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Senju Hitomi had married Uzumaki Tenmaru nearly twenty years before the fall of Uzushiogakure.

The marriage had been arranged as a goodwill gesture and as a renewal of the bonds of friendship and loyalty between the still somewhat newly founded Konohagakure with Konoha's co-founding Clan the Senju and the newly founded Uzushio with her dominant Clan- the Uzumaki.

Aged seventeen, somewhat shy, and a Chūnin, Hitomi had been disheartened by the fact that she had been given away to a strange foreigner as a bargaining chip. Back in those times, things had still been moving and shaking as the other elemental nations began to follow Hi no Kuni and Konohagakure's example. Shinobi clans, who had long been hidden in the shadows and fighting furiously against each other, were still trying to settle their long-held grievances and band together.

So, Hitomi had been rather- er, difficult to get along with in the beginning, as she had enjoyed her life in Konoha immensely.

However, Tenmaru had been persistent and cheerful and kind through it all. Then one day she had woken up and realized that somehow she had come to love Uzushio and her flame-haired husband with it. From that day forward she had thrown herself into her married life with renewed vigor, relishing the sea breeze in her golden-brown hair and glorying in the way the tide shone with the lights that reflected off the seals that were imprinted upon the ocean's floor.

Truly, her only true, lingering unhappiness past that point was her inability to conceive. Though, Tenmaru liked to loudly proclaim that she was more than enough for him and there were plenty flame-haired Uzumaki running around.

(It had made Uzushio's destruction all the more heartrending. To know, afterwards- when Uzushio was rubble and ash and her precious few survivors flung into the wind, that she had wasted precious time.)

Hitomi and Ten had witnessed the destruction of the shining city along the sea that they had called home for so very long. They had fought, along with so very many others, trying to fend off a unified shinobi force made from shinobi of Kirigakure, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure, with supporting shinobi from several smaller- but no less deadly and ferocious- shinobi villages scattered among them.

Among the last to escape the village, once the invaders had overrun them and no help had come from Konoha, the two of them hadn't had the heart to continue on to the village of her birth.

Happy together despite everything, the two of them had wandered around, constantly moving to avoid any who might recognize them, eventually settling in a small village in the Land of Hot water.

There, they finally conceived the child that they had always wanted, and though it took a great toll on Hitomi- who was very nearly fifty and so very surprised she had fainted when she went to the local doctor and was diagnosed- she never, ever regretted little Takeru's birth.

For nearly a year the little family was happy- laughing and learning and surviving- but then, once more, disaster struck.

This time in the form of the crazed cultists who followed Jashin. The violent fanatics swept into their small village and slaughtered nearly every single villager in a single evening.

Tenmaru, never one to stand down or give up, bought time for Hitomi to get away with little Takeru, and for the first time since the destruction of Uzushio, she turned her feet towards Konoha.

Through days and nights and weeks she ran, ever vigilant as even with the threat of the fanatics behind her. There were other dangers between her and her goal. Normally the journey to Konoha would take a week, even at the speed of an elderly civilian, but she had a small child with her and the need to for utmost discretion while also needing to provide for the both of them.

Just a few miles outside of Otafuku Gai, she was wounded by bandits and as she threw herself over her son- her light and hope and her last remaining piece of Ten- Hitomi begged whoever might be listening for a miracle.

For once, it seemed that the kami took pity upon her.

A squad of Konoha shinobi- most likely alerted by her screams- came bursting through the clearing and quite efficiently dispatched the bandits.

Just in time to save her baby, but far too late to save her.

"Please." Hitomi begged as she pushed herself up against the trunk of a tree and cradled her quietly crying child to her breast as one of them came near to look at her wound. She knew it was too deep and she was too old, but Takeru-

"Please." She pleaded desperately, her shaking hands unclasping her necklace and looping it around Takeru's neck. "His name is Suzaki Takeru. Please take him to Konoha."

The shinobi hesitated, as Konoha was pretty far away in terms of taking a toddler with him, and Hitomi wished desperately- feverishly- that she could use her clan name or Ten's, but it was too dangerous. There were too many people who would target her little boy if they knew the truth, and she hoped when Takeru was old enough to open her necklace- because she had faith he would figure it out- he would understand why.

"Please." Hitomi rasped one last time as blood bubbled up from between her lips and she pressed one last desperate kiss to her son's hair. "His father would have wanted it."

As the light began to blur into darkness and her son began to cry in earnest, she witnessed the moment the shinobi decided to honor her request.

