参上!たすかヒミコ!

Sasuke looks down to her with a smile on his face. Her pale blue eyes have red markings around them, above her lash line and below her eyes. Her long red hair looks like no one has ever thought to cut it and has streaks of white in it―something he can't miss no matter how hard he tries.

She gazes up to him, allowing him to see a deep sadness in her eyes. Her gaze holds regret, anguish, betrayal, and grief.

Sasuke offers her a hand. "Are you okay, Kiyone?"

She's very hesitant to take his hand, but does so to appease him. She nods her head, letting him pull her into his home. Sasuke's parents and brother greet her with warmth in their eyes.

Mikoto gives her a gentle smile before pulling her away from Sasuke to embrace her. Mikoto squeezes her tightly, yet gently, Kiyone remaining as stiff as a board.

Fugaku ruffles her hair with a slight chuckle as his wife releases her. "We've made arrangements for you to stay with Teyaki and his wife, Uruchi, okay?"

She nods as Sasuke takes her hand again, leading her back outside. The other members of the Uchiha clan mostly ignore them. The ones who were about Itachi's age send them smiles and waves but the adults ignore them, dealing with their own problems.

He drags her to a senbei[1] shop where an older couple is serving various members of the clan and a few shinobi who weren't Uchiha. The couple gives them smiles as Sasuke stops, looking back to the girl. Her head is down, as if she's ashamed of something or scared.

Sasuke frowns. "What's wrong, Kiyone?"

She meets his worried eyes, her pale blue eyes clouded. He sees her already pale skin become even paler as her cheeks flush. His face contorts; worry lacing his voice, "Kiyone? What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure. I don't feel..." she manages before falling into his arms.

"Kiyone!" calls Sasuke, his eyes widening in worry, getting everyone's attention.

Sasuke shakes his head at the memory, refusing to dwell on it any longer. He looks down to the sleeping girl at the base of a tree, noting that the white in her hair hadn't faded, still reminding him red and white mizuhiki[2] used in weddings.

The red markings on her face make her long lashes seem a bit thicker. The markings are like permanent makeup―something she can't get rid of, no matter how hard she tries. Sasuke scanned her with his eyes before sighing through his nose as he squats down in front of her, leaning on the tree for support. "Tasuka," he whispers, lightly shaking her, "wake up."

Kiyone slowly sits up, tugging on her deep gray battle kimono to cover herself more, stretching and looking around. She looks to him, her blue eyes glaring grumpily. Sasuke isn't intimidated. He's used to her glare. He offers her a hand, pulling her up with little effort.

"We need to get going if we want to make it to class on time," he sighs, taking her hand, just as he did when they were younger.

The short walk is silent, neither of them having much to say. Kiyone didn't tend to speak after waking up and Sasuke likes the silence, finding a hint of peace within it. Quickly, they go to their classroom, sitting down, and ignoring the other students. As the classroom begins to fill with students, Kiyone becomes slightly more social.

She chats with a few of Sasuke's fangirls and discusses strategy with Nara Shikamaru―a member of the Nara clan with black, spiky hair pulled into a ponytail―all the while avoiding Hamamoto Chimon and Fujikawa Hiro―two boys in their class that weren't afraid to confess their "undying love" for her. Sasuke smirks again. I knew it. They did annoy her.

When Iruka―the sensei of the class―arrives, everyone takes their seat with Sasuke's fangirls fighting over who sits by him. Kiyone sneaks into the seat as Iruka calms them down and attempts to take roll. When he gets to the name Uzumaki Naruto, he doesn't get an answer back.

Iruka looks around the class before sighing and leaving the room.

Sasuke looks to Kiyone, picking up a strand of cherry hair. "You should wear your hair down, Kiyone. It'd be pretty," he whispers, attempting not to sound bored.

She flicks him, taking the strand back, pulling her hair into a low ponytail that stops a few centimeters before her hair ends. "Sakura said I should braid it."

Shikamaru looks over to them from his side of the table. "I agree with her," he mumbles sleepily, laying his head down on the desk.

Kiyone turns as Iruka re-enters the room, dragging a tied-up Uzumaki Naruto with him.

"Now listen, Naruto. You failed the last graduation test and the one before that. This is no time for you to be goofing off, you fool."

