’s had time to train me and not just watch for five minutes and point out my faults. 

I jumped to my feet and ran to my room even with Mikoto yelling at me to walk. I did make sure to walk once I was dressed and passed her on the way out. Fast walk, but I made sure to always have one foot on the ground so it was not a run.

Once I was out, Fugaku gave me a once over before he started to walk away. Figuring he wanted to go to some other training ground, I followed in silence. 

“So, have the clan stuff calmed down a bit?”

Okay, so I lasted two minutes of silence. Not my fault that Fugaku always looked like he’s mad at something and I start worrying that something is me. 

“Relatively. Crimes have reached a record low this month.” Fugaku said, answering my wordless question on why he has time now.

“Really? That’s great, do you think it’s because of the new patrols?”

That was an idea that I got while trying to brainstorm ways to improve the Uchiha police public image. Fugaku mentioned once during dinner how they were increasing patrols (of no surprise since it was soon after the failed kidnapping of Hinata) and I innocently asked why all the police needed to be invisible to civilians. See, the Uchiha police are the only sector that deals with civilian crimes. Not to mention that people like to know that there is someone they can ask for help, and seeing them walk around on duty would help remind them that. 

Of course, it took until this year for anything like that to happen but...

“Perhaps.”

I gave Fugaku a huge smile at that affirmation that it was helping. Maybe now things will start getting better instead of just not getting worst.

Finally, we arrived at a training ground that I’ve been to once maybe twice while watching Itachi and Shisui spar. It was near the edge of the compound and held a nice pond that was big enough to swim in.

“Go through your forms, I want to make sure you haven’t been slacking off while on break.”

Turns out that summer break was only two weeks at the academy, which makes some sense since it was in the middle of the school year, but I still felt disappointed that there would be no month long break to be had. At least Iruka promised we would get more into chakra theory rather than just the leaf exercise he had us doing before the break. 

I slipped into the academy form that we’ve been learning first, and once I got done with all the kata’s I knew, I moved on to the Uchiha style. Honestly, I don’t have a preference yet to either style. The Uchiha style had more power and speed to it, but the academy was easy to easy to switch between defensive and offensive. Neither I was natural good at either, but I practiced enough that I was good enough for Fugaku if his silence said anything.

“Has anyone showed you the advance sets yet?”

“Just what I’ve seen Ita-nii and Shisui do,” I answered with a shrug, trying to hide my excitement.

From what I know, Souma and Makoto haven’t learned them yet, so the fact that could get a one up on them is good. Especially Souma. I’ve beaten him a few times in sparring, but those two years does give him an advantage that I can’t seem to beat consistently.

“I’ll ask Mikoto to show you some tomorrow. Now, you’ve already accessed your chakra during class, correct?”

“Yes,” I said with an almost smirk.

Pretty sure that was the only thing I would talk about that first day. Before Iruka said we wouldn’t be doing any Jutsu until our last year.

Suddenly, Fugaku started going through signs fasted then I could keep up with, and with a deep inhale, put the tiger sign up to his mouth and exhaled.

A huge fireball shot out and over the pond, sizzling the water before going out.

“Holy shit!”

“Language. Now pay attention.”

Fugaku hardly gave me time to get over the fact he was teaching me the fireball Jutsu before slowly going through the hand signs. Well, slowly compared to what he did before, it was still three times faster than when Iruka would show us the 12 signs.

I watched once, making sure I got all the signs, before going through it myself. Fugaku let me go through it three times before telling me to pick up the speed, which I did after giving him a look.

“That’s good enough. Now you want to gather your chakra into your stomach before letting it travel up when you perform the monkey seal, and replacing it only after your preform the tiger seal. And make sure you keep it close enough to your lips for the chakra to travel, or the fire will be going out your ears.”

“Wait, really?!” I said a little too eagerly, but honestly, fire coming out your ears sounds like a good way to intimidate someone.

“Focus Chiyome.”

With a quick nod, I went through the signs once more before adding any chakra too it. Since the leaf exercise had us leading our chakra to our forehead, leading it to my throat was relatively easy. 

It was getting it out of my mouth that was challenging.

The first time nothing happened, and I tried my best not to notice that Fugaku looked disappointed.

The second time I did it even slower, closing my eyes so I could concentrate on my chakra and what the hell it was doing. It was sluggish, but I could feel it on my lips once I formed the tiger seal.

“Aaah!”

My throat was on fire and smoke even came out as I coughed. 

“Here. Take a long slow drink.”

I greedily took the canteen that Fugaku pulled from who knows where. The cool water felt like heaven against my throat that I soon realized was literally on fire. 

“Hm, I take it you were expecting something like this would happen?” I acquired once I stopped trying to cough up a lunge.

“It took me five tried to get a response like that,” Fugaku said with a slight upturn lip.

He almost sounded proud. Almost.

“...But Ita-nii got it right the first time.”

Fugaku didn’t have to tell me, but he gave a sharp nod nevertheless.

“I taught him right after he moved years for the first time.”