Thank you. She thought, achingly sad to be leaving her son alone, but fiercely content with the knowledge that he would be able to make it to Konoha, despite her weakness.

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The Uchiha Clan was the co-founding clan of Konoha and one of its most prestigious. The Uchiha were one of the Four Great Noble Clans of Hi no Kuni, a designation that stretched back nearly four centuries and was tied to the Ruling House of Jimmu, of which all of the Elemental Nation's Daimyo's were directly descended from. The Uchiha were nearly one-hundred seventy members strong, from the eldest elder to the youngest child, making them one of the most populous clans in Konoha.

Granted, some of those members were from smaller branches that were four or five degrees away, but the Uchiha were a possessive bunch and did not like to allow any of their blood- and potential kekkei genkai users- outside of their clan's control.

Still, they did not brand hateful slave seals onto the foreheads of their non-main-house members, so even with their possessive, inclusive habits they were still vastly superior to the Hyūga.

In their humble opinions, of course.

Of their boasted one-hundred-seventy or so members, only about fifty or so of them had awakened and could use the clan's legendary dojutsu- the Sharingan.

Knowing the numbers helped explain why the clan collectively disliked Hatake Kakashi for having the late Uchiha Obito's eye and being able to use it so proficiently.

Uchiha Minami was not one of those who could use the Sharingan nor was she one of the one who actively hated Hatake Kakashi. The bastard daughter of a Uchiha woman and a Yamanaka clan member- not that the Uchiha had ever felt the need to inform the Yamanaka of her heritage, since they were possessive jerks- she had dealt with years of thinly veiled insults and outright scorn among her clan peers. Even her own mother treated her as if everything wrong in the world was Minami's fault.

Not that her lack of a Sharingan slowed her down much. Well, when not held to the insane standard of child prodigies who graduate the Academy at age five. A member of the ANBU Black Ops at just sixteen, with a knack for blending into crowds and getting people to spill their secrets without realizing it, Minami was a successful shinobi, regardless of her clan's feelings towards her and she damn proud of her accomplishments.

Che. The young woman thought bitterly as she swiped at her eyes angrily and leaned back against the bathroom wall. As if it's my fault I was born with hazel-green eyes instead of black. Yamanaka usually are some shade of blue to blue-green, what did they expect?

The sixteen-year-old looked down at the test strip that rested against her thigh and new tears welled up in her eyes. The tears overfilled her eyes and she tipped her head back against the wall, allowing her eyes to slip closed as she tried to figure out what the hell she was going to do now.

This wasn't supposed to happen! Minami screamed inside her mind. It was just a moment of comfort between two shinobi, nothing more! And all my contraceptives are up-to-date, so why did this happen?!

For there in her lap was the indisputable evidence that her brief encounter with Hatake Kakashi- aged fifteen and fellow ANBU operative- had resulted in the conception of a child.

It had been a bitterly cold night in the Land of Frost, and the two shinobi had huddled together for warmth after the completion of their portion of the mission's objective. They had been enroute to the rendezvous point with the rest of their squad when an unexpected ice storm- a regular occurrence, particularly in the winter for that country- had struck hard and fast, forcing them to find shelter and wait it out. They had been lucky enough to find a cave, but did not want to risk a fire that could reflect off the glass-like surface of the ice and give away their position; potentially drawing out kind-hearted Samaritans and potential enemies alike. From there things had evolved from the very practical sharing of body heat. There had always been a tension between the two teammates, not anything near love but not quite purely physical attraction either.

The next morning they had cleaned up and headed out and two weeks later the squad had lost a member and the remaining three were shifted around to fill in holes on other squads.

I won't condemn a child to the hell I grew up in, I won't. Minami growled within her mind, as the idea of terminating her pregnancy flitted through her mind, making her queasy even as she dismissed it. The long-held teachings of her clan and the ideals of honor that had been passed down through her family's lines not allowing her to truly entertain that possibility of terminating her pregnancy. Even purposefully staging an accident was against her grain.

Even still….

If the clan ever found out that Hatake was the father, my child's life would be even worse than mine. Minami thought, as her mind turned to other possibilities and things that she could do without abandoning her ideals. They never told my father about me, either. So, I don't see why I should have to say anything to Hatake. Ha, they set a precedent!

Minami laughed out loud, the sound short and bitter, as it resounded off the walls even as she grabbed onto the excuse- and it was one, of that she was aware- with both hands and tried to plot out a course of action.

