A/N: Apparently "my shit is ass no reviews". To the anonymous person that wrote that, no one is forcing you to read my stuff. If you don't like my story then just exit the page. To Shadow of God, thanks for the review and insight. I'm actually planning on straying quite a bit from the canon at least in regards to Haku. Haku having a sibling, especially one like Draco/Misaki who is an adult in a kid's body, is going to change some things.


Chapter 3: Ignorance is Bliss

The next ten months after Haku's birth passed by quickly. Haku was an adorable infant. With his chubby cheeks and warm brown eyes, he made Misaki melt into a pile of goo every time she saw him. She had never felt this kind of affection for anyone but her parents before.

The first couple of months, it was hard for Misaki to adjust to having Haku in the house. Not because she disliked Haku or because she was jealous but because Misaki realized after the first week that she was a light sleeper.

No matter how fast her parents woke up and tended to Haku, his nursery was right next to her room so his cries usually woke Misaki out of her sleep. Thankfully along with being a light sleeper, Misaki discovers that she was able to fall right back to sleep quite easily as well.

One day as she was playing peek-a-boo with Haku in the kitchen while her mother put away the dishes, she heard her father make a noise of surprise. Knowing that her father and his friend, Takeru, were discussing current events as they always do on Wednesday evenings, Misaki was curious as to what they're discussing. Unable to ignore her curiosity, she placed Haku back into his playpen and listened by the door only to be horrified by what she heard.

The past fourteen carefree months faded away in an instant and Misaki's mind was thrown back to the day that she had learned about having a kekkei genkai. Her father and Takeru were discussing an attack that happened in a small fishing village on the island northeast of the island their village was on. The villagers had discovered that a family of kekkei genkai users resided among them and lynched them. She strained to hear what her father's opinion was on the matter only to back pedal as she heard footsteps approaching the kitchen.

"Tonami, I'm going to head over to Takeru's house for a bit. I'll be back in a couple hours." Yoshirou popped into the kitchen, kissed Tonomi on the check, and patted Misaki gently on the head before leaving.

Peering through the kitchen window, Misaki saw that her father and Takeru exited the house and walked towards the direction of Takeru's house. Once she could longer see their figures in the distance, Misaki steeled herself and turned towards her mother.

"Kaa-chan, I know that you said there is no need for me to learn shinobi skills but I think I need to learn. I promise not to use the thing we spoke about, but for your safety, my safety, and haku's I want to try. Tou-chan and Takeru-oji were talking about how a family of kekkei genkai users in a village on Hozo Island were discovered and lynched. Hopefully, I will never have to use those skills to try to protect any of us, but it is better to be safe than sorry. If I do know some shinobi skills, I will at least have a shot at protecting us when I'm older. Please kaa-chan, teach me!"

Looking at her daughter's determined sky-blue eyes and listening to her heartfelt pleas moved Tonomi as they reminded her of the last time she had seen her beloved father. His steely sky-blue eyes softening as he hugged her for the last time before urging her to run as fast as she could. It reminded her of seeing the hope that she would survive in his eyes before he set his shoulders and turned around to confront the people pursuing them.

He would have loved how smart and spirited Misaki was. Her father had taken great joy in teaching her and would have been overjoyed to teach his granddaughter the shinobi arts. Misaki deserved the best possible shot at life. She could not deny her baby the chance to learn how to protect herself. Closing her eyes to ward off the onset of tears, Tonomi felt her resolve crumble and gave a watery nod.

"You remind me so much of your grandfather and not just his eyes. He would have loved you and he would be proud of you wanting to protect our family. I promise I will teach you what I know. Just promise me; no… swear to me that you won't use that thing. Using it will bring us nothing but pain." Seeing her daughter nod in acquiescence to her requirement loosened the knot that had been forming in her stomach since Misaki first broached the subject.

As Tonomi watched Misaki resume playing peek-a-boo with Haku, she wondered wistfully when Misaki grew to be so mature. It seemed like it was only yesterday that her baby was barely learning to talk and now she was going to teach her baby the shinobi arts.

Misaki was just a young girl and Tonomi knew that Misaki didn't quite understand the full implications of being a shinobi yet. Her heart was in the right place, but the path of a ninja was usually violence-filled and troubled.

