Disclaimer: We do not own, possess, influence, or have any affiliation with Kishimoto and his work in Naruto in anyway. The only characters which are of our own creation are Kanako, Tsubasa, Kanami, Umiko, Yondaime Mizukage, his daughter, and the rest of the mist village ninjas. The storyline of this story alters the usual timeline in Naruto in order for the original characters to fit in. These are not mary sues in any way, as they do not embody the persona of the writer. The characters are simply that— characters.

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Chapter 1 :

"I want my mother!" she screamed, pulling on the middle-aged man's beard. "We're not going with you!"

"Kanako!" her sister chimed. "Could you stop that?"

She pouted, letting the man go and glaring at her sister. "They won't take us to mother and father!"

"They're dead, I've told you that. I'm not sure where we are either, but that doesn't matter. It's better than living alone in the woods like we have been."

"Kanami, you're not fair. I don't like this man!"

The man moved out of the way before the little girl could kick him. He chuckled a bit, waving his hand to dismiss the older girl's apologies on behalf of her sister. He looked at the two of them, ushering them into his office and telling the other men who had brought the girls to him to leave. Walking past them toward his desk, he sat down and let them go around the room.

"Wow, we're so high up!" Kanako cried, obviously delighted. "Who are you, mister?"

"You have a relatively short attention span, don't you?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't like me."

"Of course I don't!" she remarked, putting her hands on her hips and glaring.

Kanami placed a hand on her sister's head. "I'm sorry, sir, my sister is rude."

Yet again he waved his hand to dismiss her apology. "It's no matter; you are entitled to know where you are. This is Kirigakure, and I am the Mizukage."

"You are?" Kanami's eyes went wide. "Why were we brought here?"

Kanako huffed and squirmed out of her sister's grip, standing on a chair that was positioned in front of the man's desk. She turned and glared at him again. He smirked, enjoying the childishness of the girl. It reminded him a lot of his daughter, who had recently turned twenty-five and become an ANBU member. There was a furious fervor in the girl's eyes as she defiantly pushed her barriers and attempted to intimidate him.

"What are you planning for us, Mizukage-sama?" Kanami questioned.

"I'm offering you a home, and in return you will both follow in the footsteps of your parents and become kunoichi." he responded lightly. "I'm sorry for your loss, but I believe the best way for you to respect your parents is to allow yourself to become what they once were before choosing their civilian lives; as members of the Tsuda clan, you both hold invaluable potential."

Kanami looked at Kanako. "Are you sure this is wise?"

"You will be schooled and fed at no cost to you until you have the ability to pay for it yourself." he answered. "I will see to it personally that you are taken care of."

Kanako smiled. "I want to become a kunoichi, sister!"

The Mizukage grinned, watching the two girls exchange their positions. Kanako was surprisingly adamant on becoming a kunoichi, while Kanami was slightly apprehensive. Something about her made him think she would become an amazing kunoichi; Kanako had a spirit that was strong and upbeat, full of vivacity that seemed inextinguishable. She was just like her mother, right down to the dark hair with pink tips, and the aqua shaded eyes.

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Kanako cracked open an eye, wiping her hand across the raindrop that fell on her cheek. The last thing she needed right now was rain while she was trying to track Akatsuki. She had been angry with the Mizukage for having her sister married off to the group of missing nins, but it had been a mission and Kanami had accepted it to protect the village that had taken them in 11 years before. Now she had gone missing from the group, her daughter was left in Kanako's care, and the only answers to her whereabouts or the sudden appearance of her child was within the lair of the S-Class criminals.

Umiko was going to kill her for leaving without saying where she was headed.

Standing once more, she turned off in the general direction of the small Country of Fog. It was approximately half a days journey away. Once she arrived there, the bigger issue would be navigating through the fog to find the cave. Living in Kirigakure and fighting within the mists gave her an advantage, but the dense fogs she'd be travelling into were rumored to displace even the greatest of Kage-level shinobi. Despite this, she continued on her way without a second thought. Kanako knew she was in no position to fight nine bingo book listed shinobi, should it come to such a situation, but she was desperate.

Kanami was the only family she had left, and she'd be damned if her sister was just going to disappear and leave her with the responsibility of raising her daughter. She hadn't seen her sister in three years, nor had she had any correspondence with her over that time period, and suddenly everything was turning up with loose ends. Kanami was missing from the Akatsuki, her child had turned up in the Mist, and no one was giving any answers other than the request that Kanako take care of the baby and not try to find her. Obviously, she hadn't listened to the request and set off the same night she'd returned from Konohagakure.

She stopped suddenly in her haste, eyes searching around to her left. There had been a movement in the branches, and a fog had slowly began to rise. It wasn't thick, but it was slowly growing in density with the humidity. Had Umiko finally caught up with her and was trying to confuse her with a chakra-induced mist? A rustle to right had her crossing her arms over her body, creating a shield to block kunai with her arms. The force of their impact was enough to knock her off balance from the tree branch, and she went spiraling toward the forest floor, landing with cat-like grace and sliding to a halt.