Hm. She pondered, nibbling on her lip anxiously, as she applied her shinobi training to her current situation. If I talk to Crow-taicho maybe there's a mission or something and I can pass of the pregnancy as a Relations Incident….

A little over half a year later a woman wrapped up in a scarf left a tiny bundle on the doorstep of the main orphanage in Konoha- it was the closest one to the Hokage Tower and the most affluent one in all of Konoha to boot. It was also the one that was always first on the Academy recruitment tour that ran every March, due to most of the village's Relations Incidents being dropped off on this particular orphanage's steps.

The cloaked woman did not linger, gliding back into the shadows effortlessly as the door opened and light spilled out onto the porch, irritating the baby and causing him to fuss.

Good luck, sweetheart. Minami thought regretfully, her heart wanting nothing more than to snatch her son back from the Matron. However, knowing what sort of life she would condemn her son to if she took him home to her clan stayed her hand and firmed her resolve.

I'll always be watching over you, my little Hikaru.

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The day was bright and almost uncomfortably warm, but the steady breeze and plethora of trees lessened the effect of the heat to those who had to be out and about.

Though, there were fewer residents walking Konoha's streets on this bright and sunny day, as today was the first day of a new school term for many of Konoha's inhabitants, including those who were attending the prestigious Konoha Military Academy.

"Konohagakure- or Konoha, for short- the Village Hidden in the Leaves, is by far the most populous of the Hidden Villages. When one stops to consider that our village was the first of its kind- the one which set the stage for the one-major-ninja-village-per-country standard- the fact that Konoha boasts the largest shinobi force in the Elemental Nations ceases to be shocking and seems more akin to a given fact." The teacher told the class of twenty wide-eyed six(ish)-year-olds cheerfully, face painted with a bright, engaging smile as he looked out over his class.

They are always so cute and well-behaved on their first day here at the Academy. The teacher thought wryly, I always enjoy it while it lasts.

"The total population of Konoha rests comfortably at about one-hundred-and-eighty-thousand people." The teacher continued cheerfully. "Of that number, the Konoha shinobi forces- of which you are all training to be part of!- add up to be just short of twenty-one-thousand. Nearly sixty percent of the Konoha shinobi population are chūnin, while thirty-percent are gēnin and ten percent are jōunin."

The class of children ooh'ed and ahh'ed as the teacher held up a beautifully drawn aerial-view map of Konoha- of course it was simply a general one that helped the students get a feel for the size of Konoha instead of an entirely accurate one- and allowed the class a good look at it before turning the page, showing a picture of a shinobi forehead protector.

"Gēnin are the lowest rank of the active military force, reserved for those who have passed through Konoha's Academy curriculum. They receive their forehead protector upon graduation, as it marks their official induction into Konoha Military Forces."

The teacher turned the page after ensuring he yet held all of his students' attention, replacing the Konoha forehead protector with a picture of a nondescript man wearing the official Konoha jōunin uniform.

"Jōunin, on the other hand, are those who have attained the highest position possible in the regular military force- the ANBU Black Ops are a separate division, though there are jōunin within their ranks. There is also the rank of Tokujo Jōunin, but we won't be covering that today."

Once again the page was turned, and this time there was a nondescript woman wearing the official chūnin uniform.

"The chūnin- the majority of the military forces- are those who have trained hard enough to be promoted and trusted to lead squads if the occasion demands it, but for whatever reasons have not been able to make that final leap to jōunin." The teacher took a deep breath and shifted slightly, trying to keep the more energetic children entertained long enough to finish his introductory speech.

"Chūnin come in two types, really. There are those who were on a gēnin team and then were promoted either due to outstanding service under fire or due to their performance during the bi-annual Chūnin Exams." The teacher turned the page, showing the class a collage of pictures. "The other side of the chūnin pool comes from those who were in three-man-cells which failed the respective tests of the jōunin-sensei, but showed enough promise that the jōunin recommended them for the Konoha Military Specialist Training Program, which is what is displayed in these pictures here. The Specialist Training Program is an intense twelve-week program with an additional three months of back-to-back missions that turns out chūnin specialists at the end of the six months. Whether those shinobi are in-village specialists- such as those in the Encryption Department or in the Barrier Teams- or shinobi such as assassination or infiltration specialists depends on the person's talents for various shinobi disciplines. The Second Hokage created the STP to prevent potentially talented shinobi from slipping through the cracks, for whatever reason."