Naruto turns his head away, not listening.

Iruka gives him a look full of irritation before turning to face the rest of the class, "We will have a re-test on the Transformation Jutsu! Even those who already passed will take it!"

Sasuke rolls his eyes in annoyance as the rest of the class groans. He gets in line behind Kiyone, wondering how she'd do on this re-test. The Tasuka clan, due to the limited amount of chakra they possess, didn't rely on ninjutsu or genjutsu. Their focus was more on taijutsu and they were deadly with it. Her clan was known for prioritizing assassination missions―and they were damn good at it too, using only taijutsu―and a vast multitude of weapons―to take down their targets.

"Haruno Sakura. Here I go... Transform!" With a poof of smoke, Sakura transforms into Iruka, making a perfect replica.

"Okay." Iruka nods, marking her score and waving her away. Sakura was always one of the top scorers, so her success wasn't that much of a surprise.

She undoes the jutsu, a grin on her face. "I did it! Did you see that, Sasuke?"

Sasuke ignores her, his eyes honing in on Kiyone. The look on her face is a mixture of apprehension and hysteria.

"Next, Tasuka Kiyone."

Kiyone steps forward, forming her hands into the right sign. "Tasuka Kiyone. Transform!"

Kiyone's replica wasn't exact, missing the headband and kunai holster, but she did well enough to pass. Sasuke looks to her face as she goes back to their table. The jutsu is simple, but it's still enough to make her tired. Sasuke frowns at the sight. She has great chakra control, so why...?

"Next, Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke steps up, does the jutsu, passes with flying colors, and goes back to Kiyone. He glares at Naruto as the blond steps up, transforming into a naked woman. Sasuke instinctively grabs the collar on Kiyone's neck to keep her from harming blond idiot in some way.

Naruto laughs obnoxiously as he changes back. "How was it? I call it the 'Sexy Jutsu!'"

"You fool! Stop making idiotic spells!" Iruka bellows in frustration.


Kiyone sighs as she walks through Konoha. After school, Sasuke helped her train and then went home. He agreed with her, saying she needs to work on chakra control more often. She slowly makes her way to Ichiraku Ramen, wanting food. Her stomach groans in agreement, as she sits down.

Ayame, the owner's daughter, smiles at her. "Good evening, Kiyone. What would you like?"

Kiyone thinks for a moment, "I'd like shio[3] ramen with chicken and vegetables, please."

Ayame nods, taking her order. As she hands the bowl to Kiyone, a few other voices draw the redhead's attention. Hamamoto Chimon and Fujikawa Hiro. They approach her, their faces a bright shade of red that she swore rivaled her hair.

"Hey, Kiyone, would you like to go on a date with me?" questions Hamamoto, attempting to charm her as he messes with his harsh pink hair in a nervous manner.

Fujikawa elbows him away, taking his place, staring straight into her eyes with his own crimson ones. "How about going with me, instead?" he wiggles his deep brown urchin-like eyebrows at her.

Kiyone tried her best to give a convincing smile; although she was sure that she failed. "Boys, I have some serious training to do, and no time for dates. I stopped for a quick bite to eat, but I have to go back to training after this. Sorry."

They frown and beginning to beg her for dates.

"Hey, Hiro, maybe we should ask another girl later." Hamamoto suggests, his voice a loud whisper.

"Forget it, Chimon. Kiyone's the one for me, with her red hair, blue eyes, and those odd red marks on her face," Fujikawa sighed dreamily, his gaze making her uncomfortable.

Kiyone sighs, doing her best to ignore them as she finishes her meal in silence, ignores them offering to pay for her bowl. She looks to them for a brief moment before deciding to run from them. Hamamoto doesn't seem to notice, but Fujikawa does. He calls after her, following her.

Kiyone turns, rushing into the crowded streets of Konoha's market before making a sharp turn into an alley, jumping over the far wall. Out of breath, she carefully surveys the area and figures out how far she is from home before deciding she lost Fujikawa.

On the way home, it's a bit too quiet for her liking. Living on the outskirts of Konoha has advantages, but traveling home at night is not one of them. Kiyone stamps at the ground, wishing she could activate her Kekkei Genkai.

I wonder... Can he do that yet? She shakes the thoughts out of her head. No. He can't. He's dead―just like the rest of them. I'm the only member left of the Tasuka clan.