Tonomi's heart ached at the thought of either of her precious babies becoming jaded full-fledged ninjas, but her mind acknowledged the fact that Misaki was right. With the current situation in Mizu, she couldn't just hope that the love and peace her family was currently enjoying would last forever. But as she watched Haku cheerfully giggle at Misaki's antics, she couldn't help but wish that it did.

It wasn't until after Misaki's fourth birthday passed and a few days after Haku's first birthday passed that Tonomi made good on her promise. Instead of letting Misaki go off to play after her daily lesson, Tonomi sat her down and explained, "Chakra is created when two forms of energy are molded together. The two types of energy are physical energy that can be increased through training and exercise and mental energy that can be increased through studying, mediation, and experience. You're too young to work on strengthening your physical energy, so I'm going to teach you chakra control. The first thing you need to do Misaki-chan is learn to meditate so you can get a feel on your chakra. To meditate, you need to clear your mind of all thoughts and focus inward. Don't be disheartened if you don't find your chakra your first try. Most people don't start learning chakra control until they're at least five or six."

Pulling out a book to read as she expected Misaki to take a few attempts to find her chakra if she managed to find it at all, Tonomi dropped her book in surprise when minutes later Misaki chirped out that she had found her chakra. Tonomi bit her lower lip as she processed the news and picked her book off of the ground.

She had always known that her daughter was intelligent, the age and speed at which she had learned to read and talk was a testimony of that. She didn't know whether to be elated or dismayed by the fact that it seemed like Misaki was going to be equally talented at learning how to use chakra. On one hand, she was happy that Misaki was gifted quite possibly even a prodigy but she had been secretly hoping that Misaki would be unable to find her chakra so that she could delay teaching Misaki the shinobi arts for a little while longer.

Unbeknownst to Tonomi, her daughter was an expert at meditation from years of learning occlumency in her past life and has been meditating since her rebirth to help compartmentalize her past memories and work through her depression.

"Did I do something wrong? Are you feeling alright kaa-chan?" Misaki questioned after seeing the conflicting emotions on her mother's face.

"You did nothing wrong and I'm fine. You did well, I just wasn't expecting you to grasp the concept so fast Misaki-chan. It just means that it is time to move onto the next step, chakra control." Tonomi smiled wanly at Misaki and placed a small square of paper onto her open palm. "Focus on using a thin layer of chakra to stick the paper to your hand."

Determined to succeed, Misaki used a small amount of her chakra to try sticking the paper to her hand only to be left staring with her mouth agape as the paper flew off of her hand at a startling speed. Tonomi smiled widely at Misaki's confusion before telling her to use less chakra.

Despite her mother's instructions, Misaki's paper square continued to fly off of her hand each attempt. After an hour of her mother's gentle giggles and paper flying everywhere, Misaki forced herself to come to terms with the fact that her control was abysmal.

Seeing the forlorn look on her daughter's face, Tonomi stopped giggling and explained, "Don't be sad that you weren't able to succeed on your first try Misaki-chan. From what my father told me, most people aren't able to keep the paper stuck to their hands the first several times. When I first was learning chakra control, I wasn't able to get the paper to stick to my hand for a long time. My problem was lack of chakra whereas your problem seems to be the opposite. It's strange though… usually girls have better control and less chakra and boys vice versa. The only way to get better is not get frustrated and continue practicing."

So Misaki practiced… and practiced… and practiced some more. It ended up taking Misaki the next year to get her chakra control to the point where she could consistently keep the paper stuck to her hand and even then, if her concentration was broken, then the paper would rocket off of her hand.

Being able to keep one aspect of her past life, her magic, even if it was in a different form was something Misaki wouldn't trade for the world. However, trying to utilize a tiny trickle of said chakra out of a massive river wasn't something she'd wish upon anyone.

By the time she was able to consistently do the exercise even with interruptions, Haku had transformed from the angry I'm-teething-and-you-must-all-feel-my-wrath toddler back to the sweetheart he had been before he started to teethe. She sympathized with Haku as her own teething experience had been terrible but sympathy didn't mean she wanted to be a human-shaped chew toy, so she was glad when he finally stops teething.

Luckily for her parents, they had discovered the old freeze some kind of fruit and let your teething toddler chew on it trick halfway through when Misaki's teeth were starting to grow in so they were able to utilize that as soon as Haku's teeth began growing in.

