Sakura could recognize a conundrum when it was hovering right before her very eyes. Even the air brushing against the cut on her hand caused it to sting painfully, and as she stumbled into the bathroom and opened the cabinet with her other hand, Sakura knew that she was going to have to come up with something to tell her parents aside from the truth.

She tried to be precise, as she wound the bandage around and around the cut. But her movements were shaky. Every time the cloth even rubbed up against the wound in her palm, she would shudder, and a bite of pain would go trickling down her spine.

This sucked.

It had only been a little over four months since she had entered the academy. And finally, finally, Iruka-sensei had permitted her to take home a few shuriken - just so she could train a little in the public training grounds, hone her skills, spend a little of her free time actually doing something productive aside from spending hours hunched over a textbook, that or sleeping soundly in her bed, or helping her mother and father cook at the bakery.

Of course, her first impromptu 'training session' had ended with her sporting a rather nasty cut across her palm. It wasn't particularly long or deep, but it hurt, and in her surprise she'd tripped and gotten dirt into it as well. She'd staggered home, clutching her arm as if it had been amputated, the filth in her wound causing it to sting in a way that brought tears to her eyes.

Her parents weren't home; Mebuki and Kizashi were both working at the bakery that they owned, putting in long hours bent over the oven that allowed them to live in such comfortable conditions. She didn't have a key to the house of her own yet. But, she did know where the spare key was, pulling it out of a crevasse in a false rock beside the front door with shaking hands, and twisting it into the lock.

And now, she found herself here. Shakily cleaning out the cut on her palm, rubbing disinfectant into it that smelled so strong that it made her nose crinkle and her eyes water, and then now, wrapping it carefully in clean, cotton bandages.

Training to be a kunoichi was tougher than she'd ever imagined it to be.

After they had finished with the basics - the five elements, simple theory, and history - the class had shifted to truly beginning their education in the shinobi arts. Iruka had worked them like dogs… push ups, sit ups, running laps around the academy building, shuriken and kunai practice that caused their previous attempts to pale in comparison. They'd even started teaching them some of the most basic techniques such as ones that would allow you to make a basic compass of sorts, or another that gave you the ability to draw thin blue lines of chakra on the ground or walls, so that you could mark out lines and such or leave short messages.

They hadn't graduated to anything too serious though. Even basic techniques like the regular bunshin, or the substitution were far off for the majority of the class, saved for their final year in the academy after they'd mastered the basics and properly honed their bodies and chakra pools.

Sakura set the roll of bandages down on the counter, grimacing as she flexed her fingers. For such a small wound, it had bled surprisingly a lot, the cloth already dampening with sticky crimson liquid.

She swallowed. 'Let's hope next time doesn't go as poorly,' Sakura thought.

The next day, she went to the training grounds once again.

Her parents, predictably, had interrogated her about where the cut on her hand had come from. 'It was so they wouldn't worry,' she reasoned with herself, glancing at the fresh change of bandages around her palm. She had lied and told them that she had slipped and cut it on a rock. Sakura wasn't sure what her parents would say if they knew she had been training on her own, with real shuriken, without an adult to watch over her… but honestly, she didn't want to find out either.

It probably wasn't the best of ideas to go back, and practice with the metal shuriken again. But she couldn't help it. After all, there was no pointing in shying away from them - she'd have to use them sooner or later, and so long as she was a tad more careful, it stood to reason that she would be fine. Maybe she would suffer another cut or two by the end of the day, but the experience earned would be invaluable in the long run.

The training grounds were surprisingly packed. Ranging from academy students just like her, to chunin who were too lazy to be bothered going to the more isolated training fields where jounins and chunins typically honed their skills. There were several vendors sitting around the edges, offering spare packs of shuriken and kunai to those who had forgotten them - though they steadfastly refused to sell them to anyone without a headband.

Sakura managed to find a relatively empty lane. Relatively, because there were two people there. One that was much shorter than the other, with distinctive, spiky black hair - and the other, with similarly colored hair that was tied into a ponytail that fell down his back.

