READ FIRST: OK WOW! It has honestly been so long... too long. I hope people are still even into Naruto at this point?

ANYWHO! yes I am remaking this fic. I feel like my writing as improved and I want to back and retell this story from a different perspective. Before it seemed like just drabbles but now I want a cohesive chapters and real development! Bear with me as I make these changes as well as UPDATE this story! I promise the wait is over :))

Chapter 1: The War Is Over, A Prodigy Awaits

War.

Hyūga Hanaki remembered the moment she first become conscience of it; and in turn she learned about her purpose in the world: To fight, and protect.

At just four years old, she had to reconcile with those words because her life was not only built around them, but her life would depend on them. She realised this after being notified that her aunt was pregnant with the Hyūga heir.

"Do you know what's going on?" Her uncle, Hiashi, spoke to her in a tone she did not recognize.

"Uh, a lot of, uh, fighting?" She didn't want to stutter, but she noticed something that had perplexed her mid-sentence: her mother. She noticed how she stood so deep within the shadows, holding an expression she never saw before, sadness? Anger? Her little mind just couldn't place it. And when she caught her eye, the expression didnt change. "War," her uncle spoke again, tearing away her attention.

War. A word that no four year old should have fixed in their memory. Hanaki's pale eyes narrowed slightly, her nose crinkled in what could appear as confusion. But Hiashi caught on to what she was really thinking- she wanted to know why she had been called here.

"Let me explain something to you."

Hanaki never knew Hyūga eyes could darken so suddenly, it was scary, "You have the priviledge of being deemed a main branch family member only because you are an only child and a female. But if you were born a male you wouldn't have been so priviledged. However, just because you bear no seal does not mean you are my unborn child's equal. The moment the heir is born you are a subordinate, bound to protect their life with your own. You remember your father?"

Remember, as if it had been years since he passed. But that's what the war had made it feel like. The four year old nodded, for that was all she could do.

"He sacrificed himself to the war. He fought to protect his clan, his village and you. The world of shinobi is dangerous, but you will have know choice but to step into it. And your destiny, is to protect the unborn Hyūga heir. Solely you."

The days leading up to the Hyūga heir's birth only seemed to count away Hanaki's freedom as an individual. Her own family had made it clear that she will be bound to this child for the rest of her life. And let's be honest, it sounded terrifying.

Hanaki was five when she was granted free roam of her clan's wealthy compound. After spending no more than five minutes without an escort, she learned very quickly just how strong her adventurous side was. Trotting in a skip, the Hyūga clan symbol tattering her right sleeve swinging mindlessly, she quickly reached her destination: the border.

Her eyes scanned along the fast-moving creek that seperated her clan from the other. She picked up on a grave difference; where she stood, there were flatlands, manicured gardens and gazebos, yet across the creek, there was a forest that casted an umbre shadow from deep within.

Already, a talltale sign that her clan bordered quite a community: the Uchiha.

Just voicing the name in her head gaze her chills. But what could she say? Her family, her uncle, distrusted them. The word Uchiha was always spoken between gritted teeth and downturned expressions. And during the war, there was one title which she had to hear over and over, it frightened yet enticed her all the same; The Wicked Eye. Who the title belonged to she couldn't dare to remember, but it didn't matter, it belonged to an Uchiha.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the faint sound of metal clapping against an other caught her attention. As Hanaki lingered, she also realized that her curiosity was strong enough to take control of her feet.

She stalked silently, staying within the shadows of the trees as she followed the sound. Thankfully, the noise lead her to a clearing, yet regrettfuly a boy was standing in the center. As soon as his body came into view, Hanaki plummeted to the ground; laying flat on her tummy and concealed by a bush. The boy, fortunately, had his back turned and did not seem to notice her presence.

He was quite small, Hanaki noted, and he was dressed in a black, high-collar shirt with equally dark shorts. A direct contrast to her pale kimono dress and white skirt. What she found appealing was how dark his hair was, she had once believed that Hyūga's bore the darkest hair color, yet here this boy was, wearing straight ebony. When her judgment on his appearance ceased, she finally noticed the multiple kunai in his hands. In fact, there were a total of eight; four blades pressed individually between his fingers.

The boy took in an exhale, then crouched low only to kick back up high into the air. It took the fear of being caught to keep Hanaki from gasping as the young boy flipped over, upside down whilst holding his arms to his chest. Then he extended them outward, and in eight flashes of light, the sharp protectiles raced through the air to hit their targets.

In a perfect aerial, the boy dropped to the ground and landed on his feet with the grace of a bird. Around him, the handles of eight kunai blades sticking out of their individual targets.

This boy… was godly!

There was a sharp cut of wind, and Hanaki realized quickly that the boy had turned to face her direction. Naturally, precious oxygen caught in her throat as her lungs suddenly constricted; was I caught?

It seemed from her view that his onyx eyes were dead set on her. His nose had upturned and a scowl began to age his features. She even noted the way his long lashes lowered in skepticism

But before his mouth could part, the sound of loud clapping erupted from behind her.