Right, because my protege of a brother somehow was able to graduate in only a year. Somehow it was even more ridiculous now then it was when Naruto was just a story. Even with the fact I was learning how to breathe fire.

“I could probably skip a year or two,” I said without thinking.

It was a little odd with how much planning I’ve been doing, the thought of my own graduation has never crossed my mind until that moment. 

“You could. If that’s what you want to do.”

I stopped my mission in trying to drain the canteen of water to stare at Fugaku in shock. For as long as I knew the man, he was always pushing Itachi and me to be the best of the best. There was never any talk about what we wanted from him.

“What?”

Fugaku continued looking out to the lake, not meeting my eyes, even as he spoke once more. “Once you become a genin you become an adult.”

“Uh, Yes I know?”

Finally, Fugaku decided to turn enough to look at me, but even then I could not figure out what the hell he was really thinking. Because it was sounding like he was having regrets for pushing Itachi. 

“You have good friends Chiyome-chan. They could become good teammates if you graduate with them,” Fugaku said with that same look before suddenly grabbing the canteen out of my hand.

“That was a long enough break. Now try it again.”

Fugaku waited until Itachi slipped in before starting the meeting. Not that it did much to stop the elders from bickering like a bunch of school children. 

Misaki was the only one out of the four who wasn’t talking, but the clan’s self appointed grandma wasn’t one to talk. She was only one of the elders due to her age and that all of her children were killed during the wars. She never even made it to Jounin before ‘retiring’.

“That’s enough, you have repeated that argument every meeting for eight years now Akio-san,” Fugaku finally said, his eyes flashing red in warning.

“But our clan is the reason Konoha is even a village! With the Senji clan all but gone one of us should be leading, but instead we’re shoved aside to the edge of town like a bunch of criminals.”

“Akio-san. Enough. We are working to turn over the laws keeping us in the compound, but threatening the safety of the village with a coup is not going to help. As you said, this is our village just as much as it is theirs. Besides, I think the fact that Sarutobi-san hasn’t chosen a replacement is a telling sign that he is waiting for someone.”

“That someone being your son,” Misaki said in a deadpan voice.

“Among others,” Fugaku agreed, though he thought his son held the best chance.

Itachi didn’t speak much of his ANBU missions, but he has commented to Chiyome about meeting with Sarutobi-san. There was a reason why he was called the professor, and if he was taking an interest in Itachi, it could only mean one thing.

“That will take years,” Akio said, but it seems that the angry has been deflated. 

“And we are in a position where we can wait. There is no war, more of our children have graduated on Jounin lead teams, the Uchiha clan has never been more powerful. Things are no were perfect, or even what I call good, but I know that if we continue like this, our children will have that life that we want for them,” Fugaku said before finally moving on with the reason why they were all gathered.

Taxes.

“Are you nervous Chiyo-chan?”

“What? No, why would I be nervous about a birthday party.” I told my mom, crossing my arms as she tried to do my hair.

I was only looking forward to my birthday since all my friends and family would be there. Itachi got in late last night, and was honestly a welcomed surprise. Until I remembered that since I’m now learning the fireball it means the massacre could happen any day after Shisui dies. However, there was no way I was going to let that happen. Even if I have to stop him from jumping into the river myself.

“It’s okay to be nervous. 8 is a big number. Just, promise me you won't try showing off your new Jutsu in the backyard.”

“Yes Kaa-chan,” I said, pretending to be annoyed, but the up-turn corner of my lips betrayed me.

“And no sneaking off to the training fields to show them!”

“Alright, alright, I promise.”

Mikoto sighed before finishing up my hairdo. This time it was in two buns like what Tenten and sailor moon would wear.

“I don’t think this is my style.”

“The Odango is very popular for young teens. It makes you look all grown up,” Mikoto said like it didn’t make me look like a child.

Though I guess a pre-teen is older than an 8-year-old, so she might be right that I would look older.

Maybe.

“It still takes too long.”

“Then it’s good you only have to wear it for today,” Mikoto said with a smile that only made me frown harder.

Then there was a knock at the door and I spend out my chakra sense to see who it was. It was hard to get a grasp of the adult’s chakra, but I have gotten to the point I can tell the different between the kids. Might be just because I spent so much time with them at school now, but I’ll take what I can.

Hinata and Shikamaru remind me of an ocean on a calm day. Very peaceful, but with the knowledge of how deadly it would be if there was a ripe tide. Ino’s forest were it’s nice for a hike, but you never know if a bear will show up. Chōji was like a warm day on a beach where the sand is a little too hot for barefoot but still not worth wearing shoes. Neji was like when it rains and the winds are so strong it’s more or less raining vertically. Kiba’s chakra felt a dog, but a small one that will bark at anything.

It seemed a little weird how their chakra gave me impressions more than color or smell or some other sense. Might be each person who can sense chakra interpret it differently. Not like I’ve bothered to ask anyone.

“Good morning Hina-chan and Neji-Kun!” I said before I even opened the door all the way.