She made a tiny little noise. An 'eep' of sorts. That had to be Uchiha Itachi, the boundless prodigy, the boy who had graduated from the academy, setting test scores so high that they had only been beaten by the legendary Yondaime himself. Sakura had never seen him before, but she had heard of him. Famous enough that he was even featured in some of their more recent textbooks.

Uchiha Itachi heard her. And he turned, Sasuke at his side, not having noticed her yet and instead preoccupied with throwing a volley of shuriken at a training dummy that lay about ten yards in front of him. "Otouto." Itachi said. "That's the girl in your class, isn't she? I don't think I've heard of anyone else with pink hair like you described."

Sasuke turned around as well. "Yeah, it is." he said, giving her a stiff nod of acknowledgement - and not much else.

A thin smile curled Itachi's lips. "Are you looking for a place to train?" he said. "I'm sure Sasuke is more than willing to accommodate his classmate."

Sakura swallowed. "Su- sure." she managed to get out. With stiff movements, she walked forward, until she was standing just beside Sasuke. It was silent for a moment. Just for a moment, though.

"What happened to your hand?" Sasuke asked, startling her. He reached forward, grasping her wrist and holding up her hand, his dark eyes staring at the cloth wound around her palm.

"I… I cut it." Sakura said, pulling her hand from his grip with another light 'eep'.

He frowned. "I figured that." Sasuke said. "I meant how did you cut it?"

"I was… here training." Sakura said. "I grabbed the shuriken wrong and it just sort of… sliced across my hand."

"It just-" Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, but…

"Don't press her too much, otouto." Itachi said, cutting Sasuke off. He placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, and Sakura was suddenly frightening aware of just how tall he was in comparison to them. "Do you mind if I take a look at that cut?" he asked. "Just to make sure."

She nodded.

Itachi gently crouched down on one knee, cupping Sakura's wrist. Swift fingers unraveled the bandage that was wound around her palm, until the glistening, still red cut was visible. Itachi examined it, pursing his lips together, Sasuke at his side - staring at it with a mild amount of curiosity.

"Well cleaned." Itachi commented. "That looks like it's going to heal up in no time." Carefully, he wrapped the bandages back around. "Who did that? Your mother?"

"M-Me." Sakura said, rather shyly.

"A regular little Tsunade, aren't you?" Itachi said.

Sakura blinked. "Who…?" she asked.

"The sannin, Tsunade." Sasuke interjected. "The best medical ninja in the world." He rolled his eyes, folding his arms across his chest.

Itachi smiled, ruffling Sasuke's hair affectionately. "How about you two get to training, hmm?" he said.

"Yes, nii-san." Sasuke said. "Come on, Sakura." he said.

Her fingers felt rather shaky, but she managed to pull out the small pouch of metal shuriken that she had jammed into one of her pockets. Sasuke had one of his own, and together, the two of them stood in front of the training dummy.

Sasuke didn't do anything, and so Sakura assumed that he was waiting for her to go first. She swallowed. Fumbling with the latch of the pouch, she took out a single shuriken, slipping it into her hands and-

"Wait." Sasuke said, and she stopped. "You're doing it wrong." he told her. Again, he was taking her hand without asking, though it was to carefully rearrange her fingers around the shuriken. "No wonder you cut yourself." he said with a snort, and she flushed in mild embarrassment.

"Th- thanks." Sakura managed to say, though she had another word on the tip of her tongue. 'Doing it wrong!' another voice seemed to huff inside of her. 'I'll show him!'

Of course, when she threw the shuriken and managed to hit the target board dead center for the first time ever in her relatively brief life, Sakura had to admit that Sasuke probably had a point - she had been doing it wrong. That didn't give him an excuse to be so condescending about it, though! She was a civilian, and learning proper grips from textbooks and training manuals was a huge pain, totally harder than having a brother like Uchiha Itachi to teach you!

But… he had gone out of his way to teach her the proper way…

"Thanks." she said once again, earnestly this time, a small smile curling her lips.

