A/N: Okay. I know, I know. This update has taken such an ungodly amount of time and I'm super late and this definitely is not what I intended. College has just been really grinding my butt and now it's winter break so I've been traveling for the holidays but I'm here now! I will strive to do better with my updates. Also thank you to everyone for the wonderful feedback on Hoshito's coming out! You all have filled my heart with such warmth!

So without further adieu, I present to you the (long awaited for) next chapter :)

Chapter 4: Self-Awareness

It was days like these that I looked forward to the most.

Today was one of Inoichi's rare days off and he usually dedicated this time with Ino and I, except this time was a bit different. He took us into the backyard under the guise of 'getting some fresh air' but I'm pretty sure he had some ulterior motive behind it. I would have gone into overthinking mode, but as soon as I stepped outside all thoughts left my head.

It was the kind of day where it wasn't too hot nor too cold. The sun was out, shining it's warmth down onto the world, with only a few lazy-drifting clouds interrupting the golden performance. There was a slight breeze in the air, but it was refreshingly cool. Our backyard seemingly had no limit, as there was no fence or tell-tale sign of where our property ended. There were multiple trees littering the yard, along with various flower patches, and in the center was a particularly large tree. Each tree created its own oasis of shade but the center tree may as well have created an ocean. Even from the entrance of the back door to the house, I could tell the tree was huge. It's foliage had an impressive expanse and I had no doubt that it could fit a party of people comfortably in it's shade.

"Come along you two," Inoichi said, placing a hand on both mine and Ino's shoulders, "let's head for that large tree in the middle."

Ino skipped off ahead towards the tree, stopping along the way to pick up some brightly colored flowers. I smiled and shook my head in amusement - Ino and her flowers were definitely an inseparable pair. I slowed my walk, stepping to the left a little, and grabbed Inoichi's left hand to hold as we made our trek to the tree. Inoichi squeezed my hand, causing me to look up at him, "Do you like the new clothes I got you?"

I glanced down at the mentioned clothes. Inoichi had gotten Ino and I new clothes as a surprise and I actually really liked them. He had gotten me a strawberry red tank top, sunny yellow cotton shorts, and white sandals. Ino had gotten pretty much the same thing except she had different colors: soft green tank top, purple cotton shorts and grey sandals. It was the perfect sunny day outfit, as the shorts came down to the middle of my thighs so my whole outfit allowed a lot of my skin to soak in the fresh air.

"I love them, tou-chan!" I smiled brightly up at him, "And I know for a fact Ino likes the new clothes too. Right, Ino!" I shouted the last part out to my twin sister who didn't hesitate to respond with a loud, "Yeah!"

Inoichi chuckled, "Well, I'm glad you two think that way; I'm happy you two are happy."

We soon reached the tree, entering the oceanic amount of shade and sat down a little way away from the trunk of the tree. Ino had amassed a wide variety of brightly colored flowers and was looking at her collection with an appraising eye. Then she set her flowers down, selected two to hold and began tying the ends together. Inoichi lightly coughed, effectively gaining the both of our attentions. Underneath the canopy of leaves from the tree, it allowed hardly any sunlight to filter down onto us. So it was quite interesting to see Inoichi sitting in one of the only illuminated spots. The light was moving a little bit, shifting as the leaves blew in the wind. It illuminated his entire face and shifted to his chest then back again. His emerald eyes glittered in the sunlight.

"I bet the two of you are wondering why I brought you out here, so I will get straight to the point," Inoichi announced, "I brought the two of you out here to start your training."

My mouth dropped open into a wide smile.

We were going to start training!? My mind raced with the possibilities of what training would entail. I always knew that to survive in the Naruto world and to carry out the tasks I wanted to, I would have to become a shinobi. Training now, at such a young age, would give me the head start I needed to become a formidable opponent. Inoichi teaching us personally meant that he was going to teach us the clan's jutsus. It would definitely be a perk being able to attack someone mentally, where not a lot of people had a defense for.

"However, before we begin I would like to ask you both a question," Inoichi's voice turned serious, "do the both of you want to become shinobi?"

The question caught me a little off guard. I had always figured that being apart of a clan that was mostly made of up ninjas, that I would have to join in regardless of my opinion. I had accepted it because I was going to become a shinobi anyways, but the fact that I now knew I had a choice was…sweet.

