A white haired woman walked down the streets of Konoha in a bit of a daze. Another training session with her mentor had run long so all she wanted to do was go home and rest a bit before her older brother got home from his mission. As much as she loved her brother, he had a tendency to get on her nerves when she was tired, even when he didn't mean it.

When she opened the door to her home she was greeted with a bright cocky grin. "How was your day sis?" he asked messing with his short hair. Like his sister he had white hair as well but with reddish-orange streaks. Colored streaks were not unusual in Sincera children whose parents married outside of the clan.

"I'm not in the mood Yoichi…" she replied truthfully.

Yoichi's expression immediately switched to concern for his younger sister. "Your sensei running you hard again?" he asked.

Eri smiled calmly, "Well if she doesn't challenge me how am I going to improve?"

Her brother only shrugged in response, seeing as he could not combat that logic. Slightly amused Eri shook her head then went to her room to rest.

Yoichi watched his sister walk up the stairs then sighed to himself. "At least she gives herself more time to recover these days…" he muttered remembering the days when she would train non-stop and refuse to come home or take a break. As light as he was on his sister, he would get very concerned when she started pushing herself, after all she was his only family now…

Meanwhile Eri had flopped on her bed with an exhausted sigh. She cuddled with her pillow as she kicked the sandals off her feet. "Oi…" she breathed. She glanced out the window and saw a shadow move in front of it. Normally she'd want to investigate but with the rigorous training she'd taken up she was too tired. Deciding to blame the shadow on a cat or something harmless she closed her eyes and took a light nap, on guard just in case. She didn't know it belonged to someone who would have a great effect on her life.

Unfortunately a growling in the kunoichi's stomach woke her some time later. Eri sighed and opened her eyes, Yoichi can't cook to save his life, so of course she'd have to make her own food or go out to eat. With a yawn she sat up and debated on what would quiet the noise in her belly the quickest. She looked in the mirror and took out her ponytail to fix her hair. Once her silky locks were again set with bags framing her face and the rest in a neat low ponytail that reached her mid-back, she put on her sandals figuring she was craving some Ramon. She walked to the kitchen and figured her brother went out to socialize since she hadn't heard any activity in the small house. Writing a quick note telling Yoichi he was on his own for dinner she made her way out to the local Ramon stand.

Walking down the street Eri looked up at the cloudless blue sky, she had a tendency to zone out when she was walking alone, maybe because the route she took was so familiar to her she didn't even need to look in front of her. Of course when you aren't paying attention to your surroundings, you will bump into people.

"Oof!" came the sound from her throat when she ran into an older man. She stepped back a bit to catch her balance before she fell.

"Are you alright?" asked the man.

"Yeah I'm fine, just um not watching where I was going," Eri replied looking at him. The man was tall with a long mane of white hair, he was an older man with red lines going down his eyes and wearing a large scroll on his back. Eri noticed that he was looking her up and down. "Can I help you…?" she asked feeling uncomfortable.

"Tell me how old are you?" he asked.

"Sixteen…?" Eri replied thinking it was a bit rude to just ask a girl her age.

"Oh," his face seemed to fall slightly. "Seemed a bit older, too bad you would have been perfect for my new book… oh well I'll see you around," he said grinning and patting her on the shoulder before leaving.

"…Weirdo…" Eri muttered before continuing her walk to the Ramon stand. Outside of the stand stood her brother, she sighed seeing the flirty smirk on his face when he was talking with a local woman.

"So tell me Aoi, have you been doing something different with your hair? It's so soft and smooth," he said pushing a strand of hair behind the blushing woman's ear. "And you're skin has such a warm glow to it… You're just breath-taking today…"

"Oh I haven't been doing anything different…" Aoi replied. Eri rolled her eyes as she approached. Yoichi was a man with a one track mind at times. Put a woman in front of him and he uses his words to turn the woman's knees to jelly, put him on a mission he'll focus on that until the mission is complete, put his sister in front of him he was a caring and protective older brother… Yoichi Sincera had a side to him for every situation.

"Oi, Yoichi!" Eri called. Yoichi looked away from the woman and smiled at his sister.

"Hey there you are sleepyhead," he teased.

"Yeah you'd have to sleep too if you had a sensei like Kayo…" Eri muttered.

"She's a crazy old bat, I'm surprised you can tolerate her," Yoichi joked. He looked back at Aoi, "I'll chat with you later," he told her with a wink. Aoi giggled blushing and then left the siblings to talk. "Sooo what you doing here?" he asked.

"I don't feel up to making dinner," Eri shrugged.

"Oh, okay, so ramen for dinner then?"

"Ramon for dinner," Eri replied, "But you're paying."

Yoichi sighed, "Of course."

Eri smirked then walked inside the stand with her brother following. After they ordered their ramon Yoichi turned to Eri.

"So how is your training going?"

"It's challenging, but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger right?" Eri replied looking at her elder by five years.

"I suppose, but you're still a teenager Eri, you should be out there having a life. Maybe you should start by stop being so picky and get a boyfriend," he teased.