It was really the afternoon, but the greeting still worked.

“G-good morning Chiyo-chan,” Hinata said as Neji gave his customary nod of hello.

It didn’t take long for everyone else to arrive. Shikamaru and his family were second to last, no doubt thanks to Yoshiro they weren’t last. Makoto was last, and it looks she was in charge of babysitting her two little sisters Rina and Hanae. Yuina might have been too busy watching her four-year-old son Ichiro to come.

Hanae completely ignored me in order to play with Hanabi since the five-year-old have decided about a year ago to just play by themselves.

“Happy birthday Chiyome-nee!” Rina said with her cute smile missing a few teeth.

“Yeah, happy birthday,” Makoto echoed with her usual nonchalant attitude before spotting Neji talking to Chōji next to a sleeping Shikamaru, “Agh, do you really have to invite him to everything?”

“Neji-Kun's one of my friends Makoto,” I reminded her.

I lost track of how many times I’ve tried to get her to stop being rude to Neji. Though it’s not like Neji is much better.

“That doesn’t mean he has to be my friend.”

“I guess not,” I agreed, more then a little tired of this argument, “If you’re going to be rivals for life or whatever, can you at least pretend to be nice to him at my birthday?”

Makoto made a face like I just asked her to sell one of her siblings to Orochimaru.

“Do you think I’ll get a rival for life once I start school next spring?” Rina said either ignorant to her older sister’s antics or ignoring it.

“Maybe,” I said since I guess rivals isn’t the worst thing.

That’s what Gai and Kakashi were in after all. Maybe it will develop in friendship once they are genin.

“Maybe Seishinko would agree to be my rival. In that cause, I want your blond friend to show me that trick with the flowers again,” Rina said before grabbing my hand and dragging me to where Ino and Hinata were.

Seishinko was one of Ino’s younger cousins (more like second cousin) who had light brown instead of blond hair. I wasn’t even aware that Rina’s met him but thinking back they will be going to the academy at the same time.

Makoto might not be that helpful in my plan to get other Uchiha child to befriend non-Uchiha clan kids, but seems like Rina will.

Chapter Text

Ranked sparing. It was always interesting watching a bunch of kids try to beat each other up and this time was no different.

“Kiba, Hinata, make the seal and begin after the count of three,” Nobu-sensei said in a very monotone voice.

Not that I expected much differently from a 16 year old who has to watch 8 and 9 year olds fight.

“Good luck Hina-chan!” I called out with a smile that Hinata eagerly returned before turning back to Kiba.

“Yeah, sorry Hinata, but I can’t go easy on you this time,” Kiba said, and the dog boy did look a little sorry about it.

Kiba’s decided over the years that Taijutsu was going to be his best subject. Which was fine since he was already better at it than half the class, but it means more often than not he would be pin against Hinata or myself during these ranked matches.

“S-same here Kiba-san,” Hinata said barely loud enough for us to hear before getting into her stance.

This was the first year they are allowing us to perform non-academic style taijutsu, and it was clear that Kiba was going to do that as he drop to a hunched over position. Hinata, strangely, kept the academic stance.

Or maybe not too strange. We can’t use any bloodlimits during class, and the Hyūga style needs the byakugan. Not that Hinata needed that advantage when fighting. She easily could be the best if it wasn’t for her hesitations.

“Hinata! Stop dodging and hit that dog-breathe!” Ino yelled next to me, followed by Sakura who nodded along with her.

Which is another odd thing. Ino befriend Sakura after the first week of school, but the girl refuses to talk to me. I have no idea what I did to get her so mad at me and Ino won’t tell me.

Hinata tried to follow Ino’s advice, but that just gave Kiba the opening to send her flying through the dirt to the edge of the ring.

“That’s enough. Kiba, good job. Come here and I’ll give you my notes of your fight.”

Hinata got up, looking uncomfortable but not obviously injured. Still, this was the third time she’s lost and Hinata will be dropping another rank most likely.

“Next up… Chiyome and Ino.”

I smiled at Ino before jumping to my feet. Sparing with Ino was fun. She wasn’t that strong, but she was fast and took the time to plan ahead which is how she won most of her fights. She was nowhere as good as Shikamaru, but he was happy being a solid 10 ^th rank in the class of 20.

I made the seal of confrontation and bowed before slipping into a basic Uchiha stance. The academic style was fine, but already I could tell that Uchiha was a better fit for what I wanted to do. It just had more room for justus.

Not that I could do that now.

The thing with fighting Ino is that you have to be aware of your sounding. Since I only have to step outside of the ring for Ino to win, that is the method she uses more often then not. I on the other hand, prefer knocking people down for three counts. 

I ended up kicking Ino’s legs out and flipped her onto her stomach before she could recover.

“One…two…three. Chiyome wins again.”

“Did you really have to shove my face into the dirt?!”

“Sorry,” I said while giving Ino a hand up.

Ino took it before wiping the dirt off. For how much she helps her family out in the garden Ino is not a big fan of getting dirty.

“You were really great out there.”