He was now at the stage where he was able to express himself through mostly complete sentences and his curiosity had blossomed so Misaki's days were filled with her adorable chubby-cheeked and bright-eyed brother following her around asking what certain objects were and attempting to mimic her.

With Misaki's helping her mother out with Haku, Tonomi had a lot more free time than when Misaki was a toddler. Tonomi used some of that time to teach Misaki the twelve hand seals, common information about the five main elemental countries, and started her on physical training exercises to increase her speed and endurance.

Misaki had already realized that with kekkei genkais and chakra that this world was vastly different from her old world, but seeing the map of the world was still jarring. It was during one of these lessons about the five main elemental countries that Misaki learned more about her maternal grandfather.

Tonomi had sporadically mentioned her grandfather when she trained Misaki in the shinobi arts but the sadness present in her eyes when she mentioned him kept Misaki from trying to learn more about her grandfather. So it was a surprise when after finishing up the lesson on the country closest to Mizu, that her mother motioned for her to sit down again.

"I haven't thought about that country in the longest time. When the prejudice towards kekkei genkai users started to grow, fearing the worst, my father decided that we should try to head to a more peaceful nation. I was a defenseless child and on the off chance that they did decide to start persecuting those with kekkei genkai, my father wanted us to be safe. We had left the main island where Kirigakure is and were on our way out of Mizu heading towards fire country." Tonomi reminisced as she laid her hand wistfully on the symbol for fire on the map.

"If you and oji-san were leaving, how come you stayed in Mizu?" Misaki asked quietly.

"Simple, we got caught as we were trying to leave. He was a talented Kiri shinobi and they don't take kindly to deserters. As for why I stayed in Mizu … back then and even now there are a lot of boats that travelled between the islands but most of the boats that leave for the mainland take off from the west most island, Shikogawa or the main island where Kirigakure is." Here her mother paused to point out the aforementioned islands on the map. "The journey from Kirigakure to Fire Country is a lot more expensive and takes much longer than going to Taku, Shikogawa, and then Fire Country. After my father had been caught, I had taken a boat to the island we currently live on, Taku, with the intent on going to Shikogawa when I fell ill. Your father's parents found me delirious and passed out on the docks as they were returning home from a trip. They nursed me back to health and offered me a home. At first, I stayed only intending on repaying their kindness before moving on, but before I knew it I had made a home on Taku and then fallen in love with your father. We got married and then you know the rest of this story."

After hearing her mother's tragic past, Misaki understood why her mother had reacted so extremely to her wish to become a ninja and her usage of her kekkei genkai. If she were in her mother's shoes, she wouldn't want her daughter to become a ninja of the village that had hunted down her father.

Over the next year and a half, Misaki learned several more beginner chakra control exercises and began to learn the tree walking exercise. Knowing chakra control wasn't her strong suit, Misaki learned by trying to get her foot to stick to the side of the tree before even attempting to walk up the tree. She hadn't wanted to fall on her ass multiple times. So perhaps a more accurate name would be tree stomping exercise not tree walking exercise.

Misaki could honestly say that this was the happiest she had been in both lives. She had loving parents, an adorable brother, and no problems or stress. Her mornings were filled with training with her mother and playing with Haku. After Haku's and her short lesson with Tonomi in the afternoon, Haku and Misaki explored the forest, played in the snow, or did whatever struck their fancy.

In the evenings when her father got home from work, they played board games together or on nights where it was warm enough, they sat out on the porch to watch the sunset and the stars begin to appear in the night sky. While they didn't travel much, their parents took Haku and Misaki on trips to visit nearby islands or towns once or twice a year, they went camping a few times a year when the weather permits, and they attended the nearby New Year's Festival together annually. It was a simple life but as Misaki had found, sometimes the simplest things brought people the greatest joy.

One day shortly after her seventh birthday and a few weeks before Haku's birthday, Misaki took her mother aside as Haku napped in the warm afternoon sunshine on the front porch. "Kaa-chan, Haku's almost four… Shouldn't we warn him or tell him about our kekkei genkai? I discovered it way before I turned four."