"It's alright if you two don't want to become shinobi," Inoichi continued, "it is a very dangerous life after all. Ninjas aren't guaranteed a long life and it means constant danger. As a parent talking to his children, I would want you two to live a long life. So if you choose not to go down this path, then I will still train you to defend yourself physically but I cannot teach you any shinobi moves. Either way, I will not let either of you off into this world defenseless."

It was moments like these that I really got an insight into just how much Inoichi loved us and every time I found his love to be immeasurable. Inoichi truly loved Ino and I with his entire heart. He continuously put in effort to make sure we were happy and now he was ensuring that we would go off into the world safely. I was really lucky to have Inoichi as my father.

"Alternatively, becoming a ninja means good things as well," Inoichi stared deeply into each of our eyes, "it means that you will be able to grow into strong individuals. Becoming strong means you will be able to protect the ones you love as well as the village. There is pride when it comes to protecting your home village but there is an even greater pride in being able to protect the ones you hold most dear."

Images of the ones I loved most flashed by in my mind, as well as the images of people I had yet to meet but wanted to save. Yes, I needed to become strong enough to protect them.

To protect all of them.

"Now that you know a little bit of each choice," Inoichi's voice was soft yet firm, echoing in the clearing of our backyard, "what is your decision?"

"I would like to become a shinobi, tou-chan." Ino's voice startled me both in the tone and speed. Ino had spoken immediately with no uncertainty and there was an edge in her words that allowed no room to question her decision.

Inoichi nodded in answer and turned to look at me. I met his gaze unflinchingly, "I choose to become a shinobi, as well, tou-chan."

"I see," Inoichi hummed before a proud smile came upon his face, "I should have known the two of you would choose this. You both are too mischievous and cunning and I have no doubt that you will both be one of the best ninjas Konoha has ever seen."

I sat up straighter and puffed my chest out in pride. I looked over at Ino just in time to see her flip her hair back and smile proudly at Inoichi.

"However, you're not at that point yet," Inoichi chuckled at the way Ino and I deflated at his words, "but don't worry. I'll help you get to that point and the first step is to train."

"Now before I begin, I'm going to introduce you the fields a shinobi can specialize in," Inoichi held up a finger, the perfect go-to pose for lecturing, "A shinobi can specialize in virtually anything, but I won't be getting to that just yet. Today, I'll be starting off with the three main core categories: ninjutsu, taijutsu and genjutsu."

Oh yeah, I kind of forgot about those. I suppose it would be a good idea to start thinking about that kind of stuff, huh? Being a master of ninjutsu would no doubt make me a powerhouse on the battlefield. I would be able to take out large amount of enemies or overpowered bad guys with one jutsu. But the payoff would be expending large amounts of chakra and I'm not too sure about that aspect. I was pretty sure I had good chakra reserves, but I'm not sure I would have enough stamina as say Sasuke or even Naruto. Of course Naruto is a special case, but he's a prime example nonetheless. Maybe a lot of training would help? Taijutsu was appealing because there's nothing more satisfying than punching someone you didn't like in the face. Becoming a master in the category would definitely help me make a name for myself. Might Gai and Rock Lee were incredibly strong in this field and on second thought, maybe becoming a master wasn't for me. The kind of dedication and tenacity to keep up with physical beasts like them wasn't too appealing. I wasn't too keen on practicing every available free time I had. So, I guess all that's left is genjutsu. Genjutsu was heavily based on illusions and fooling your enemy from reality. The only master I knew of was Kurenai Yuhi and in the anime, there wasn't a lot of moments for her to showcase her talent. The only arguable person I saw enough genjutsu use out of would be Itachi Uchiha. From his use of genjutsu it seemed to me that the title should have gone to him rather than Kurenai. Albeit, Itachi had the help of his sharingan in his illusions but the talent was still there. Pulling off genjutsu was a move Itachi did often and allowed him to practically comatose his opponents or allow him a speedy getaway. Hmm, genjutsu was sounding pretty appealing actually.