It took me a moment to realize that Sakura said that to me, not Ino like I was expecting.

“Thank you,” I said after what was an awkward amount of time, and Sakura must have thought that too since she looked away immediately.

Ino shook her head and I felt like bearing my face in my hands. Making friends was so much easier when I was physical 3 and didn’t need to worry about social queues.

“Takahiro, Naruto, you’re next.”

Hinata was already next to me as I sat back down after getting my notes on how I did. Like always, it said it was perfect which felt like a lie. I knew I had room to improve and it was a little annoying that we had to sit here and watch everyone do their matches two at a time instead of training. I get that there was only one teacher to watch our class during the taijutsu lessons, and that we could learn by watching, but that doesn’t work when half the class can’t even perform the kata correctly.

It was sad more than anything watching Naruto get his ass kicked by a guy who half the time ended up brawling instead of using martial arts.

But there was nothing I could do about it. I was going to be nine in a few months, but the massacre could happen at any point between now and then. Not to mention even after I pass that benchmark, befriending Naruto is still going to reflect poorly on the clan until he starts changing their option of him. Things were just too delicate to risk it.

“Takahiro, you win.”

“I’m not done yet!” Naruto yelled as he tried attacking again, which was amenable but also against the rules.

Nobu-sensei intercepted them before Naruto could get another punch and grabbed the back of his shirt.

“Naruto, if you are not going to go by the rules, you can sit in the classroom with Iruka-sensei.”

I frowned at that. A warning would have been enough since this was the first time Naruto done something like this and it’s not like other kids didn’t try getting a hit in after losing. Looking to my left, Hinata had a very similar expression on while she watched Naruto walk back to the classroom.

That’s right. Hinata had a crush on Naruto in the show. I felt like she would have brought it up by now, but maybe she felt too embarrassed?

“Hina-chan, you know anything about Uzumaki?” I asked casually as Nobu-sensei order the next pair of kids up.

“Ah U-Uzumaki-san? N-Not really,” Hinata stumbled out while pressing her hands together.

Seems like the crush was still a thing.

“…I’ve just noticed he always stays behind after school. He’s an orphan, but he doesn’t hang out with the other orphans. Not to mention…” Hinata continued, pausing as she looked over at Nobu-sensei.

“Maybe if he had a friend he wouldn’t act out as much,” I commented out loud, hoping that Hinata would get the hint.

Hinata in turn frowned as she looked back to the classroom Naruto should be in. Assuming he didn’t just skip class which he’s done a few times. Shikamaru has as well, and that could be another option to look into.

Just because I couldn’t be Naruto’s friend doesn’t mean others can’t.

“Maybe,” Hinata said, and I smiled at how determined she looked.

Shisui’s smile dropped as he left the house. As soon as he got the mission scroll he made sure to say goodbye since it was estimated to take a month to complete. Little Ichiro was especially unhappy that he was leaving. Apparently the 2 year old doesn’t like having 3 older sisters and wants his cool older brother around.

“Speaking of which,” Shisui mutter as he looked for Chiyome.

Itachi has also been away on long term missions, so he’s been checking in with her more often. Not that he needs a reason since the girl is always fun to hang out with, but he knows why Itachi worries about her.

“Practicing your fireball jutsu?” Shisui asked once he sensed her over by at the training ground with a lake.

“How do you keep doing that?” Chiyome exclaimed after almost falling into the lake.

“I’ve never told anyone this before, but since you’re my favorite cousin, I can let you in to a little secret,” Shisui said, smiling as Chiyome eye’s seemed to pop in excitement.

He motioned her to come closer, and he whispered into her ear, “I’m a ninja.”

She elbowed him in the gut. Hard.

“You’re an ass!” Chiyome yelled, but she was laughing which was what Shisui wanted.

The almost ten year old was way too serious.

“Langue!”

“You taught me that word,” Chiyome pointed out, and she got him there.

“Right, right. So have you gotten it to work yet?”

Chiyome looked at him like he was missing something.

“I was able to make a fireball almost a year ago. I’m just seeing how much chakra I can add to it.”

Shisui felt a little bad for not remembering that, but he’s been very busy this past year with missions.

“You thinking of taking the test this year?”

Chiyome frowned, pushing her lips together in thought. For anyone else, it would be a no brainer. Chiyome is top of her class and considering how fast she mastered the fireball jutsu, will have no trouble learning the academic three. But she has good friends in her class.

“I think I’ll try. I just feel like I’m not learning anything new in school.”

“You shouldn’t rush it. There is still a lot of training you can do before graduation if you’re bored,” Shisui said, hoping that Chiyome didn’t get how much Itachi and him wants her to wait to graduate.

“I know, but it’s hard tacking your progress when there are less visible results,” Chiyome pouted.

Shisui smiled, “Well, I could teach you a new jutsu if you want. I was going to wait until your tenth birthday but…”

“I’ll have to call you Nii-san?” Chiyome asked in the most deadpan voice.

“How did you guess?!”

