Chapter 1

Years ago, before Itachi killed the clan and scarred his little otouto, before Sasuke hated girls and scorned his fan girls, when he was still a little six-year old, he thought he fell in love. A little five year old girl, with bright silver hair and dark eyes, caught his attention with nothing but a glance. He'd been walking home with his aniki, and she was walking in the opposite direction, a box of cookies in her arms, and a smile on her angelic face. He was stunned as she looked at him a moment, smiling politely before walking past. His aniki teased him for a while, but he didn't even hear him. Her face was like a picture in his minds eye, and he wanted to see her again.

The next time he saw her was at the training grounds, looking at a large monument stone, silent, and a sad look on her face. Normally, he wouldn't have interrupted, but the look of sadness on her face tore at his heart. He walked closer, and she visibly stiffened, sensing his presence. She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand, and he finally realized that she'd been crying. She turned to see who it was, and gave him a questioning look, tilting her head to the side cutely. It took him a moment to find his voice before saying, "I just saw you were unhappy and wondered…if everything was alright…" She sniffed slightly, saying, "I'm fine…really…" To him, her voice sounded like the tinkling of silver bells, but there was sadness in it, and he knew everything wasn't fine.

She tried to give him a happy smile, to prove she was alright, but he saw the sadness in it. "Sorry for disturbing you…" He turned to leave. "Wait…" He stopped, turning to look at her. She gave him a sad smile. "I wouldn't mind it if you joined me…" After a moment, he regained control of his body and nodded. She sat down, and he moved to sit next to her. It was silent for a moment when Sasuke asked, "What is this stone?" "It's for all of the brave shinobi that died…" her dark eyes showed sadness and depression, and he asked, cautiously, "Why are you looking at it…?" After a moment of silence, she answered him. "My mother is on this stone…she died after I was born…" He felt bad for her. She seemed so…alone…On instinct, he wrapped and arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer, and he blushed hotly as she gave him a grateful look before burying her face into his shoulder.

They stayed like that a moment before he asked, "What's your name?" "Kumiko Hatake…what's yours?" "Sasuke Uchiha…" She smiled brightly, "Thanks…I feel better now…" She got up, and Sasuke stood up after her. "I need to head home…I hope I get to see you again, Sasuke." He nodded, praying with all his heart that he'd see her again.

They met several times after that, and became fast friends. She was kind, caring, an optimist, and an animal lover. She would help wounded animals, tame or not, and she never got hurt. He fell in love, slowly but surely, and she didn't seem to notice. One day, he thought it would be good if she came to his house, to meet his family, though she rarely said anything about her own. His mother met them at the door, and Sasuke introduced them. Kumiko smiled politely, bowing slightly before saying, "It's nice to meet you, Miss Uchiha." She quickly became a favorite friend of his with his mother, and he wondered how his father and aniki would react. He found his father in the living room, and smiled, saying, "Father, this is my friend, Kumiko!"

His father looked up from his newspaper as Kumiko smiled, bowing slightly, saying, "It's nice to meet you." He nodded, and Sasuke's heart soared. He looked around for Itachi, when Kumiko said, "He's in there." Sasuke gave her a questioning look before opening the door she indicated and, sure enough, there was his aniki. "How'd you know he was here, Kumiko-chan?" "Uh…lucky guess?" Sasuke shrugged it off and ran to hug his aniki, who was reading a book with a cup of tea. He was knocked over, and the tea cup started falling. Before either Uchiha could move, Kumiko caught it on her foot, letting out a sigh of relief as she lifted it carefully back onto the table. Both brothers stared at her wide-eyed, actually…Itachi would have if he wasn't trying to act emotionless.

She blushed, asking, "Why are you staring?" "You caught a cup of tea with your FOOT…and it didn't spill…" Sasuke was still in shock as he spoke, and she shrugged slightly, saying, "My father taught me balance when I was learning Taijutsu with him."
Itachi had gotten up by now, and she smiled politely, saying, "You must be Sasuke's older brother. It's nice to meet you." Sasuke finally snapped out of his trance, and said, "This is my friend, Kumiko Hatake." Sasuke turned to Kumiko, asking, "So…what do you want to do?" She thought for a moment before saying, "We could train…" He nodded, turning to Itachi. "Do you wanna help us, aniki?" Itachi nodded, and they all went outside. Sasuke turned to Kumiko, saying, "We can spar."

She nodded, and she and Sasuke faced off. Sasuke said, "We can use real weapons, okay?" she nodded as he took out a kunai, and slid into a fighting stance. He threw it, and she didn't move as it flew by her head, missing. He ran at her, fist raised, but she moved her head to the side, dodging his fist, and kicked him in the stomach. She then moved to the side, taking out two kunai, and threw them, making Sasuke's clothing stick to the tree behind him. Kumiko smiled innocently, saying, "That was pretty good, Sasuke! I'll help you down…" Even Itachi was surprised. She was probably six years old, and she already knew how to use kunai. After taking out the kunai and pocketing them, Sasuke thought he saw her ear twitch, and she seemed to be concentrating on something else.

"Sorry, Sasuke, but my dad needs me for something. It was nice seeing you, Itachi-san." She left in a flash, making him stare at where she had been, and then he looked at his aniki. "She's stronger than she looks…" Itachi ended up helping Sasuke train, whose mind was on Kumiko the whole time.