"True, but you've always been very gifted mi-chan. Most people in our clan did not discover theirs until they were six and some didn't discover it until they were eight. Maybe Haku has been born without it. I don't want to needlessly worry him. I will tell him when he's older." Her mother responded as she looked fondly at Haku sleeping on the porch.

"But-"Misaki tried explaining her reasoning but her mother cut her off.

"No buts young lady. I know you are looking out for Haku but I don't want you telling him. He's too young; he's not as mature as you were at his age. I don't want him this weighing him down. It is heaven burden to bear. Promise me you will not tell him. Everything will be fine." Tonomi sternly looked her daughter in the eye until Misaki acquiesced.

Misaki understood wanting to preserve Haku's innocence for as long as possible as she felt the same way. She wanted to believe that everything would be fine like her mother said but she couldn't help but feel that this was the wrong decision. From her life experiences, knowledge was power and while ignorance could be bliss, it could also have terrible consequences.

But according to Tonomi, most people did not discover their kekkei genkai until much later so… maybe Haku didn't need to know until he was older; Misaki knew that she was a unique case because she had her previous life's magic.

On the morning of his fourth birthday, Haku woke up and upon seeing his sister was still asleep, he went to wake her up. He quietly opened her bedroom door and jumped on her bed with a mischievous smile on his face. "Nee-channn wake up! It's my birthday today!" Misaki groaned and groggily responded, "Okay, okay I'm up." Knowing that his sister wouldn't go back to sleep, especially on his birthday, Haku raced to his parents room and prepared to do the same to them when he realized it was empty.

Hearing his father's chuckles, Haku turned around. "Maa, you were about to try and wake us up in the same manner you woke your sister up, huh? Your mother and I have already been awake for a bit setting up for your birthday." His father said with an amused smile. Grinning sheepishly, Haku nodded.

Hearing Hikari-oba's voice coming from the living room, Haku shuffled to the living room. "Hikari-oba, I'm so glad you could make it to my birthday. I wasn't sure if you'd come since kaa-chan said you hadn't been feeling well." Hikari rubbed her protruding belly as smiled down at Haku, "Aa, I was feeling a little ill thanks to this little guy here but I'm fine now. I wouldn't miss your birthday for the world."

"I can't wait for your baby to be born! I'll have another playmate then." Haku smiled at the thought.

"Well he's not going to be born for a while but at least in the meantime you have Misaki-chan, ne?"

"Yeah, Misaki-nee is fun to play with. Nee-chan is the best!" Haku said with a content smile on his face.

Hikari smiled at Haku's comment before responding, "I'm sure Misaki-chan would be happy to hear that. Anyways birthday boy, I don't want to monopolize your time; you should also greet your other guests."

As Haku went and greeted the other guests, Yoshirou entered the living room and stood next to Hikari. "He's so big now; it's hard to believe that already four years have passed since he was born. It seems like it was only yesterday that he was speaking his first words and learning how to walk."

"True, I bet you were ecstatic that his first word was tou-chan. I can still remember your expression from when Misaki-chan first said kaa-chan and then fell asleep as you were trying to get her to say tou-chan." Hikari teased with a cheeky grin on her face.

"I swear she looked at me and then decided to sleep. Misaki was a spirited one even as a baby. Man, the facial expressions she made when we first started feeding her baby food were hilarious. I didn't even know a baby could make expressions like that until we had her."

Towards the end of the party, Tonomi brought out Haku's favorite cake, a chocolate cake with chocolate chips covered in chocolate frosting, with four candles on top of it. As his family friends and family sung happy birthday, Haku looked around at the cheerful smiling faces of his loved ones surrounding him and he couldn't be happier. Closing his eyes and blowing out his candles, he wished that things would always be this way.

On a cold January afternoon two weeks after Haku's birthday, Misaki was reading a book underneath her favorite tree after spending the morning helping her mom make mochi and onigiri as Haku made a snow fort a few feet away when her mother called her into the house. When Misaki entered the house, Tonomi asked her to bring some mochi and a new batch of herbal tea that helped with morning sickness to Hikari as Hikari had mentioned she was running low the other day. Nodding, Misaki picked up the packages of wrapped mochi and herbal tea and set out for Hikari-oba's house.