Chiyome squinted her eyes at him, obviously not trusting what he was offering. Good instincts for a ninja.

“What jutsu?”

“You’ll have to come and find out!” Shisui said, hopping on his feet a little before jogging back to his house.

Chiyome had to run at full speed to keep up, which was only a little under the average genin speed. In a few months she really would be at the normal green genin level of skills, which was heartening to see. Makoto is going to be annoying if Chiyome graduates a year before her.

Shisui entered his house that he only use to store his things that’s not safe for his younger cousins. It was dusty, and Chiyome commented on it but Shisui didn’t let her dwell on it. He grabbed Chiyome’s hand and dragged her upstairs to what was meant to be his bedroom. Then let go to pull up the floor tiles and grab his prize.

“I thought you were teaching me a jutsu, not giving me a scroll,” Chiyome commented, looking confused.

“This is a summon scroll. For the crows that Itachi-chan and I use,” Shisui announced as he unrolled it, revealing the names.

All were black except the last two that were still red.

“I…What?”

“We both signed when we were ten, and figured even if you don’t graduate this year, it would be fine for you to sign on as well. If they accept you that is.”

“But this is… are you sure?” Chiyome asked in a small voice, looking the most unsure that Shisui has ever seen her.

“I have to leave for a mission tomorrow, and Itachi might not be back for your birthday. Summons are different from other jutsu since it’s a partnership. You might be able to do it the first time after signing, or it might take months. Either way, I want to see you do it before leaving. Think you can manage?”

Maybe it was a little selfish since Itachi wanted to be the one to teach Chiyome, but he said it was okay last time they talked. And it would be better to have one of them teach her the first step than to gave the scroll giving to her on her birthday with just a note.

“I’ll try,” Chiyome said after trying to stare holes through the paper.

Shisui didn’t need to help much, since all Chiyome needed to do was sign her name in her blood. He had a knife and brush nearby, and the whole thing maybe took ten minutes.

“…is that it?” Chiyome asked as she put down the brush.

“Just have to send chakra through the scroll to activate it. If it stays, then they accepted you as a new summoner.”

Chiyome nodded, and placed both hands on the visible seals on the scroll. There was a flash, and Shisui gave a cry of relief when the bloody character dried instantly.

“You did it! Now I’ll show you the signs to summon them. You’ll need only a drop of blood, and you can either draw charka to your tooth or use a knife.”

“I’m already bleeding Shisui-nii-san,” Chiyome said with a smile, and it took him a moment to recognize what she said.

“You need to call me that in front of Itachi!”

“Just show me the hand signs already!”

Shisui did. Then stood back as Chiyome tried summoning a crow in his unused bedroom. First time was a dud, second time Chiyome summoned an egg with much confusion. Third time…

“You did it!”

“Um, Hello there, I’m Uchiha Chiyome. Nice to meet you!” Chiyome said with a bow, still kneeling down.

“Pleaser to meet you Chiyome-chan. I’m Yoru of the Night family.”

Shisui was a little surprised that Yoru decided to show up. There was only a few crow family that allow themselves to be summoned. All of Shisui main crows are part of the Shadow family, and most of Itachi’s are of the Black family. It took Shisui years for Yoru to allow him to use his family. Maybe this is just the older bird getting soft.

“Thank you for accepting me as a summoner!”

“It wasn’t hard. I just hope you’ll cause less trouble than your brother and Shisui-chan here.”

Shisui smiled sheepishly as Chiyome turned to him.

“…I’ll try not to.”

“That is all I ask. While we can be used in battle, our main use is assisting genjutus and sending messages. What type of ninja are you training to be?”

“I’m not sure. I hope to focus on ninjutsu, but I’m open to genjutsu.”

“You’re young. You have plenty of time to learn.”

Chiyome nodded, looking a little tired, and Shisui wonder if doing this right after she had been practicing the fireball jutsu for who knows how long was a great idea.

“Next time you summon me, do it in the morning and I’ll give you a more detail report of how we can help each other.”

“Okay. Thank you once again.”

Yoru tilted his head before disappearing in a poof of smoke. Chiyome fell off her knees to her butt, smiling without a care in the world at Shisui.

“Nice job Chiyome-chan,” Shisui said, poking her in the forehead which immediately reversed her good mood.

“I told you to stop doing that!”

Shisui just laughed.

Turns out Shisui was right when he told me three weeks ago that Itachi and himself would be missing my tenth birthday. It wasn’t the first time, but knowing that they were planning on letting me sign on as a crow summoner make their absence more apparent.

Even now I’m still surprised it happened. Was that going to happen with Sasuke if the massacre never happened? By now I’m certain I’ve passed that date. Sasuke was either 7 or 8, and with the passing of my tenth birthday in this world, I am now way past that. But it could also be this universe is just different from the one I remember.

I have no way of knowing, but at least I liked crows. Still not sure about genjutsu or using them in battle, but the few that I’ve summon are nice.

There’s Yoru who is like the head, and Okiya who is his wife. Then just last week I was able to summon Naito who was a juvenile who just shredded his baby feathers and couldn’t talk much.