"Taijutsu is something that does not require any chakra and is essentially hand-to-hand combat. This form is achieved by accessing one's mental and physical energies to optimize their physical capabilities; greatly enhancing one's stamina and strength." Inoichi explained, "Next is ninjutsu, which, depending on the jutsu cast, uses a certain amount of chakra. To accurately cast a jutsu, one must first be able to properly utilize chakra and know the correct hand seals. However, this is simply the first step to using ninjutsu but you will learn more about this on another day. The final category is genjutsu, which is a form that also uses chakra. This form allows the user to cast illusions on their opponent and can be versatile but is limited to the extent of the user's imagination."

Inoichi paused, letting this information sink in, before continuing, "Do not expect to be training any of these forms until you are deemed ready to do so. Chakra is very dangerous if not used correctly, so we will wait until you are both older before doing anything dealing with chakra."

"Then what are we going to be doing to train, tou-chan?" Ino asked, pulling on her newly made flower crown she had been working on during his speech.

"I'm glad you asked, Ino," Inoichi commented, "we will be meditating."

Wait, what?!

"Meditating, tou-chan?" I asked, a bit confused.

How was meditating going to help me do anything? I needed to learn at least how to wield a kunai or something! Hinata's birthday party was in less than a week and I needed some way to defend against the enemy ninja in case I had to. If I couldn't get help in time, then the only person capable of protecting Hinata would be me. Okay yeah, a three year old against a fully fledged adult isn't the most difficult of situations, but I was the last line of defense.

I would have to be enough.

"Meditation has many benefits, Hoshito, but it is especially important for shinobi," Inoichi kindly explained, "Meditation is encouraged for up-and-coming shinobi to practice before working with chakra techniques. This allows them to familiarize themselves with their own chakra and, as an extension, will better help them be able to utilize it in the future. Another way meditation can benefit shinobi, is as a coping mechanism. As a shinobi, you will find yourselves in situations where you will be forced to choose between the value of a life: the life of a loved one and the life of someone who threatens those you love."

I blinked, my mind finally processing his words that had taken a sudden dark turn. But this was the reality of the Naruto world and I guess I had to appreciate the fact that Inoichi wasn't sugar coating it for us.

Inoichi continued on, "As a shinobi, you may find yourself meditating to recenter yourself after a kill. The first kill is the hardest but over time you will find it becomes easier. I know this may sound like it will be impossible, but just remember it is all in the name of protecting those that you love. This motivation will enable you to do things you never imagined you would do before."

I had no illusions that I would be able to go in this career without killing, but it didn't sit well with me either way. I mean it was another human life we were talking about! I wasn't sure how I would be able to carry through with that action, but the way Inoichi put it...I would ultimately be acting to ensure that those I loved lived. So I should be just fine, right?

"Meditation is critical to those of the Yamanaka clan," Inoichi continued, changing the topic, "It allows us to strengthen our mental prowess as well as expand our mental capacities. The Yamanaka specializes in mind jutsus and attacks where most ninja have virtually little to no defense. However, our jutsus can be counteracted by strong will of another or even clever use of chakra. In order to increase the chance of success, we must prepare and ensure that our mental abilities will be able to overpower that of our enemies."

"Now that you know a little bit more on meditation, let's begin," Inoichi instructed, "First you must make sure to get into a comfortable position and relax your mind." I adjusted my legs to where I was sitting with my legs crossed and watched as Ino got into a similar sitting position.

"Close your eyes," Inoichi guided us, his voice as light as a feather, "and begin familiarizing yourselves with your mind."

I did as Inoichi told and closed my eyes. I'm not gonna lie, I didn't start meditating right away. I was too distracted by my other senses. The feel of the breeze as it ghosted across my exposed skin and weaved through my hair. I could hear the song of several birds somewhere in the distance, it was faint but serene nonetheless. The chakra of both Inoichi and Ino were calm, slowly circulating throughout their bodies. I allowed myself to enjoy the calm atmosphere for a couple seconds longer before finally handling the task at hand. My mind was already at ease so it felt flexible, almost? Inoichi had told us to focus on our minds, so if I just focused inwards…

My own chakra was the first thing that came into clarity. Sensing my own chakra didn't come to me like it did others: colors, images, emotions, etc. It came to me instead as a sensation, something I could only feel but not see. It was very similar to sticking your hand in a creek or river and feeling the current run by your hand. Yet it also felt very substantial as well, like if I took the action of grasping it, then it would solidify in my hand. Perhaps that is how shinobi utilized their chakra? Was it as easy as this? I mentally made a note to test it out later, when I wasn't under the watchful gaze of Inoichi.

