Saying this once and once only; I don't own anything expect my characters and my ideas.

Chapter One: Pre-Arrangements Suck

KIA.

Killed in action.

Those three words were embedded into Uchiha Ayame's head since she was thirteen years old. That's how old she had been when her older brother, Obito, was killed during a dangerous mission. She was seventeen now, and still thought of her older brother every single day of her life. They were close, rather like best friends instead of brother and sister. Sometimes she felt that he was the only one who understood her, but now that was gone. That feeling of safeness and brotherly protection was gone also. And regardless of the smiling faces surrounding her, she never felt so alone.

"Ayame, earth to Ayame," a soft voice was heard. The young girl snapped out of her private thoughts and noticed her best friend's hand in her face, attempting to grab her attention. She hadn't realized that she was lost in her own world until she was forced out of it.

"Huh?" She shot her head up as dark bangs fell over her face and her onyx eyes pierced through. Yamanaka Nori stood a few short feet away from her, with her long blonde hair pinned back and her bright sea green eyes glowing under the sunlight. Ayame looked towards her former teammate with an apologetic face, this wasn't the first time she dozed off in daydreams.

"Are we still going to Ichiraku Ramen?" Voiced another person, and the kunoichi looked toward the side and noticed her other former teammate. Hyuuga Hitoshi stood up proudly at 6 feet tall, and had shaggy black hair that covered half his hitai-ate* and ears. His large signature gray eyes pleaded at his friend, "I'm starving."

"You're always starving!" Nori nearly yelled, and slapped Hitoshi on the arm playfully. He smiled at the sudden bodily contact, and reached over to tickle her ribs daringly. As he succeeded in doing so, Nori blushed a rosy pink that looked flawless against her skin, and laughed loudly.

Since they had been standing in the middle of one of Konoha's outdoor markets, people had started to look at the weird girl who was laughing uncontrollably. Ayame shook her head and raised an eyebrow at the scene in front of her. How was it that her two other teammates were acting so... so flirtatious around each other? When had they started acting this way toward each other?

From the last time she could remember, the three of them were just friends, teammates even. When had Hitoshi even started liking girls? Weren't they just little preteen gits just the other day? But they weren't. They were growing up, and it seemed like everyone was in a race to beat Ayame to the finish line before she even started. She must have missed that memo.

"Um, I think I'm just going to head home, actually," the dark haired girl spoke, not really wanting to end the moment between her two friends, no matter how awkward it was. Nori and Hitoshi seemed oblivious to Ayame's sudden reaction and real reason for wanting to leave.

Nori shot her head up, "What? Why?" She pouted a little, and Hitoshi stopped tickling her. Yet, he was behind her, and his arms rested playfully around her waist. They both looked at Ayame with sad faces, wondering why she was backing out all of a sudden.

"I just remembered that my mom wanted me home early today," Ayame lied, and smiled widely to show that she was okay, or at least pretending to be okay, "You guys go ahead without me, I'll see you tomorrow."

With one last wave of good bye, Ayame watched her two best friends continue down the busy path, and she could have sworn their hands touched as they walked side by side. She almost gagged at the thought of Hitoshi and Nori holding hands. It seemed like just yesterday they were friends, strictly friends. And Ayame couldn't understand how feelings like this could just happen overnight.

Sighing, the young ninja took the long way home, instead of the usual shortcut that consisted of walking through the village. Her feet moved simultaneously after one another through the green clearing mostly used for training exercises. Considering it was kind of late, Ayame wasn't too surprised to find the area empty.

Thankful, she honestly didn't feel like seeing any other people at the moment. Noticing the unusual spark between her too former teammates had left her a little upset. Of course she wanted both of them to be happy- it just made her feel left out. Shaking the thoughts out of her head, she knew she was being too negative and harsh towards the two people that have always been there for her.

Her feet stopped, almost automatically in the middle of the arched bridge that stood above of a clear river. She leaned against the cold, metal railing, peering into the lucid water and noticed her reflection on the other side. Her long dark hair was surprisingly neat, excluding the few fly away hairs that stood up on the top of her head. Her black eyes seemed dark, which contradicted against her usual bright personality.

She blinked at the flowing mirror beneath her, longing to reach forward. Water. There was just something about the clear liquid that amazed her. It's purity, it's strength, it's abilities...

Her visual evaluation was cut short when the sound of multiple voices were heard behind her. Ayame turned around, with a raised eyebrow and noticed a group of six people walking past the clearing, in the distance. They didn't notice her standing on the curved bridge, and she was partially thankful for that.

The first person she noticed was Anko, whom was also the loudest and most obnoxious of the group. Her hair was tied up in it's usual spiked up position and she had a wide smile plastered on her round face. Ayame watched as she was play fighting with Iruka, which seemed more like an affectionate beat down. The young Uchiha chuckled at the sight of them, admiring Iruka's braveness for being with such a strong woman.

Her eyes then traveled to the next couple that walked behind them. Asuma and Kurenai, who have yet to confirm their love for each other. Apparently everyone else saw the connection between them, they were just too shy to admit. From what Ayame could see, Asuma was busy complimenting Kurenai on her hair, while she blushed a couple different shades that matched the redness of her eyes.

Shaking her head, her gazed moved onto the two last people in the group. She almost chuckled at the sight of Gai, who was dressed in a ridiculous green, polyester jump suit. His bowl cut hairstyle added on the humor to his whole appearance. Then Ayama spotted the person that Gai was arguing so deeply with.

Hatake Kakashi.