As Misaki was making her way towards Hikari's house, Haku began to get bored of making a snow fort. With Misaki-nee gone, he slowly trudged along the frozen river trying to find something interesting to do. Looking at the frozen river, he wished that spring time would come faster so he'd be able to play in the water. As he decided to head inside, he saw the most miraculous thing.

There was a stream of water floating in the air near him. Curious, he moves his hand to the side and was delighted when the water follows his movement. His face lit up with a grin as he settled down near the bank, began making various hand movements, and watched in amazement as the water continues to follow his movements.

Fifteen minutes after sending Misaki to Hikari's house, Tonomi went outside to call Haku inside for a snack of mochi and hot cocoa. As she got closer to Haku, Tonomi blanched at the sight of him next to floating water in the air. Horrified, Tonomi rushed towards Haku and placed a hand on his shoulder which startled him into dropping the water.

"Do not ever do that again. It could have been very dangerous if anyone saw you. Come inside and I will explain." Tonomi harshly admonished Haku before leading him inside. Seeing that no one had seen his display, the terror that had struck her at the sight of him using his kekkei genkai began to recede. Unbeknownst to them as they relaxed and talked inside the comfort of their home, someone had seen Haku's display.

After dropping off the mochi and herbal tea to Hikari, Misaki began to make her way home munching on the snacks Hikari had given her. As she was walking home, she wondered if Haku had finished the snow fort yet. If he hadn't, she would help him make it into the best snow fort ever. With the cold temperatures in February, they would probably be able to play it in for a few days.

As she neared her house, she was surprised to see a group of six people in the yard. To her knowledge, her parents' weren't planning on having guests over. When she got closer to her house, she was even more surprised to hear those people yelling and waving farming tools.

Misaki felt a sinking sensation in her gut and she ran the rest of the way towards her house. As she made to pass by her neighbor to see what was going on, he gently grabbed her arm and stopped her from proceeding forward. "Misaki-chan, I think its best if you head to Hikari-san's house."

Catching a glimpse of what looks like Haku's winter coat, Misaki squirmed out of her neighbor's hold and darted forward. Her mother and Haku were standing with their backs towards the house and her mother was brandishing a mattock to keep the crowd a good distance away from them. Seeing her mother in distress, Misaki dashed past the villagers and made her way to her mother and Haku. "Kaa-chan, what's going on?"

"They discovered Haku-chan and I have kekkei genkais and they are trying to get rid of us, but I'm not letting them harm us without a fight. Protect Haku, I will handle them." Her mother replied grimly before turning to address the crowd. "I don't want to fight you guys. Let us leave peacefully and we can all go our separate ways with no bloodshed." As her mother addressed the crowd, Misaki saw an all too familiar face among the villagers, a face that caused her heart to twist in anguish and angry tears to form in her eyes.

Her father with tears streaming down his face was standing with the crowd of pitchfork and hoe wielding villagers. She yelled his name and tried to catch his eyes but he refused to even look in their direction. Disheartened, Misaki pulled Haku into her arms so his face was facing her chest and covered his ears. Slowly, Haku's small arms shakily rose to cover her ears.

Seeing no response other than the crowd inching forward, Tonomi realized that talking would not dissuade this mob and knowing that she needed to protect her babies, she readied herself. Thanks to the physical exercises she has done over the past two years with her daughter, Tonomi was able to hold her own at first.

She dispatched of three of the angry mob and received minimal scratches in return. When she was dispatching of the fourth one, one of the remaining men managed to wound her with his pitchfork. As Tonomi felt the warm blood gushing out of the long scratch on her abdomen, she wished she had practiced controlling her chakra when she had been teaching her daughter.

But she had been happy for such a long time that she hadn't really thought that anything bad would happen, so she hadn't. After a lifetime of neglect, she had little to no chakra control and her kekkei genkai was pretty much dormant.

When her daughter started to set Haku down and prepare to fight, Tonomi motioned for her to stay back. She didn't want her precious daughter to become a murderer at seven because of her choices and mistakes. She could handle these bigoted villagers.

As she faced down the last villager and her husband, Tonomi felt herself starting to slow a little from exhaustion. Tampering down on her panic, she forced herself to focus on the remaining people. The last villager slipped on a puddle of blood as he darts forward, giving Tonomi the advantage she needed to take him out. As she was pulling her weapon from him, she felt the sharp edge of a grubbing axe enter her back.