"Mmm hmm." Sasuke hummed, grasping three shuriken in one of his hands. He sent them flying - and they formed a near perfect triangle in the wood, surrounding the shuriken that Sakura had thrown. "It's all about confidence." Sasuke murmured. "You aren't going to hit anything if you don't think that you can hit it."

Confidence.

'Confidence.' Sakura thought, her brow knitted ever so slightly.

"Okay…" she murmured, withdrawing another shuriken. "Con-fid-ence." Sakura said, sounding it out, her lips wrapping around each syllable. "Alright…" She bent her legs slightly, drawing her hand back, blowing a lock of pink hair out of her eye. Her emerald eyes squinted.

'I can do it! I can do it!' she chanted.

She let the shuriken fly, and once again, it hit the bullseye - so close to the shuriken that she had thrown before that they were nearly touching.

Sakura grinned.

"There we go." Itachi said, a small smile on his lips. Sakura and Sasuke turned towards him. "A few more months of practice, and you'll be able to hit those even while you're on the move." he said. "She's got a lot of potential, otouto." Itachi continued, flashing Sasuke a wink. "I'd watch out for her."

Sakura flushed, while Sasuke merely said- "Yeah, yeah, nii-san." Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Regardless of her embarrassment… Sakura couldn't help the grin that curled her lips. She'd known that Sasuke wasn't as much of a jerk as the impression someone might get from first meeting him. But… from what had seen of his family so far - solely in the form of Itachi and the lunches Sasuke's mother made for him to take to the academy - they didn't seem all that bad.

Right?


Naruto smoothed himself out against the grass, a cheeky grin on his face.

It was a struggle for him to remain silent - bouncy and lively as he was - but Naruto managed, his blue eyes glinting mischievously. Despite the orange shirt he was wearing, and his shockingly blonde hair, he was concealed rather well in a bush - and through the thicket of green leaves and thin, brown branches, he could see quite clearly into the clearing in front of him.

The Sandaime stood there, clad in full battle gear, a joyous look on the aged man's wrinkled face.

They weren't fighting, oh heavens no, even in his sixties Hiruzen would be able to defeat Naruto with both of his hands tied behind his back - rather they were playing a game of good old fashioned hide and seek.

Hiruzen scanned the clearing with a keen eye, his distinctive sashes swishing behind him in the wind. For an hour, once a month, he allowed himself to spend time with the boy that he regarded almost like a grandson. Sometimes, they read - something, they made a trip to Ichiraku's… but this time in particular, Naruto had eagerly insisted that they play a few games.

It was a good stress reliever for Hiruzen. He had long since gotten used to the strict duties of being the Hokage, but still… a little time to unwind was always nice. And if there was one way to forget the constant problems that Konoha had to deal with - it was Uzumaki Naruto… whose vibrancy and genuine innocence could warm anyone's heart. Anyone who was willing to listen, at least.

Of course, Hiruzen knew exactly where Naruto was, from the instant he'd opened his eyes. The boy wasn't visible, but his chakra signature, so energetic and bright, yet rippling with undertones of the Kyuubi's dark taint, was so potent that Hiruzen could likely sense it anywhere within a mile of him without even blinking. Add that to the fact that Hiruzen was very familiar with it, and… well, the game of hide and seek had gotten rather one sided.

Still, he liked to let the boy have his fun. Hiruzen trekked across the clearing, intentionally searching a bush that was far off from Naruto's actual location - the aged man's lips twitching as Naruto's poorly concealed giggles reached his ears. "Naruto!" Hiruzen called, his voice teasing. "Where are you?"

Naruto had to stuff a fist in his mouth to hold in his laughter. 'Stupid old man!' he thought, grinning around said fist. 'There's no way he'll be able to find me!"

He kept his blue eyes focused on Hiruzen, as the elderly Hokage went across the clearing again and again, checking through the pushes, looking up at the canopy of leaves as if expecting Naruto to be perched on a tree up there. His black armor gleamed in the sunlight, Hiruzen occasionally reaching up to scratch his beard.

Soon, however, Hiruzen wandered out of Naruto's line of sight, disappearing behind a tree. Bright blue eyes narrowed, but Naruto didn't dare move, not wanting to snap a twig or rustle the bush, which would most certainly give away his position to the man he so affectionately called 'Sandaime-jiichan'.

