A/N: Perhaps you're like "wtf happened to the other chapters and this story?". Rest assured however! The other chapters will be added back soon once they're revamped as well; I decided that the POV needed to be changed because First Person was just much too limiting. I had picked it originally because that's what I was most comfortable with but, hey, gotta try new things.

So any pointers for someone trying out Third Person in a long-while?

I still don't own Naruto luckily :) Enjoy~

"Please?"

"Mitsuho, I already told you my answer." The older man's face was completely void of emotions. However the little blonde girl before him knew better than to think that he didn't care.

"But Hikaru was able to go to the academy! I want to go as well and also become a great ninja like he's going to be! Even Tsuko was able to go!" The young girl's childish purple eyes turned into half-hearted glare. She had always dreamed as being skilled as her older sister, Tsuko.

Mitsuho's father, Akinori, rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly and sighed. "Both your older siblings demonstrated to me that they deserved to learn in a more enriching environment. You have not exactly done that, Mitsuho."

The small blonde looked up the slightly wrinkling older man as she puffed her cheeks out. "And I haven't, Father? I've been trying, really! I know I'm not as great with our kekkei genkai as they are but I still try…"

She was struggling to not throw a fit; it would only aid in proving her father's point that she didn't deserve to go to academy.

"Mitsuho." Her father rested his hand on her small head and stared at her with his amethyst eyes, ones that were just like hers. "I will allow you to attend-" he continued to talk over his daughter's delighted squealing, "BUT on three conditions. The first, you're going to wait a year like your siblings did and attend when you're eight. Second, you will do your school work very well. No slacking will be tolerated. Third, you will work on your listening- continuing to do what you do now will get you killed on the battlefield."

Mitsuho frowned slightly. She noticed that her chest felt slightly tight at the idea of having to wait what seemed like so much time right now.

'Cheer up. It's better than not getting to go at all.' She managed to pull her lips into a smile, "Okay, Father! I promise I'll make you proud! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" The small child made sure to hug her aging father tightly before she sped off to tell her siblings.

She was able to find her older sister with ease by following the warm aura that seemed to come off her. It likened to a warm fuzzy blanket that wrapped its loved ones in warmth, her father had told her this weird presence was called "chakra". Her mom had explained when she was young that all ninja had it; elderly ninja, young ninja, missing-nin- all of them had this aura.

'And they all feel different.'

The currently seven year old walked into her family's private library of sorts to find her older sister Tsuko with little Akemi. Tsuko had long honey blonde hair that was always pulled into a bun; in her arms was a small bundle with dark hair. Akemi was only born a year ago and had taken an extreme liking to the eldest Hiroaki girl. Like all of Akinori's children they too had the amethyst colored eyes.

Tsuko pulled a funny face that made Akemi start giggling as Mitsuho began to talk, "Hey Tsuko!"

Tsuko kissed Akemi's forehead before turning to Mitsuho, "My sweet Mitsuho!" Honey blonde haired Tsuko beamed at her younger sister as she pulled her closer to the small pile of Hiroaki children.

Mitsuho mumbled through the heartwarming hug she was receiving, "I'm going to go to the academy next year! Father finally agreed!" A happy squeal broke the air as Tsuko congratulated the younger blonde. "Yeah it's going to be great Tsuko; I'm going to become strong and protect everyone! Plus I'll get to make so many friends and be admired for my strength!" Stars had almost formed in the little girl's eyes.

Ruffling her little sister's light blonde hair, Tsuko's eyes lit up, "We should make sure to tell Mom the great news-"

"What great news?"

The younger of the two blonde Hiroaki in the room jumped at the sudden intrusion of a new voice. Tsuko was completely unfazed by their brother's sudden appearance. Hikaru had always been surprisingly silent for an eight year old that had only recently started going to the academy; his rather indifferent attitude coupled with his light brunette hair that complimented his deep purple eyes spurred the creation of his small group of fangirls.

"Father said that I'm going to go to the academy next year," Mitsuho smiled meekly at him. "I was just telling Tsuko and Akemi." 'I hadn't counted on you being here,' she bit the inside of her cheek.

Her older brother's indifferent face morphed into one of poorly contained anger, "Well there's no point! You're just going to be a failure anyway so why bother trying!?" His yelling startled the small Akemi; she began to squirm in Tsuko's arms in attempt to escape the noise.

"Hikaru-" Tsuko dared to end Hikaru's verbal slamming of their younger sister. She could already see Mitsuho's eyes beginning to water in what would soon turn into a torrent of tears.

"It's a waste of time and effort to try to teach someone like her! You're never going to amount to anything more than a sad pile of wasted hope and energy!" Hikaru's eyes were as red as his face from his fit of rage. 'Never! She can never go to that academy!'

"Stop it, Hikaru!" Tsuko's amethyst eyes narrowed dangerously as she finally lost it with her younger brother. She couldn't understand how he even dared to abuse his little sister like that! By the time Tsuko turned to comfort Mitsuho but only found the spot, where she had once been standing, empty.

The wind whipped around the small girl's form as she sprinted through the dark, ominous forest. Thin branches and vines that had little thorns on them reached out to give her painful hugs. Mitsuho didn't pay them any attention though; she was too distressed to stop. 'I just have to get away,' she focused on racing towards the light that promised a clearing up ahead. 'This forest is giving me the creeps now!'