They were all really nice, but it also took a chunk of chakra to summon them. Not as much as the fireball jutsu, but enough that I have to plan my day around it. Training with low chakra was annoying and made me prone to more mistakes.

“Your turn,” Shikamaru said as he finally put down his piece ending his turn.

Already it was getting to the point where my extra years of experience was no longer enough to get a win from Shikamaru. I had to try my hardest against a 9 year old. It was a little insulting, but honestly, I liked the challenge.

I quickly place my piece, idling wondering which of my traps Shikamaru will fall for. Or if he’ll figure out a hole in this strategy I came up with three turns ago.

As I waited for Shikamaru to make his play, I looked outside the open doors to see Neji patiently waiting to play the winner while also watching our younger cousins play. Hanae, Makoto’s youngest sister, and Hanabi both started their first year at the academy and, unlike Neji and Makoto, became fast friends. Those two have become even worst over the years, to the point where Yuina asks me to take Hanae to visit the Hyūga rather than her eldest daughter.

The fact that both Neji and Makoto are trying to graduate early this fall doesn’t help.

At this point I hope they end up on the same team just so an adult will know the pain I’ve been going through.

Shikamaru put his piece down, and I looked to see that he did fall for one of my traps. Only, as I looked, I noticed he has pieces set up to take my pieces if I spring it. Which I planned for, but not with heavy losses.

Not seeing a less costly option, I did go through with my plan, watching as the game picked up as we entered the last stage.

“Good game,” Shikamaru said as he took my king, but the fact he only had three tiles left made me feel a little better about losing to a child.

“Ya, though that lasted a long time,” I said while standing up to stretch.

Pretty sure my knees popped.

“Games with my dad last longer, but they’re not as fun.”

I smiled at that, knowing that was Shikamaru telling me he enjoys our games for my company as well as the challenge. Or maybe that was just me projecting.

“Neji-kun, it’s your turn!” I yelled as I ran out of the room and started chasing Hanae and Hanabi.

The two girls screamed as I chased them around the main Hyūga family backyard. But they were already tried from ‘training’ and it was almost time to go home.

I spotted Choji talking with Hinata over by one of the ponds, and dragged the two girls who were trying to pull me down to the ground over to them.

“C-Chiyome-chan, did you win?” Hinata asked, cutting off whatever Choji was talking about.

Which is weirdly rude for Hinata. Almost like she didn’t want me to hear what they were talking about.

“No, Shikamaru did this time. It was close though.”

“O-oh, I'm sure you’ll win next time,” Hinata said with a bright smile.

“I don’t really care about winning. It’s just fun trying to figure out how to win.”

“I think it’s the same for Shikamaru,” Choji added, silently offering his bag of chips to anyone who wants some.

I let go of Hanabi’s hand to grab one but before I could…

“Chiyome, Hanae, it’s time to go.”

I turned suddenly to see Fugaku of all people walking in to get us. It wasn’t super uncommon for someone from the clan to pick me up, especially if I was with a younger cousin, but last time Fugaku did this was my first day of school.

I give him a look over, and while he was frowning deeply, I couldn’t tell if anything was wrong.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” I promised them, trying to tell myself I was just overacting.

“Do we have to go now?” Hanae asked, pulling on my hand and trying her best to give Fugaku puppy dog eyes.

“Yes. Your Kaa-chan asked me to get you.”

I frowned at that as we walked out of the Hyūga compound. I wanted to ask if there was something wrong with Yuina or her husband, but didn’t want to upset Hanae. Instead, I remained silent as we walked home. Up until the point Hanae ran into her house into Yunia’s crying arms.

“What happened?” I asked hesitantly, tearing my eyes away from the family.

I watched as Fugaku refused to look at me as he stood like a statue staring at the setting sun.

“We received word that Shisui was killed during his mission.”

Chapter Text

Three days later I sat outside in a new black dress since I outgrew the one I wore to Hinata’s mom’s three years ago. The funeral was very different since Shisui’s body was already cremated, and there was a huge point of carving his name into the rock.

Itachi wasn’t home yet.

It didn’t feel like Shisui was dead. It felt like he was going to show up any moment and annoy the hell out of me in an attempt to make me laugh. The fact he was just killed during a mission like any other seemed impossible. It didn’t help that we were paying our respects to a box filled with ash with a picture of Shisui smiling rather than a body.

Maybe Shisui had to fake his death. That would make sense why it was a private cremation where Shisui’s legal guardians weren’t even allow to watch. It was to keep Danzo off their plans.

Or maybe Danzo got Shisui killed where he couldn’t get any help. Where he couldn’t run off to give Itachi one of his eye and kill himself trying to keep the peace.

I’m not sure which is better. The idea that Shisui got killed by some random, or that the events leading up to the massacre are happening now. Years after it did in canon.

I really hope he faked his death, but I don’t think he would ever willing leave the village.