The longer I focused on my chakra the more it began to reveal all of the aspects to it. The majority of what I felt was something really hot and something ice cool. These sensations circulated through my body like blood, but remained centered in my core, where my stomach was. The core of my being seemed to be the 'headquarters' of a lot of things. The warm and cool feelings swirled together in a circle, along with something...neutral? It was very hard to detect that it was even there. A memory of chakra information arose to the surface of my consciousness: physical, spiritual and natural energy. A normal shinobi would utilize the physical and spiritual sides of their chakra while the natural energy was something difficult to incorporate into ninja techniques. Naruto could attest to this fact, as he used natural energy to activate his sage mode. Since nature energy was so neutral in consistency, was that why it was so hard to use? Because not a lot of people could even grasp, let alone even feel it within themselves? Or wait, didn't you need to bring it in from the environment? Ugh, so many questions but at least I had something to go off of. The sensations of warmth, coolness, and subtle feelings actually represented physical, spiritual and nature energies. However the one thing that I couldn't figure out was this satin silky smooth feeling I felt within me as well. It wasn't as subtle as the nature energy but it wasn't as potent as the physical and spiritual energies. Perhaps I can ask Inoichi when we begin chakra training?

"Open your mind and delve into its depths," Inoichi spoke, his voice sounding as if he were some distance away from me. A bit odd, since I knew him to be not even more than an arm's length away. Oh well.

I mentally shrugged and prepared my mind, I guess it was about time I focused. I wasn't sure exactly what was supposed to happen but the effect was instantaneous. A tingling sensation spread across my head but the intensity was centered on my forehead. Uh, was this supposed to happen?

"Now it is time to waken your mind's eye," Inoichi spoke, his voice was a whisper to me now.

I felt a poke in the middle of my forehead and that is when things got even stranger. The tingling sensation started furiously vibrating at the spot where he poked me, before it began moving to encompass the rest of my body in tingling sensations. It felt something like when a body part fell asleep, but without the pain or uncomfortability. It was almost like every cell in my body was shaking in...anticipation? I'm not sure what it was but I had the strangest feeling that something big was going to happen. Then the tingling sensation began receding back towards the spot where Inoichi had poked me. It lingered there for a second before going inwards and that was when my mind came alive. I could suddenly see everything, but my eyes were still very much closed. Everything was in grayscale color: the grass, the trees, the sky - there was no longer anything in color. I had the faintest thought that I should be panicking, but this thought washed away when I turned to look at Ino.

Ino was glowing.

I don't mean that she was glowing in happiness or anything like that, she was literally glowing. Her physical body had turned into a dark silhouette, but her head had this purple light in the middle of it. It was a particularly large light, taking up her entire head, but it glowed most brightly where her forehead should be. Wait, could this light represent her mind?

"You mind's eye is awake now and we only have one more step to complete," Inoichi's voice made me instinctively turn towards him and it took everything I needed not to gasp out loud. Inoichi looked like a silhouette as well and the light gleaming from his mind was the same purple color, but that's where the similarities ended. Inoichi's silhouette was encased in another giant silhouette, who's purple mind light may as well have been compared to a mini sun. It was gargantuan and would have been completely terrifying if I hadn't known who he was.

Inoichi was my dad, my tou-chan, and I knew he would never harm me.

"The final step is to enter your own mind and familiarize yourself with your subconsciousness." Inoichi instructed. I watched as Inoichi's silhouette raised his arms and the giant did the same too. The arms extended out, touching the temples of my forehead and that was when I felt myself being sucked inwards.

Everything became dark, before everything became light again. I found myself in a huge field. The tall grass and wildflowers surrounding me were vibrant in color and moved in a non-existent breeze. I looked above me and my mouth dropped open, staring at it in wonder and confusion. The sky above me showed that it was night time and it was giving a particularly miraculous presentation too. Stars glittered, increasing in brightness before dulling and getting bright again. Streams of multi-colored aurora borealis soared through the sky, contrasting nicely with the night sky. The moon was the hugest I had ever seen it, glowing the same purple shade I saw from Ino and Inoichi. From where I stood I could see the details on each individual crater and see the little rocks floating on its surface. I turned my gaze around me, trying to take everything in and failing utterly. The expanse was so huge, I couldn't tell where it ended or began. Was this really my mind?