'This isn't Umiko.' she thought, remaining crouched as she searched around through the mist for the next minute shadow.

A large sword came flying toward her; she rolled out of the way, wincing and gripping her arm. She had recognized the blade, Samehada, but hadn't managed to get out of the way before it shredded through her sleeve. It wasn't a fatal wound, but it was painful and bleeding greatly. At least now she knew who she was fighting; the Akatsuki member Kisame, a missing nin from her own home hidden village of mist. The sword wasn't her biggest problem, though. If Kisame was here, that meant that Umiko's older brother was there as well. Itachi was not a force to take lightly; so she took a risk.

"Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame." she stated, standing up straight. "You'd be best not to hurt me further and simply show yourselves."

She waited, senses peaked with her adrenaline. The anticipation she was feeling droned out as the shadowy figures came toward her in the mist, side by side. Narrowing her eyes, Kanako strained to hear their footsteps agaisnt the fallen twigs and leaves littering the ground. There should be some noise, but there was nothing. Her eyes went wide, and her fingers came together instanteously in a pointed position.

"Kai!" Kanako shouted, spinning around in a half way circle to punch the offending person behind her.

Itachi took a hold of her wrist when it was hair's width away from his neck. She glared at him, watching slowly as his eyes began to bleed out of their black color and back into red, the comma spinning in a circle. She closed her eyes and focused her chakra into her wrist, sprouting a blade of chakra through his palm and grazing his neck before he sent her flying away from his body. Kisame looked over toward the blood flowing out of Itachi's wound, then down at the girl who had landed on her wounded arm.

"She can use the Kiriwatashi, like Kanami." he observed.

Itachi didnt' say anything as he wrapped a piece of cloth over his palm, tightening it to stop the blood flow as his eyes followed Kanako. She struggled to stand up using one arm, but managed to stand fully and turn her arms over her head and to the side, as if she was holding a sword. The chakra began to flow from her hands and take the shape of a large, jagged weapon within her palms, a glare distinctly radiating through the transparency of the blade. He didn't blink.

"She's more advanced with Kiriwatashi." he observed. "You must be Kanako."

A little shocked at his deduction, Kanako retracted the chakra back into her system and stood with her arms at her sides. "How do you know who I am?"

Kisame glared at her. "How did you know us?"

She pointed to her headband. "I'm from Kirigakure. The mist fog was a dead give away that you were here. And I happen to know Itachi because I'm friends with Umiko."

Itachi's head snapped toward her, a deep crease in his brow. "Umiko."

"She's fine." Kanako responded lightly. "I left my sister's daughter with her."

"You mean Itachi's daughter." Kisame responded. "He's the one who was wed off to Kanami."

"Where is she?"

Kanako walked up to him, holding her bad arm as she pleaded. This had to be some sort of sign if she was lucky enough to run into someone who was so closely connected to her sister, and she had leverage with her knowledge of Umiko. Itachi appeared to be impassive, but his eyes were looking every direction, trying to come up with a decision. She pressed further, repeating her question a second time. It didn't matter that she sounded desperate for an answer, or if she appeared weak for being so desperate. All that mattered was that she found her sister and could be positive that she was alright. If Kanami had to disappear from Akatsuki and not take her child, there had to be some sort of threat.

Without so much as a response, Itachi turned and began to walk away. Kanako stumbled as she tried to get his attention. Her only link was walking away.

"What kind of man are you?" she screamed. "I've only heard the sacrifices you made for your siblings, now you can't even do the same for the sister of your wife?"

He stopped, but he didn't turn around. Kisame gave her a withering glance before whispering something to Itachi in a tone she couldn't decipher. The two seemed to be in a one sided conversation, where Kisame practically read Itachi's thoughts and attempted to help him come up with a solution. It was obvious he hadn't expected to run into someone connected to his wife. Kanako wondered momentarily if she'd stepped into some sort of traced field that allowed Akatsuki to be aware when people were nearing their hideout. If that was true, then these two were sent to kill her before she had discovered the rest of the group. Yet again, another stroke of luck-- she had experience fighting the Sharingan, and knew the secrets Kisame housed from his life in Kirigakure.

"If you must know, you will come with us." He responded. "I have questions I want to ask you as well."

Kisame seemed a bit shocked, but simply closed his eyes and nodded; his respect for the man was evident. She smiled a bit, relieved that she could at least get that much of a chance out of him. He continued walking away into the distance, while his partner waited for her to catch up.

He held an arm out to stop her in her trek. "You're very lucky."

"I realize that." she responded. "You didn't have to tell me."

"The only reason he didn't kill you was because you look like her."