The instructor put down his visual aide and looked out at his class and clapped his hands together sharply. "And that, class, was your introduction to the Konoha Military Academy! Who wants to go outside for a while? Line up behind the blue line at the end of your rows, please."

The class of children cheered excitedly and quickly moved to obey.

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The orphan known as Kobayashi Hikaru was waiting anxiously for his best friend to come home, feet swinging idly as he smoothed out the papers he had gone over meticulously.

By nightfall they should be holding the keys to their new apartment.

Hikaru had been left at the orphanage when he was a week old, he had been told, with nothing more than a soft baby blanket, his name, and the words 'Relations Incident'.

Those words meant that he was an accident, a side-effect of a kunoichi who had needed to use her body to gain information for the village and had become pregnant as a result. The children were not seen as shameful, rather as the living proof of the kunoichi's resolve and determination to the village. There were a few other 'Relations Incident' children at the orphanage, and none of them were shunned or spoken badly of for the circumstances of their births.

Yet none of the overall ambiguity towards their existence changed the fact that they were, essentially, miscalculations.

Many of the others took a great amount of issue with their circumstances- even those whose mothers came to see them whenever they had free time, and had only left their children at the orphanage due to time constraints or lack of family to watch them- but Hikaru had always been rather neutral towards the whole thing.

Well, once he had understood it.

It probably helped that Hikaru remembered having two loving parents, and of being a very wanted addition to a family.

They had been overwhelmingly confusing at first, the dreams.

It had not helped matters that Hikaru seemed to have manifested a, quite frankly, crazy form of Legilimency-like talent in his new life, either.

The caretakers of the orphanage had told him that he cried often as a baby, and would scream for hours if he was around too many people. It had baffled the caretakers then- once they put him in a room far removed from everyone else, as the medics had been unable to find anything wrong with him, medically- to discover that he was actually quite the calm and happy baby.

The staff had merely been happy that he had not been sickly or needy and had mostly left him alone with some toys to entertain himself after that. Oh, he had intermittent visits from a caretaker to check on him and provide necessary functions- such as changing his diaper- but once his screaming fits had tapered off, Hikaru was quite the easygoing, happily solitary child. The caretakers left him picture books very early on, followed closely by books with simple words, as they felt somewhat guilty because he was so self-contained and generally self-sufficient once they had figured out how to handle him.

It took him until he was nearly two- and Hikaru knew he held a distinct advantage over 'normal' two year olds, what with his rather unique situation- to puzzle out what was happening and how to manage being around more than a single person at a time without wailing like a- well, baby. The dreams were annoying- as they were all out of order and muddled and generally unpleasant- but careful concentration and experimentation had allowed him to mentally organize them. As he began to organize them, things began to make sense, and it was after he had cleared the bulk of the 'clutter' from his mind that he had discovered his Legilimency-like ability.

Oh, there had been moments of pure panic about seemingly being born into a different world with a strange new body and memories that were far too old, but he could feel the feeling he had always associated with his magic creeping through his veins- it was different somehow, incomplete and somehow fuller, but it was there- and that was enough for him.

After all, he had technically been mostly dead for nearly half a decade before he had actually died, so really, stranger things had happened to him.

The easiest way to describe what had been happening was that his mind sensed other minds near him and then forged a psychic connection of some sort. Unfortunately, being too young to understand what had been happening, his mind had been latching onto everyone's mind within his range, and the connection was so uncontrolled and unstable that it had been overwhelming his baby-brain. The ability only had a certain range that it could sustain, so once he was far enough away his mind could not latch on to someone.

The dreams had actually been a kind of shield, he had figured out later, as babies spend an exorbitant amount of time sleeping.

Still, once Hikaru had realized what was happening he had immediately begun to experiment with Occlumency.

Tom had known several forms of Occlumency and as Harry he had witnessed Tom using Legilimency on a number of fellow Occlumens. Therefore, Hikaru had gleefully mashed all of these forms and ideas together until he found a method that worked best for him.

It was a relief- being able to be around more than one person at a time without his mind reflexively latching onto them- as instead of just 'reading' indistinct thoughts or strong feelings, as true Passive Legilimency would have netted him- Active Legilimency required eye contact- he could actually rifle through the person's active thoughts and their associated memories.

Hikaru's memory already seemed much clearer- though he attributed most of it to being a baby and having a more mature mentality to draw from.

So after his mind had been sufficiently shielded he had begun to experiment how to open his defenses and concentrate on one person at a time.