Slam!

The sound of a closing door resounded from behind me. I whirled around and suddenly came face-to-face with painted white wood. I took a couple steps back, realizing that a door had just appeared. It towered over me, so much so I couldn't even see the top of the door no matter how much I craned my neck. Where the heck did this door even come from? There was nothing around me before? I gazed around me once more, confirming that no new door (or other surprising things) was around me before reaching for the door knob. Guess there wasn't much else to do besides open this thing.

"You're finally here," a voice said, satisfied.

I let out a surprised yelp before turning around towards the voice. There standing a couple feet away from me, was a figure in a hooded white cloak. Okay, this person so wasn't there before! I couldn't tell anything from the figure other than the fact that the voice belonged to a young child. The hood entirely shaded their face and the cloak covered their clothes too, extending so long that it dragged across the floor.

"Who are you?!" I asked, squinting as if that would make me recognize who they were, "And what are you doing inside my head?"

"I'm you," the voice said, shrugging as if it should have been obvious.

Say what now? I stared at the person in front of me with an incredulous expression, "How can you be me...when I'm right here? Who are you really?"

"Like I said," the figure said, amusement in their voice, "I'm you." The figure raised their sleeve-covered hands and, in one swift motion, took off the cloak they were wearing. Before me was a young boy with long, stark white hair that was styled up in a ponytail. He had pitch black skin, matching exactly with the night sky above us. His eyes were heterochromatic, with one eye being vibrant yellow and the other being a royal purple. The next thing I noticed were his teeth, which were actually all fangs, each one razor sharp. The nails on his fingers were long, pointed, and white in color. His clothes consisted of a white yukata that was decorated with green leaves.

"I don't understand…" I said, utterly confused.

"Let me start from the beginning," the boy said, clasping his hands behind his back, "It was before you came to this world - you were in the middle of being processed for reincarnation. But before you could be reincarnated, there had to be some minor changes. Your old world had no chakra and in order to survive in this new world, you needed chakra to be placed within your body. I guess there was a miscalculation on how much chakra they put in your body, because here I am!"

"So you're the chakra within me?" I asked, trying really hard to wrap my head around all this and failing miserably.

"More specifically the yin aspect of chakra," the boy clarified, "you can think of me as a manifestation if you will. I'm just the excess chakra that was added into your body and since I'm the yin aspect, or spiritual energy, I oversee the imaginative areas of your brain."

"Woah hold on," I said putting a hand up, "so you're basically all in my head? Just imaginary?"

"Yes and no…" the boy said, thinking, "yes I am in your head but no I am not just imaginary. I am made of pure yin energy so objectively speaking, I am very real."

Great. This was absolutely great. I hadn't even been here more than ten minutes and my mind was already a hot mess. For crying out loud, there was an actual person living here inside my head!

"Technically I'm still you though," the boy said, as if having heard my thoughts, "I'm your chakra that resides within you and I just so happened to take form. If you're worried I'm going to try and take over or anything like that, you don't have anything to worry about. A body should have a balanced amount of yin and yang elements within them. If I were to take over then, your body would probably overload from too much yin energy."

"I wasn't worried about that until now thank you," I said sarcastically, "and that doesn't really comfort me either."

The boy shrugged and remained silent, waiting for me to make the next move.

I used to think that next to being reincarnated into the Naruto world that nothing would be able to surprise me as much as that had. But this whole chakra-excess-thing-turned-person really took second place.

"Okay so…" I rubbed my temples, in an effort to get this information to sink in better, "if you're here now...then how long have you been here exactly?"

"Since the moment you were born into this world."

I really should have seen this coming. He did say something about before being reincarnated I needed chakra in my body, right? So in order for me to have been put here then he would have needed to be in my head at that point. But wait…

"How come you didn't make yourself known back then?" I asked curiously, "Why wait until now to make your appearance?"