Kiyone, feeling worn out from her training with Sasuke, ran home. By the time she gets there, she's panting and leaning on the sliding door of her home, out of breath. Stumbling inside, she feels relief as the cool air greets her as she walks through the darkness of the spacious building, reaching her room.

Slipping out of her deep gray battle kimono, and pulling down her thigh-high black socks, she changes into a navy spaghetti-strap tank top and falls onto her bed, managing to crawl under the covers before falling asleep.


"We are now about to begin the graduation test. When your name is called, proceed to the next classroom. The test is on the Clone Jutsu," Iruka sensei reads aloud almost monotonously.

Kiyone glances to Sakura, who's braiding her hair. Sakura wishes Kiyone luck as the testing starts, going by alphabetical order according to family name. They patiently wait for their turn as students chatter amongst themselves.

Kiyone glances to Sasuke, who's sitting on her other side, calculating something in his head.

Sakura ties her waist-length hair off with a ponytail holder. "I was right! Your hair is so pretty when it's braided, Kaze."

Kiyone shoots her a look, "Why did you just call me 'Wind?'"

Sakura giggles. "You know why."

"Don't bring that up, Sakura. Please."

Sasuke stops calculating, looking over at them. "Don't bring what up?"

"Kiyone has the kanji for wind as a birthmark on her hip," Sakura pats Kiyone's left side as a bright blush forms on the redhead's face.

Kiyone puts her head on the desk, resting on the sleeves of her battle kimono. She doesn't speak as her Iruka sensei calls her name. Slowly, she stands, leaving the room, following him to the other classroom.

After the test, she ties the headband on her neck loosely over the black collar given to her by her older sister, Teruko. Kiyone didn't have many memories of her family, only vaguely remembering her siblings and parents.

She sighs, messing with her bangs as she decides to wait for Sasuke.

Sasuke comes out of the room not too long after she does with a headband on his head. He gives her a cursory nod, hands in his pockets as usual. With the testing done, the sensei allow all of the students outside, letting their parents see their headbands. Sasuke takes her hand, moving to the back of the crowd, hoping no one notices them. He found it difficult to be around so many parents as they praised their children. It reminded him of the family he used to have.

He looks back to Kiyone, who's looking at him with an anxious look in her eyes.

Unlike his own clan, the Tasuka clan hadn't been… murdered. Everyone, including her parents, committed suicide. Sasuke didn't know if Kiyone knew, but if she did, she handled their deaths a lot better than he'd handled his parents'―something he found hard to admit even though he'd accepted their deaths several years ago.

When the ceremony ends, Kiyone and Sasuke train a bit more at the training grounds, this time working strictly on taijutsu. Kiyone beats him effortlessly, earning a grumble from him. She sighs. I already know all of his moves. Training with him is pointless for me.

Sasuke works with her well into the night, steadily branching out to ninjutsu, where he beats her. He attempts to work with her on chakra control, having a bit more control than she does, but that's something even he doesn't completely understand.

Sasuke puts their training session to a close, telling Kiyone to rest for the night. "We're gonna be in teams tomorrow, Kiyone."

Kiyone smiles, "I know, Sasuke. I hope I end up on your team. We work well together."

Sasuke nods, walking her home. The rest of the walk is once again in a comfortable silence. Kiyone looks to the moon, seeing that it's not quite full. It brings her peace as Sasuke leaves, silently nodding his goodbye.

She glances back to him before going inside, having even less energy than the day before. Good night, Uchiha Sasuke. Hope all the years of training together weren't for nothing.


[1] Senbei is a Japanese rice cracker

[2] Mizuhiki refers to an ancient Japanese art form that uses a special cord created from rice paper, that is tightly wound, starched to give it stiffness, and then colored; red and white mizuhiki are often used as ornaments for weddings

[3] Shio is a type of ramen in Japan; salt ramen to be exact

[A/N] Okay, so here's the new first chapter! I hope you enjoy it! Also, for this first chapter, I've used the Netflix "version" of the subtitles, but from now on, I'll be using the ones from Narutoget or gogoanime. Hope you don't mind!

Anyways, I love you guys! Thank you for your patience and support! I promise I won't re-write the story again!