He was tall, slim and muscularly built, well as far as she could tell from the way his sleeves hugged his biceps. Her eyes studied the rest of his body, noticing his customary navy blue mask and the hitai-ate that covered his left eye. Her stare stopped where his head band was. She gulped, remembering the many rumors she heard about him.

According to the gossip that flew around the village a few years ago, Kakashi took one of Obito's sharingan eyes, and had it implanted into his own eye socket. Personally, Ayame never witnessed the eye for herself, but a part of her knew it was true. Kakashi and Obito always fought, and it would be a no brainier that he would steal something like that.

Ayame frowned at the sight of the young Copy Ninja. Apparently everyone made a big deal about him because he was the Fourth Hokage's student and his father was supposedly this "White Fang" guy. He had also joined ANBU when he was thirteen- something that was almost impossible to do. The only other ninja in Konoha to do that would probably had been his deceased father.

She shook her head, feeling silly, worrying about someone that probably didn't even know she existed. But as Ayame's gaze was still glue to the gray haired figure, she was surprised to see him look up at her direction.

As instinctively, she turned around with a warm blush traveling from her neck to her cheeks. The visual image of his one, visible lazy eye plagued her mind. He looked up at her... Did he see her? Did he know who she was? Biting her bottom lip nervously, Ayame retreated her attention to the water underneath the bridge.

The Uchiha compound seemed livelier than ever as Ayame dragged her feet through it's metal gates. The sun had gone down a bit by the time she made it passed the training grounds and over to the complex in which she lived in. Many houses, all resembling the same structure, were lined up neatly in rows and columns as concrete roads separated them.

As she walked down the familiar path that led up to her house, she noticed all the little children that ran around playing games and having fun. They all wore similar navy blue clothes with the same Uchiha symbol sported on the back. Ayame even wore a dark blue qipao** that reached just a few inches above her knees, and supported the red and white symbol behind her. Underneath the short dress, she wore black tights that fell just below her knees.

Eventually, after a long, hard day, the female teenage ninja finally made it to her doorstep. Wanting nothing more than to relax in a soothing bath and to retreat to her bedroom and knock out on her more than comfortable bed, Ayame entered her small house.

"Where have you been? I was expecting you hours ago!" A voice called out, and the young ninja turned her head into the kitchen to see her mother. A rather short, round woman dressed neatly in her fanciest clothes. She stood up from the kitchen table where her father was also seated, "Please go to your room and put on the outfit I've laid out on your bed for you."

Raising a single eyebrow at her mother, Ayame wondered what her parents were up to. Why did they expect her home so early? Even though she recited that lie to her two friends, she didn't actually think it was true. And why did her mom lay out an outfit for her? She was tired, and wanted to get to bed already. Was she missing something? Was it someones birthday? Yet, she chose not to question her and skipped up the wooden stairs to her bedroom.

With her balcony door opened, Ayame's bedroom had a certain chilly feeling inside. It was a small but rather nice room that reflected against her personality perfectly. She had photos plastered on one wall and a bed leaning against the other. Stacks of old dusty books and unopened scrolls scattered her desk. And on her neatly made bed was a light pink kimono, with little white flowers, laid out nicely.

She raised another eyebrow before getting dressed.

As she walked down the steps, with the pink kimono on, and her dark haired tied up in a long ribbon, Ayame heard unusual voices in her own house. By the time she reached the bottom step, she noticed that her parents weren't alone, but accompanied by four other people at the kitchen table.

Uchiha Fugaku, his wife Mikoto, and their sons Itachi and Sasuke.

"Ayame, have a seat here," her mother patted on an extra cushion on the floor, nearest to her, and beside Itachi. She knelt down, hearing the click in her knees as her legs bended behind her. Her heart thumped fast, wondering why everyone was suddenly gathered here.

Fugaku was the first to speak, "Ayame, it is to my understanding that you'll turn eighteen during the summer, is that correct?" His hard gaze seeped through her eyes, and she shuddered against the table. Her voice not really working anymore, she nodded instead, still trying to get her point across. Fugaku cleared his throat, "Your parents and I have come to the agreement that you and Itachi will be married by the end of the summer."

"What?" Now she found her voice.

She felt her mother's soft hand covering her own, "Ayame, please, don't make a fuss about this."

But she didn't dare look into the face of her mother, instead her eyes traveled to the person who sat across from her; her father. "Daddy?" The pet-name she hadn't used in almost five years rang throughout the silent kitchen. He closed his eyes, and that's when Ayame saw the sadness he displayed, and that's when she understood why she had to do this.

They were poor. Obito was dead, and her father hadn't gone on a mission in over three years. All her mother had been doing all her life was cook, clean and care for the family. And Ayame... she was still a chuunin. They didn't get paid much when it came to missions.

But Fugaku and his family... they were... they were rich. He was the leader of the police squad, which was a very important job for the community. And Itachi was an ANBU member, one of the highest ranks in Konoha. There was no doubt in Ayame's mind that they were swimming in money from head to toe.

"Okay," she regretted, but spoke anyway, "Okay."

Little Sasuke laughed and looked up at Ayame with great big eyes, "Does this mean your going to be my new sister?"

The ages are kind of jumbled up for this story, in order for it to make sense. Kakashi is around twenty, Ayame is seventeen, Itachi is eighteen, and Naruto and the gang are around eight years old. I understand the weirdness, but I promise it'll all work out for the sake of the story.

*Hitai-ate – headband
**Qipao – Asian outfit