"If it was up to me, I would have introduced myself much later in the future," the boy answered, wiping imaginary dust off of his yukata, "but since Inoichi decided to do training today, our meeting was inevitable. As to why I didn't introduce myself sooner, I thought it would be better to do this face-to-face, so to say. I mean would you really have taken this news any better if I just talked to you as a floating voice inside your head?"

Okay, yeah he has a point. I probably would have thought I was going crazy and then have Inoichi go through my mind and just...yeah this was the best way to find out, all things considered.

"Do you have a name?" I asked, "I think it would be a little weird if we were both Hoshito. I think that'd be weird to call...myself that?"

Did that even make sense?

"Yes that did make sense," the boy said, the corners of his lips twitching upwards in amusement, "and you can simply call me Yin or any other variation of that. I don't really mind."

Wait, hold on - "Did you just read my mind?!"

The boy, Yin, rolled his eyes, "I literally live in your mind. Your thoughts are like background music to me."

Oh, right.

"Now that we have addressed all the basic stuff," Yin said clasping his hands, "let's get down to business. I'll have to give you a tour of your own mind and, not to mention, we have many things to discuss."

It was a strange sight to see Yin acting 'professional.' His physical appearance, although unique, still was that of a three year old boy. He really couldn't pull off that serious look - his baby-chipmunk cheeks wouldn't allow that. It was adorable in a very strange this-is-my-mind-self sort of way.

"Come along now," Yin said, walking briskly towards the huge white door, but not before I could see a light blue dusting his cheeks. He blushes blue!

"This is the entryway into your mind," Yin said, gesturing towards the door with the blush still remaining on his cheeks, "where we are now is kind of like a porch, if you will. And before we go in I would like you to know how much of a mess it was. However in the three years you've been here, I was able to successfully organize all the information you know from the Naruto world. I've separated it from the memories you gained in this life and have been showing you Naruto memories whenever you needed the information boost."

Wow, that was so very-

"No need to thank me," Yin said with a proud smile, showing off his sharp fangs, "just doing my job."

Yin opened the doors and I held my breath. I'm not sure what I was expecting: grand staircase spiraling to somewhere, bright lights to encase us, maybe even confetti to be thrown? But it was quite literally just a doorway that opened up to reveal a hallway.

"We can set up more...dramatic entrances later," Yin said, patting my head as if I were a child - which yeah I guess I was, "for today's purposes we need to get straight down to matters."

Yin led the way down the hall, heading to somewhere I wasn't too sure. The hallway seemed to only be a straight stretch, but I couldn't gage how long it was. There were many doorways along the sides of the hall, leading to who knows where?

"Each door leads to somewhere different within your brain," Yin said, answering my thoughts, "some are categorized by a certain year's memories, emotions, aspirations, etc. I keep all the memories from your past life separate, however."

His words sent a jolt down my back. All the memories of my past life separate...does that mean my memories of my past life are just locked away somewhere? "Do you happen to have any memories from my past life? Who I was before? My family?" The hollow feeling of loss surged within me once again, swirling around as if lost itself. It still didn't know who the feeling should go to because I wasn't able to remember who the feelings were for. But now, if I happen to remember…

"I'm sorry, Hoshito," Yin said, stopping his walk to look me with a sorrowful look, "your memories of your past life are entirely gone. The reincarnation worked at least that much. The only thing that remained intact from your past life is knowledge about this world and some menial things such as some mythology, forms of technology, and tunes of music."

I swallowed the hollow feelings and inhaled deeply. Right, of course, it was probably better that I didn't remember anything other than what I needed. This was better. All I needed to do was to focus on the present anyways.

My words did nothing to still the empty feeling crawling within me.

"Come on," Yin said gently, taking hold of my hand, "we're almost there anyways."

Yin led me a little ways away down the hallway until he stopped in front of a door, chestnut brown in color with gold engravings all over it. Yin opened the door and revealed a room that was enormous in expanse. Were all these rooms this big? The floor and ceiling were olive green in color and, from what I could see of the walls they were the same color as well. Inside the room was nothing but a floating keyboard.

"This is where you stored all my past memories?"

"I know it doesn't look like I did," Yin said, a bit sheepishly, and walked up to the floating keyboard, "but watch this."

Yin typed away at the keyboard and suddenly the room was filled with holographic monitors. Each screen played a clip of a scene from the Naruto world and each monitor stacked on top of one another, It extended all the way to the far end of the room.