'Where is he?' Naruto thought after a moment, panicking slightly as Hiruzen hadn't reappeared in a minute or so. He was about twenty seconds away from simply getting up to make sure everything was alright, before…

"Boo."

Naruto jumped about a meter in the air, scrambling out of the bushes and into the grass. "Sandaime-jiichan!" he whined, looking at the man - who had crept up behind him without Naruto noticing, and who was now chuckling merrily. "You didn't have to scare me like that!"

Hiruzen laughed. "I may be old, but you still have a long way to go before you can hide from a Kage, Naruto." he said softly. He stretched his thin and bony arms, patting his shoulder guards with an affectionate look on his face. "It's about time we head back to the village."

"Alright!" Naruto said. Being the affection-hungry little squirt that he was, he pushed himself to his feet, darted to Hiruzen's side and seized his hand - glancing up at the Sandaime as if simply daring him to pull his arm away. Naruto grinned. "Let's go, Sandaime-jiichan!" he chirped.

He smiled kindly. And with his distinctive twin sashes still swinging behind him, Hiruzen quietly lead Naruto out of the clearing. The walk wasn't all that long but it was peaceful, even Naruto quieting down for a little while so that the two could simply bask in the relaxing silence.

"Have things at the academy been alright, Naruto?" Hiruzen asked, breaking the silence which had consisted of only their soft footsteps and the distant sounds of nature for about five minutes.

Naruto pursed his lips together. "They've been… better." he said. "I mean, I guess I don't hate it."

"But you don't like it either." Hiruzen observed.

Naruto shrugged. "It's kind of boring… 'specially when we're doing those stupid history lessons." he said testily. "Iruka-sensei just drones on and on, and I just get so tired… I mean, who even cares about the exact date when the Second Shinobi World War began?"

"History isn't something you can just ignore, Naruto." Hiruzen said kindly. "Though… I do empathize with you. Back in the day, with Hashirama-sensei and Tobirama-sensei… I can admit that I fell asleep a fair number of times, especially when they started to really get into the history of the Senju clan."

Naruto stuck out his tongue. "History is just dumb!" he said. "I mean, no one is even gonna care who the other Hokage were when I become Hokage. They'll just like-" He adopted a very high pitched whine. "'Naruto-sama! Oh, you're so awesome, how can we take care of your every need and-'"

"That's enough." Hiruzen said chuckling. "I'm a little offended… I'd have hoped you would at least mention me… or the Yondaime."

"You'll get mentions." Naruto said fervently. "But the real attention is gonna be on me, the Godaime Hokage Uzumaki Naruto!" He puffed out his chest proudly.

Hiruzen smiled. "Naruto… do you mind if I asked you something?" he said.

Naruto blinked. "Go ahead, Sandaime-jiichan! 'slong as it isn't something boring, I'm all ears!"

"I suppose you could consider it boring… depending on your point of view." Hiruzen admitted. "But, I think I'd like your opinion on it." He took a breath. "There's a group of people in the village that have been discriminated-"

"What's that?" Naruto chirped.

"They… erm… they haven't been treated very kindly by Konoha and its people." Hiruzen said. "Like I said, they've been discriminated against… for a very, very long time."

"Why have they been… uh… de-scirminated against?" Naruto asked, blinking those big blue eyes of his up at Hiruzen.

"It's hard to say." Hiruzen murmured. "They've never been very social people… but there's plenty of other groups that are the same way. The best reason I can think of is… well, this particular groups were quite at odds with my predecessors… namely, the Nidaime and the Shodai. I think that sort of… mutual resentment has carried over to even the present day."

"So… just treat them a little more nicely!" Naruto said. "That's all you gotta do, right?"

"If only things were that simple." Hiruzen said. "But… unfortunately, not everyone wants to treat them with a little more kindness, Naruto. The world just doesn't work that way, I'm afraid." He let out a long, lingering sigh. "Even as Hokage, this kind of thing isn't something I can just wave my hand and make disappear. Both sides - even my colleagues, I'm afraid, seem to want nothing else but to escalate things further. And soon… I fear that it'll go too far, down a path Konoha cannot afford to take."