Her chest burned immensely by the time she burst into the picturesque clearing. The perfectly serene environment with the green grass and clear blue sky unfortunately did little to offset the sadness that Mitsuho was feeling. Her step didn't falter even once as she continued to run into the middle of the clearing.

Until she tripped at least.

"Oof." The wind was knocked from her as she belly flopped onto the hard ground. The little girl didn't bother fighting the pain; she just cried harder.

"Huh?" Shikamaru, who had been enjoying a nice nap, watched the girl in confusion. She looked like hell; there were twigs and leaves in her hair and he could see the scratches that were bleeding on her arms. 'Oh man. I can't just leave her here I guess. She looks like she's about my age…'

"You okay there?" The young Nara questioned the mystery girl.

Mitsuho looked up slowly from the ground to study the stranger. He was a boy about her height with dark hair and dark eyes. She wiped her eyes and sniffled, "Sorry, I was just… upset. Are you okay?" 'I don't wanna make a terrible first impression. That's one thing Mom taught me that I'll always try to honor.'

The boy sighed deeply.

'What a deep sigh for a kid my age…'

"Yeah I'm fine. What about you?" His face seemed to hold some genuine concern for the blonde girl before him as he propped himself up with his elbows. Mitsuho noticed that his hair reminded her of a pineapple.

"I've been better." Mitsuho's answer was short and sweet. She managed to give the Nara boy a strained smile, "Just a little scratched up but that's all."

The two kids sat in an awkward silence for a couple of minutes. Behind them the birds continued to chatter and sing loudly and breezes rustled the grass. Mitsuho attempted to busy herself with pulling the thorns out of her skin. Her feigned concentration was broken when the boy sighed one again.

"I guess my mom would have my head if she found out that I didn't help a girl that was crying… So what happened?"

Mitsuho felt slightly unsure about telling a complete stranger her troubles. She didn't want to inconvenience anyone or bring them down with her own petty troubles. The more she thought about it though the more she felt that she might as well just tell him- it couldn't hurt. He seemed like a good kid and he was honestly concerned. 'I might as well.'

"Well- um…" Mitsuho gave him a questioning look.

"Nara Shikamaru. But you can just call me Shikamaru." The young Nara gave the beat up looking girl a lazy smile. He felt that she needed to be put at ease a little. 'I wonder where this is gonna go…'

"Okay, Shikamaru-san. My name is Hiroaki Mitsuho," The purple eyed girl gave him what seemed to be a smile with her eyes, "but you can just call me Mitsuho."

Shikamaru nodded in response.

"Sorry if I came off as rude to ask you for your name first," Mitsuho looked at her newfound friend sheepishly, "I'm a little out of it. My father agreed to let me go to the academy next year and I was really, really happy! But my older brother… he kind of said some mean things that upset me and I just took off. Sorry that I disturbed you."

Mitsuho watched in interest as Shikamaru just rolled his eyes in a comforting way. "It was kind of a drag but it is understandable. There aren't even any clouds in the sky to watch today so it wasn't too much trouble." He looked up at the clear sky and Mitsuho followed his line of vision to look up as well.

"I love my brother but he's always so closed off to me," Mitsuho continued to explain as she laid back from her sitting position, "I just don't understand why he's so upset. Our parents allowed him to start going to school last year- he had to wait a year just like I do. Even my older sister had to do that. I just don't understand what his problem is!" The blonde one of the two raised her head briefly to bang it against the ground.

The sky looked so vast without those puffy, white obstructions floating around.

"Sounds to me like he feels threatened," Shikamaru yawned then laid back on the grass, "He just got to start the academy and now he knows you're going to be attending there as well. He might just not want to have to compete with you."

Mitsuho frowned deeply and shrugged despite the fact Shikamaru probably couldn't see her. "I think you're right but if that's the case then I don't understand my brother. Everyone has always regarded him and my older sister as the ones with the most potential. He shouldn't feel threatened…" Mitsuho turned her head to eye the boy next to her.

"Well I'm no genius, I don't know." From what Mitsuho could see, Shikamaru had his eyes closed and almost appeared to be asleep. If she hadn't known for a fact that the Nara was awake she could almost mistake him for being deep in his REM cycle.

The two kids lay there in silence for a while; unlike the first silence this one wasn't awkward. Mitsuho started to find herself fond of Shikamaru's laid back demeanor since it was such a great change from her home life. Mitsuho's mom and her older and younger sister could be a bit rambunctious most of the time. She had to admit though- she could be a little bit of a handful occasionally too. Hikaru was never bursting at the seams with energy and her father has always been rather mellow.

'Shikamaru's quietness isn't cold or cut off like theirs,' Mitsuho sighed contently, feeling relieved she'd gotten some of her troubles off her chest. She found herself seemingly basking in both the warmth of the sun and her new-found friendship.

Eventually the sun began to set.

'Oh dear, Mom and Tsuko must being crazy by now…' Mitsuho quickly pulled herself off the ground. "Thanks a ton, Shikamaru-san. I really appreciate it!" She started to dust herself off (albeit in vain), "I need to get going though. I promise I'll repay you though! I pinky-promise-cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die that one day I'll be sure to repay you properly!" The suddenly fast-paced Mitsuho didn't wait another second to speed off and leave behind a very confused Shikamaru.

Said boy watched her fun off before lying back down. 'She needs to chill out a little, but she seemed to be pretty nice.' He let out another sigh before closing his eyes once more for a light nap.