"There's nothing wrong with being picky," Eri frowned, "Just cause you like to flirt doesn't mean I'll go around flirting as well you womanizer."

"Excuse me but I flirt just to make them feel good about themselves," Yoichi protested with his own frown, "I would never just use a girl. Sure I date but I'm looking for that woman that will click with me like we are two pieces to a puzzle. You on the other hand never give anyone a chance."

"Cause none of the guys I met seem to 'click' with me, now can we get off the subject?" Eri scowled. Yoichi sighed.

"I just wanna see you happy sis…"

"I think I can judge for myself what will make me happy."

"Fine, alright I'll back off," Yoichi said with his hands raised in defeat.

"Thank you," Eri sighed. The pair were served their ramon and ate in silence until an old woman pushed aside the flaps of the stand.

"There you are," she said. Eri finished and looked at the grey haired woman.

"Sensei?" She questioned.

"What do I look like? The ghost of your grandmother?" asked the cranky old woman.

"I-It's just I thought we were done for the day…" Eri replied.

"I said we were done for now, not for the day, do you need your hearing checked?" Kayo demanded.

"No sensei…" Eri sighed.

"Hey Hey wait, Kayo-san Eri's still tired from her earlier training, can't it wait?" Yoichi asked sticking up for his younger sister after he finished his own bowl. The old woman replied by taking her cane and whacking Yoichi in the head.

"You're not her mentor you soft bellied little boy," she replied as Yoichi whined in pain and held his head.

"C-Crazy old bat…" he countered, thus earning himself another whack.

"Yoichi it's fine, I can handle a bit more training, I just misunderstood her," Eri said feeling pity for her poor brother.

"Still think she goes overboard with this…" Yoichi muttered still holding his head.

"You'll be thanking me when your sister is fully trained, good medical ninjas are highly respected... at least they should be considering all the extra training they need to go through," Kayo stated, "She'll come home when I see fit."

Taking her cue Eri got down from her stool. "I'll see you later Yoichi, don't worry I'll be fine," she said giving him a sisterly peck on the cheek before following her mentor to their usual training field.

"Now go meditate and collect you're chakra, I want a good performance this time," Kayo ordered. Eri nodded and sat down then began to meditate as Kayo supervised her. After a few minutes she spoke again, "Now I want you to focus on your chakra, when we complete our training I want you to have such a prefect grip on chakra control and the human body all you'll have to do it touch a patient, send out a bit of chakra and then you'll know exactly what's wrong," she explained.

"Can I really do such a thing?" Eri asked trying not to ruin her focus by chatting, but the technique seemed a bit farfetched.

"Dear, you focus that mind of yours and I can be known as the teacher of one of the greatest medical ninjas in written history," Kayo cackled.

"So this training is for your gain and not mine then?" Eri replied holding back a sarcastic tone. The comment earned her a whack on the head with the elder's cane. With a whine of pain Eri rubbed the hit area and looked at her mentor.

"Do not take such a tone with me missy; I could be in retirement right now enjoying my grandchildren, but no… I see a girl with promise and wish to train her. Now keep your comments to yourself," she ordered.

"Yes Sensei," Eri sighed.

Kayo kept Eri training and focusing her chakra throughout the night, saying she wanted to see how durable her student was. It wasn't until noon the next day that Kayo decided that it was enough. An exhausted Eri silently thanked whatever god existed for finally ending the training. The snowy haired kunoichi then decided to nap in the shade of the trees so she wouldn't return to the village a sleep deprived zombie. When she awoken she felt better, so she headed home to her brother who was probably worried.

During her walked home Eri noticed a couple of dark robed figures walking towards her. Straw hats covered their heads and faces so she couldn't tell who they were. She kept walking forward hoping she was only being paranoid. Once they came close enough that she could brush shoulders with them she took a glance at the shorter one. Suddenly she saw a red glint under the hat; she couldn't help but stare, not knowing that she was allowing herself to be cast under a genjutsu. Suddenly the figures vanished. Eri blinked and rubbed her eyes, but sure enough they were gone.

"I must be more tired than I thought…" Eri said thinking she must have imagined them. Sighing she walked along until she glanced at the sky again and saw a raven. She watched it as it seemed to come towards her, then circled around her, and then it flew off. Eri watched it curiously, was it trying to get her to follow it? Something in her mind made her want to follow that bird… so she did.

Eri followed the bird into a field just outside of the village. Then suddenly the raven vanished. Eri blinked and stopped looking around. "Where'd the little bugger go?" she thought out loud.

"The bird you followed did not exist…" said a slightly familiar voice, "You are in my genjutsu…"

Eri looked around confused but she saw no one. Then she felt like someone tapped on her leaf band, slowly the two dark robed figures from before materialized in front of her. Without their hats Eri could now see who they were, one was unfamiliar and strange to her, but the one that was closer to her she recognized as the owner of the voice. Her eyes widened in surprise as his name slipped through her lips.

"I-Itachi…?"