"That's incredible," a voice, far too cheery, also revealed itself. She cocked her head to see an older boy with dark hair that matched the other standing just shy of her right. Even from her angle, she couldn't mistake the metal gleam of the shinobi forehead protector tied around his cranium.

"Haha, how old are you?" He asked, again in that cheery voice. The younger boy picked up on it because he quirked an eyebrow.

"Five years old."

My age?! Hanaki's fingers twitched.

"You're really good! To display such excellent kunai skills." the other said, now throwing his hand out as was custom.

"I'm Uchiha Shisui."

Shisui, of course he was an Uchiha, his dark-colored outfit was proof of that. Must be an Uchiha thing.

"I am.." The smaller boy went to speak but he promptly was cut off,

"I know. You're Fugaku's son Itachi right? He's the Military Police Captain."

The Uchiha, now Itachi nodded, the scowl that was present just moments before had now dissipated, and a look of utter bewilderment took its place.

The two boys continued to chat, but Hanaki noted that Itachi wasn't as friendly as Shisui. He came off as both spoiled and socially awkward which made him hard to label. Yet still, Uchiha Shisui wore a bright smile, and at the mention of some inaudible words, he disappeared from sight.

Both Hanaki and Itachi's eyes shifted upward, and dancing in the air identical to how Itachi was; Shisui's arms stretched outward. Eight flashes of light cut through the air, and when he landed, Itachi and Hanaki held parallel expression of astonishment.

"How is it?" Shisui, if possible, beamed an even brighter smile. "My kunai capability is quite good too right?"

Hanaki didnt need to look around to know that Shisui's kunai twinned Itachi's, and she was soon proven right because Itachi himself didn't check either.

Both Uchihas, were godly.

"Lets be friends,"

It was sudden, and jolly all the same, Shisui took a step forward and placed his palm flat on Itachi's shouder. The smaller boy, at this point expectantly, had nothing to say, so he nodded.

"Good! Glad to meet you Itachi."

When Hanaki returned home, under the grace of not being spotted by both the Uchihas and her own relatives, she made a b-line for her bedroom. She wanted to be alone, to experience the rest of the evening in her own thoughts and in peace.

Of course, she thought of them; Shisui and Itachi. One was older and obviously more knowledgeable, yet both were equally amazing. As she reflected on her observations, her heart suddenly burned with desire. With fiddling fingers, she told herself that she wanted to be like them. She wanted to wield kunai and jump high; meet and establish friendships on the basis of being skillful. If her duty was to protect, she needed to start now, she needed to be strong.

It was a shame.

The beautiful peace that once presided over the Leaf village, was horrendously shredded in a single night. From outside, the screams and cries of civillians, and another, a louder, wicked one. Hanaki stole a look out of a shattered window, and she saw it; the Nine Tails, well its shadow anyway.

It was a shame because just that morning there were sunny skies and busy streets, now the roads were corroded and flood with debris.

"Please! Stay calm! Hurry!" Her clan's shinobi ordered, their voices were leveled but their expressions proved otherwise. Hanaki stayed by her cousins and aunts, and in her arms, which she held so tight, a bundle of white.

"Hanaki," her face turned to welcome the familiar voice of her mother, "I have to go." She hadn't been scared or sad until this moment, and when her eyes scanned her mother's attire, she felt a sense of fright. "You're going out there?"

Her mother held blank eyes, and it was hard to read her expression, "I have to."

"But-" there was no need to finish that sentence, for she already knew the answer; and one glance downward confirmed it.

Fight and protect, She remembered those words, and suddenly, the buds of warm tears clouded her vision. She didn't like this. It seemed unfair.

"Don't worry, I'll return for you." And just as quickly as she had came, her mother took off down the hall to join the gathering shinobi outside, leaving Hanaki to craddle a sleeping Hinata.

That was last time she saw her mother.

The attack of the Nine Tails lasted only one night, and the reason it had appeared in the first place was shrouded in mystery. Hanaki stayed in the safe housing of her compound for the next week while repairs to the outside were being made. In a few weeks, December came and so did a new life.

A creature, wrapped in a bundle of white was laying before her knees. A tiny newborn, with squint lavender eyes staring off to space, and pudgy cheeks that rosed at that touch. "Hinata," the baby that was now tied to her hip forever, her first cousin, was undeniably… cute.

"Hinata," Hanaki reached out to touch her nose, admiring the way the newborn blinked its eyes. She whispered her name again, because each whisper brought a new sense of responsibility.

But Hinata wasn't the only news, her clan members were constantly using the Uchiha's name in conjuction with the Nine Tails attack. Eventually she learned that the whole village was in on it, and the said clan was to be moved to a new compound a fair distance away from the center of the village. This meant that they would no longer be neighbors; her family members praised the move, but Hanaki felt a slight resentment.

It doesn't sound right

Hanaki fiddled with her fingers in thought, how could the Uchiha be OK with this?

"Or maybe," She whispered to herself, "they arent…"

Thinking about the Uchiha only brought blissful memories, and remembering those two boys helped her cope with her mother's passing. "I can't be like other shinobi, I have to stronger... like them."

AU: There you go! Polished and refined! I'm proud of the changes and I hope you are too! See ya in the next chapter!