That was how he had discovered that he was not alone in this crazy 'next great adventure'.

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For Takeru, the dreams had started after he had been brought to Konoha.

Flashes or snippets of broken moments in time interspersed with memories. Memories of a man with crimson hair and twinkling violet eyes and a brownish-blonde haired woman's bright laugh before the flashes became nightmares about bandits and the woman's- his mother's, his mind always supplied later- sweet smile just before she died.

And those were just from the newest set of memories. The older ones were even grimmer and held no wonderful warmth and brilliant affection.

It had been scary and frightening- especially before the old memories had settled into place- but he remembered his mother's frantic whispers about not drawing attention during their time on the run long after his child-like mind should have forgotten such things.

Takeru had no intention of drawing unwanted attention to himself. The last thing he wanted was for history to repeat itself.

A quiet boy, he was not picked on much, but he also was not really noticed, either. Yet another nameless child in the crowd, easily forgotten and generally unremarkable in every way.

Then the orphanage's slightly odd toddler- a tiny boy with the bright white hair and startlingly green eyes that looked far too aware and aged to belong to such a cherubic-looking child- had sauntered into his quiet life.

There, in Takeru's usual corner of the yard where he secretly grew any type of greenery that he could get his tiny hands on- lessons and memories of Neville coming back to him more and more as he grew older- the other had plopped down next to him with nary a by-your-leave.

"Nice to know I'm not alone." The white-haired toddler had remarked, running careful fingers over the petals of a white flower before turning those bright green eyes onto Takeru. "Sprout taught us well, hm?"

The trowel had fallen from Takeru's limp fingertips, and he had vaguely noted that he was shaking, but the white-haired toddler had held out a hand to him despite Takeru's non-responsiveness. "Kobayashi Hikaru, formerly the Boy-Who-Lived." The other had said steadily, lips quirking up into a strangely familiar wry, sardonic smirk that looked entirely out of place on a toddler.

Something long-knotted and tensed had eased inside Takeru's chest as his mind sluggishly processed the slowly-connecting dots.

Takeru had fairly beamed as reached out with his own hand and clasped it with Harry's- Hikaru's. Suddenly everything seemed so much brighter. Because if there was anyone Neville-Takeru- wanted to have followed him to this strange new world that was different and familiar and frightening all at once, it was Harry Potter.

Unlike what most would expect, Neville had never blamed Harry for dying. Not when Neville had gotten an unpleasant, up-close-and-personal view of Harry's side of things.

Unexpectedly thrust into life-or-death situations and battles that he had never wanted and had never been trained for. Harry had endured four years that were mostly torment, only to die in an event meant for adults.

Neville had empathized with him; the boy who had been torn from the wizarding world during his toddlerhood only to reenter it with every eye watching and every tongue ready to tattle.

Most of Harry's suffering had been due to an old man with too much power, the best of intentions, and a shitty Prophecy.

Or, inversely, an old man with too much power, the worst of intentions, and a shitty Prophecy.

"Let's do things on our terms this time, eh?" Takeru said as he released the other's hand and leaned back, strangely light and delighted to have a companion who truly understood.

The smile on the toddler's face was disturbingly angelic when one accounted for the vicious light in his eyes. "Let's." He agreed firmly.

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Suzaki Takeru and Kobayashi Hikaru, to the bemusement of everyone, had been best friends ever since.

The pair made quite the sight.

The tiny, snow white-haired, startlingly green-eyed toddler who trotted faithfully alongside the somewhat tall, broad shouldered boy with the deeply hued violet eyes and ash blonde hair with the subtle threads of red in it when the sun glanced off of it just right.

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So, after Takeru had turned six and the chūnin had come around for the Konoha Military Recruitment Drive, he had already talked about things with Hikaru and put his name on the list.

This time around they'd be soldiers because they wanted to; because they wanted to carve out their own path and protect each other's backs in this crazy new world.

Takeru turned around and headed back towards Hikaru after being given his packet of papers which contained all the information about Academy registration, the monthly stipend given to Academy students, and how to apply for housing.

Academy students were not only allowed to move out of the orphanage, but actively encouraged to, as the Oversight Commission felt that the responsibility helped the future shinobi mature faster. The classes were signed up for the rotation prior to the Academy and since Takeru had passed the tests, neither boy anticipated any issues with receiving their stipend.

Hikaru already had seven strategies in order to convince the orphanage that the he was mature enough to live with Takeru.

Takeru sort of pitied anyone who tried to stop the genius little midget.

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