“Chiyome, you can go up and say a few words now if you want,” Mikoto told me, touching me lightly on the back in an attempt to comfort me.

I stood up and walked over to the box before I even thought about if I wanted to say anything. What was there to say? Shisui was either dead and this was just nothing but his burn bones, or he’s hiding somewhere far away from this village.

“Shisui-nii was always taking time to hang out with me, it was like having a second older brother…”

If the massacre was about to happen, is there anything I can do to stop it or is it too late now?

“H-He always tried finding a way to make people laugh, and was super strong. I-” Whatever else I was going to say got stuck in my throat as the tears I was trying to hold back came forth.

Mikoto whisked me away and by the time I got my emotions back under control, we were sitting under a tree a little bit away from the funeral. It was only now that we were away from it, that I noticed how many people their were. Of course most of the class was there, but I noticed a lot of other clan members there as well. Not leaders there to pay their respect, but likely Shisui’s old team mates or friends.

Somewhere in the back of my head I noticed that was a good thing. That there was a good change I was overreacting. That relations were good enough that the massacre wouldn’t happen and Shisui just died on a mission like countless other ninja before him. Shit happens. Sometimes people die.

“Are you feeling better?”

I nodded as I burried my head into Mikoto’s side, covering my view of the funeral.

“It’s just hard for me to believe he’s really dead,” I muttered to my mom.

The hand rubbing my back paused, before I felt it move to my shoulder and squeeze me into a hug.

“You were right about Shisui-kun being strong, but even the strongest ninja can be killed. We are all human Chiyome.”

And that’s the issue. Trying to predict how other humans will reach to situations. Maybe I just need to continue doing what I have been in cause this was just random bad luck. But if it’s not…

Maybe I need to switch my goal. It might be too late to save everyone, but if I could get my cousins to hang out with their friends outside of the clan for the next few weeks then maybe they can survive. Have Itachi go around killing outside of the clan ground would be impossible. And I doubt Danzo would care that much about some kids still in the academy.

It’s still too early for me to give up.

“Uchiha-kun, Hyuga-kun, you’re up.”

Makoto jumped to her feet as she walked over to the ring. Neji was looking as annoying as ever, as he stood across from her. The graduation test was only a few months away and Makoto needed to be top ranking in taijutsu to get the rookie of the year spot. And all she need was a few more wins from the Hyuga.

For a moment Makoto wished she had the wooden sword she’s been practicing  with since mid-rang combat is the best way to deal with a Hyuga. But like usual, academy spare were really boring and they weren’t allowed weapons. So Makoto rushed into close combat and jumped over Hyuga to deliver a kick to his back. Which, he just rolled out of the way and her foot only clipped his back.

Makoto landed on one foot and had to hop over the leg that Neji kicked her way. She managed to dodge most of Neji’s punches, something she forced herself to get better at since one hit was all Neji needed to win most days. But Neji wasn’t perfect, and often got too worked up in trying to hit her that he forgets to block, which is how Makoto was able to finally land a kick right in the gut that sent him flying.

“YES! SUCK ON THAT HYUGA!” Makoto screamed once it became clear she sent him flying out of the rink too.

“Uchiha, Hyuga, please keep it cilvil.” Sensei said, but Makoto hardly paid attention.

She sat next to Tenten who high five her, and kicked Sayuri awake.

“Huh? Why’cha do that?”

“I won. I’m now rank 1 in the whole class.”

“Good for you,” Sayuri said before falling back asleep.

Makoto shook her head before turning to Tenten who was just smiling at her.

“Okay, what’s with that look?”

“Sorry, I just… it’s nice seeing you so happy considering what happened with your cousin.”

That reminder made Makoto’s smile fall.

“It’s that idiot’s fault for being weak enough to be killed. Once I’m a ninja I’ll make sure i’m strong enough to survive anything, and make sure my teammates survive too.”

“Even if you teammate is Hyuga-san?” Tenten asked with a sly look.

“Ew. I guess. Maybe a little blooded, but alive. Hinata-san and his dad would be sad if he died.”

“You’re really nice when you try Mako-chan.”

“… Not sure the backhanded compliments work as well with you as with Sayuri.”

Misaki never thought she would outlive two of her grandchildren. Outliving your children was unfortunately common for ninja clans, but Misaki only had her eldest son died in combat. Her eldest daughter died during the kyubi attack, and left Shisui orphaned. Just like how when her eldest son died it left Obito orphaned and under her care. Now they were both dead, over a decade apart.

Misaki only had one daughter alive now, and her four kids, but the absent of Shisui in the clan was very apparent. Unlike Obitio, the clan loved Shisui. From the civilian shop keepers to the elders trying to figure out if they could make marriage arrangements for him, everyone loved the kid. It was like a dark rain cloud has passed over the grounds, and walking into the emergency clan meeting made it worst.

“Just want are you suggesting Souta. That Shisui was put on a suicide mission?”

“All I’m saying is that for the past three years, more of our clanmen have died on missions then in the past ten. Sure they have mostly been Genin and Chunin level, but how with Shisui I’m wondering if it’s not something more.”