Naruto frowned. He paused, and Hiruzen stopped as well, the blonde seeing the aged look on Hiruzen's face. Naruto leaned forward, wrapping his 'grandpa' in a big hug, his tiny arms wrapped around Hiruzen's stomach. "Don't worry, Sandaime-jiichan." Naruto said fervently. "I know you can fix anything!"

Hiruzen allowed something resembling a smile to curl his lips. "I hope so, Naruto." he said, ruffling the blonde's hair affectionately. "I hope so."


Sasuke couldn't help but heave a sigh, his dark eyes focused on the chalkboard in front of him. Every now and then, he would scribble a note down on the paper in front of him, as Iruka directed the class to do exactly that.

He blinked.

"Sasuke?" Iruka was saying. "Can you-"

"Yeah," Sasuke said. "I can hear you."

"Excellent." Iruka said, smiling kindly, the scar on his nose crinkling. "Could you please answer the question on the board for the class, then?"

He blinked several more times… the words on the chalkboard seeming out of focus for a moment. Then, almost robotically, he answered the question. "The answer is the Shodai and the Sandaime. Both of them are referred to as a God of Shinobi."

"Precisely!" Iruka chirped, directing his gaze to the rest of the class.

Whatever else he said faded into the background for Sasuke. His mind was elsewhere, and even as he copied the notes, and listened patiently to the chunin teacher's exceedingly long lecture, Sasuke knew that he wasn't absorbing any of it.

A quiz was passed around about twenty minutes later. Ten questions in all, each of them exceedingly easy. His pencil flew across the paper, smooth as silk, Sasuke skillfully answering the questions. Maybe his inattention would result in one or two missed answers, but so long as he got a passing grade, Sasuke couldn't really care.

This was the kind of quiz that was only going to be collected when everyone was done with it. And considering Sasuke was one of, if not the first done… well, he had quite a lot of time to kill. He was never much of a… doodler, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and his bored mind was stuck between two things - cloud watching, or doodling.

Doodling won out.

He blinked.

Sasuke had chosen to simply flip the quiz paper over, and scribble on the back of it.

Some kids might cover the entire paper in nonsensical drawings - maybe pictures of kunai, or of jutsu that were copied straight from the textbooks.

Ten minutes had passed in what seemed to be a millisecond. He could see Iruka, out of the corner of his eye, coming and collecting papers.

One image lay in the center of his paper.

A three-pointed shuriken.

Sasuke swallowed, and yet, the lump that had formed in his throat refused to cease and desist.

"Tou-san… is there a second form of the sharingan?'"

'There is, Sasuke; but it is a cursed power, one that requires one of the most heinous acts imaginable to achieve. I won't tell you any more about it, for your safety… but, the only Uchihas to ever obtain this second form of the sharingan ended up as some of the most infamous names in shinobi history."

"Like who, tou-san?"

"Uchiha Madara."

A pause.

"The one who…?"

"There's no doubt that he wielded this power." Fugaku cut him off curtly. "And that he used it to nearly killed the Shodai Hokage on numerous occasions… some say that it drove him mad, others say that it gave him a power that an Uchiha without it cannot imagine."

"What do you say, tou-san?"

"... an Uchiha that wields this cursed power… it's a thought that I can scarcely imagine, Sasuke. Anybody who has this second form of the sharingan… likely has become a shadow of his former self."

"Tou-san, what-"

"I will not tell you any more, Sasuke. Forget that this conversation ever happened. Understand?"

A bowed head. "Yes, tou-san."

He and his father's conversation played in his head.

Sasuke grit his teeth. And with a thousand times more venom than necessary, he erased the three-pointed shuriken from the back of his paper, pressing the quiz into Iruka's hand the second the chunin came around.

He felt his breathing quicken.

'Nii-san.' Sasuke thought. 'What have you done?'


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The plot is starting to really begin now. Things are going to get very interesting very fast. Stay tuned!