Dazed, Tonomi realized that Yoshirou had just stabbed her in the back. She knew that he had to be the one that told the villagers but somewhere deep in her heart, she had foolishly hoped once she had gotten rid of them that she would be able to convince him to let them leave. As she fell to the ground, she tried to get up but could only watch helplessly as Yoshirou picked up an abandoned weapon and advanced on Haku and Misaki.

"Please stop Yoshirou! They're your children too. I don't care what you do to me, just let them go. Give them a chance for a better life. They didn't choose to be born with this. Please, I'm begging you." Tonomi begged desperately with her hand stretched towards him. Yoshirou hesitated and turned towards Tonomi. For a second, hope surged in her chest before it was shattered by despair in his voice as he said, "So Misaki has it too… I'm sorry…"

Watching Yoshirou ignore her pleas to spare their lives, something snapped in Tonomi and she was overcome with fury. How dare he sound saddened by his actions. No one forced him to set the villagers on him. He made that choice. She never thought that her hus- no he didn't deserve that title she thought angrily- Yoshirou was kind of person would stab her in the back and then proceed to murder his two innocent children. As he approached them with a pitchfork in hand, her anger exploded as did her kekkei genkai. Yoshirou was simultaneously impaled by multiple ice spikes a few steps away from where he had turned away from Tonomi.

Misaki grabbed Haku's hand and rushed to their mother's side. Tonomi's wounds looked really bad. She probably would have been fine with just the initial wound on her stomach but… the gash on her back was very deep. Still, Misaki resolved to try. Through her tears, she asked, "kaa-chan, where are our medical supplies? Do we have gauze and-"

"Misaki-chan, my precious daughter, it's too late for me... My wounds would require much more than our village's doctor even if he would still be willing to try. Help me onto my back; I want to see your guys' faces. Haku-chan and Misaki-chan, I love you both very much. I'm so sorry that things turned out this way. Misaki-chan, I release you from what you swore to me when I began teaching you; use anything at your disposal to take care of your brother. Underneath my bed, there is a storage scroll with our life savings in it. Seal whatever else you can quickly pack into it and leave this accursed country. Haku-chan, listen to your sister and watch out for her as well." Seeing the guilt mixed in with the sadness as tears poured down Haku's face as he sobbed, she continued, "My beloved baby boy, I don't want you to ever think that any of this was your fault. The only people at fault here are your father, the villagers, and I. Promise me, you won't blame yourself. This is my final wish. Now go pack, the sooner you guys leave, the safer you will be."

"Kaa-chan, we're going to stay with you until…" Misaki drifted off unable to actually say the word die. Tonomi felt her heart warm at her daughter's sentiment but she shook her head. As much as she wanted them to stay with her until she died it wasn't what was best for them. Besides she wanted their last memory of her to be of her smiling not her dead body.

"Thank you baby, but my top priority is you and your brother getting to safety. Nothing else matters. Please, do it for me. Besides Haku will be here with me while you go pack. I will be here when you get back." Misaki wanted to stay with her mother too, but she also understood her logic. Not wanting to defy the last thing her mother would ever ask of her, Misaki agreed and rushed inside. She took two backpacks and threw several changes of clothes, canteens, money from their respective piggy banks, and extra shoes into it before attaching sleeping bags onto them. Running to her parents' room, she quickly grabbed the scroll from under the bed and began throwing pictures, more clothes, a tent; anything she thought could be of use into it before running back into the kitchen to grab the onigiri, mochi, and whatever other food items that would last.

Fully packing in less than ten minutes, Misaki rushed back outside praying that her mother was still there. Upon reaching her mother, Misaki let out a sigh of relief at seeing her talking with Haku. Haku was still crying but he's no longer sobbing inconsolably as he had been when she left.

Smiling, Tonomi told Haku and Misaki that she would always love them no matter what one last time and that she would watch over them. She squeezed each of their hands warmly before urging them to leave. As Haku and Misaki's diminutive figures walked further and further away until she could no longer see them, Tonomi finally released the tears she had been holding in and let them gush out.

She sobbed because she knew they will only have each other and it might not be enough in the harsh world out there. Because she will never see her children grow up, get married, and have children of their own. As she felt the last of her strength begin to seep out of her, Tonomi could only hope and pray that they found safety and happiness.