Misaki looked over at Fugaku who frowned deeply at that. It didn’t look like he was surprised by that claim.

“I’ve noticed that as well. However such a claim isn’t something we can bring forth without some prove. And if our clanmen are being assigned more dangerous mission, we need to find out who and deal with them.”

“But the missions have all been c-rank or higher, which need approval from the Hokage or a member of his council!”

“Which is why we need to take this seriously. This is not something we can explore ourself and we need to seek help from our allies outside of the clan,” Fugaku said, and hell broke out.

Misaki listen to everyone act like children that think talking louder makes their argument better. It lasted over an hour, and only once Fugaku got the other elder to reluctantly agree did she speak up her mind.

“You do realize that if we find out that the Hokage or  someone on his advisory team has been doing this, it could cause a cilvil war to break out in the village.”

Consider the hush talked of breaking from the village years ago, it’s surprising that the idea of a cilvil war shocked so many. But Misaki doesn’t think relations been the Uchiha and the rest of the village has ever been this good. If it comes out that the Uchiha clan has been treaded this way, many people will be angry and want change.

“It may come to that.”

Misaki nodded before standing up to leave.

It may indeed.

“What do you mean I’m not ready for a c-rank mission, I’m the strongest person on this team!” Souma demanded to know.

Yugao-sensei gave him a real unimpressed look.

“You’re teamwork suck Souma-kun. You almost blow up Riku-kun during trap training and called Hoshiko-chan useless for knowing flower, which was the only reason you guy finished the mission to help out that flower shop. One person can only do so much in this village.”

Souma crossed his arms and pouted.

“I bet if my teacher was a real ninja he would let me take a c-rank mission rather then these kiddy ones.”

No sooner then he said that did Souma felt a chill go down his spine. He looked up to see Yugao-sensei smiling at him.

“How about we do this. If you can defeat me in a fight, I let you and the rest of the team take a c-rank. Hell, Riku-kun and Hoshiko-chan can even help you. But if you fail, then we will take a c-rank without you.”

Souma narrowed his eyes. The test they had to do to get Yugao-sensei to accept them wasn’t easy, but that was almost a year ago now. He’s improved a lot since then, and Yugao was a girl. There was no way she was physically stronger then him.

“What are the rules?”

“To make it more fair I won’t use any kenjutsu on you guys.”

Yugao-sensei specially was Kenjutu. Without using swords, Souma should be able to defeat her. He was the strongest of his year, able to pin down anyone he fought.

“You’re on.”

Izumi was hanging out at the ANBU common areas getting use to all the different training rooms and emergency living spaces, when she spot Itachi. Officially, it was Karasu, but Shisui made enough jokes about ‘Itachi’ and ‘Crows’ that she put two and two together even before joining ANBU a month ago.

And now Shisui was dead.

That more then anything made Izumi run over to Itachi.

“Ita- I mean Karasu-san, you’re back.”

Itachi stoped before nodded his head and saying in a weary voice, “Tanuki-san. Nice to meet you.”

“Are you free to talk right now?”

“I was summoned by Danzo-sama.”

“But… you just got back. They can’t been sending you off an another mission so soon,” Izumi at least hoped that wasn’t want they were doing.

Itachi wasn’t even 16 yet. He really shouldn’t be doing back to back missions like this. But when Itachi didn’t say anything, Izumi realized that might very well be the case.

“Well, okay. I wish we had more time, but I don’t want you hearing this off handed by someone else,” Izumi said as a warning before just coming out with it, “Shisui was killed in action a few days ago.”

“What?”

Izumi could feel the shock and horror in Itachi’s chakra without even trying. She felt the same way when finding out. While Shisui wasn’t as cool and effortless at Itachi, he was one of their strongest. Also Izumi liked hanging out with Shisui. It was like having an older annoying brother at times. But she knows that anyone can die. Life just wasn’t fair.

“I’m sorry. I know you two were close. If you can, ask Danzo-sama for some personal time off. You deserve time to morn.”

With a quick hug, Izumi left.

Hanae waved to Hanabi-chan the whole way as they walked out of the Hyuga clan and back home. For some reason Chiyome-nee wanted to spend the night, but they needed to ask Kaa-chan first. She even wanted ask Makoto-neesan, and Hanae knows Makoto-neesan doesn’t want to have a sleep over with her rival’s family.

“Do you think Rina would want to come?”

“Nuh-uh. She hasn’t none homework all week and is doing it allll tonight.”

“Ah, what about your little brother?”

Hanae made a face at that.

“I don’t want him to come. A sleepover with you, me, Hanabi-chan and Hinata-chan sounds waaaay better.”

Chiyome-nee nodded, grabbing Hanae’s hand more tightly as they entered their home. It was then Hanae noticed how no one waved to them. The sun just went down. It was too early for even the old people to be sleeping.

“Hanae, listen to me. If I tell you to run, I want you to-” Chiyome-nee was cut off by the whooshing of a kunin flying in the air.