Holy shit.

"Ah! That's the expression I was looking for," Yin said, "but don't worry I'm not gonna make you go through all of this. Right now we just need one specific scene."

Yin clicked a few more buttons and the holographic monitors popped away, leaving a sole monitor to stand above us. The monitor was paused, showing the image of a young Hinata Hyuuga knocked out, in the arms of an enemy ninja.

This was Hinata's kidnapping.

"Here, let's review over the main points," Yin said, pressing a button and making a slideshow appear. The first image was of various houses with the Hyuuga clan symbol on an archway. The second image was that of Hinata being kidnapped by enemy shinobi, the one that was previously on the screen. And the third image was a side by side image with the two Hyuuga twins, each head of the respective main and side branches, Hiashi and Hizashi.

"The obvious thing is we know where it takes place: in the Hyuuga compound," Yin lectured, "we also know that from the symbol of the enemy ninja, he is from Kumogakure - which is also known as the Village Hidden in the Clouds. Fast forwarding to this part," Yin pressed a button on the keyboard and the middle monitor played the part of Hiashi Hyuuga killing the enemy ninja who kidnapped Hinata on loop. "Hiashi Hyuuga acted righteously in saving his daughter in killing her kidnapper. However, this action turned to be one with monstrous consequences. In retaliation, Kumo demanded that his life be taken in turn for their own loss under threat of another war. Hizashi, his twin, took his place in an effort to avoid war and have the secrets of their Byakugan protected from Kumo. In an effort to finally take hold of his own fate, Hizashi actually is the very person to condemn his son Neji to his own path of a bird imprisoned. Hinata Hyuuga will also never be able to emotionally recover from this incident. She will not be able to get the time to do so, as Hiashi will push her to get stronger in an effort to protect herself and Neji will begin to harbor hostile feelings towards her as well. Not long after this, Hanabi will soon surpass Hinata in skill due to Hinata's emotional distress and mental health holding her back."

My mind was spinning, "Okay so basically the way to stop this entire mess is to stop Hiashi from killing the enemy ninja. He only needs to be captured or stopped before Hiashi has time to deliver the killing blow."

"Essentially," Yin agreed, "however, the only question is how? How will we be able to execute this?"

"We couldn't warn Hiashi ahead of time, unless we wanted to get shipped to T&I for suspicion of conspiring against Konoha or for having information of the future," I said, shaking my head, "so that means we have to do something just before the Kumo ninja arrives on Hyuuga grounds.

Yin 'hmmed' in thought, "Fortunately, you just so happen to be a chakra sensor. Unfortunately, your range isn't very far. Unless the enemy ninja happens to be in the same room as you, you'll never know where they are. Plus the kidnapping takes place at night, how are you going to be able to find an excuse to spend the night at the Hyuuga compound?"

Shit. Why did the kidnapping have to even happen? Did Kumo really have to try and take a three year old just to get ninja secrets? Could they do me a favor and just pass on this whole fiasco?

Wishful thinking, but thinking like that isn't going to get me anywhere. Only action will.

"I convince Inoichi and Aiko to let me sleep over and then warn Hiashi on the night of," I said, thinking aloud, "so maybe I go to him saying I feel like something is off? Or maybe I say I see a ninja with an unfamiliar symbol? Either way I have to make sure the ninja gets nowhere near Hinata."

"But what if he does?" Yin asks, imploring me to think of every scenario, "You need to be prepared for everything that could go right and wrong. If the Kumo ninja gets near Hinata, I have no doubt you will always be by her side, but the question remains: what are you going to do?"

Isn't the answer obvious?

"I fight."

"A three year old against a seasoned shinobi will not be a very long fight," Yin said without missing a beat, "you may as well be very much endangering yourself. Plus you have to be thinking of the others as well."

"The others?" I blinked. There were going to be more enemy shinobi?

"Ino, Neji and any other head clan children that will attend the birthday party," Yin listed out, "unless you have forgotten the Hyuuga's recent visit to Yamanaka Flowers."

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

How could I have forgotten?!

Ino. She was going to be attending the party as well which meant if I was going to try and convince Inoichi and Aiko to sleep over, she would not want to be left out. This means she would be in as much danger as Hinata would be that night, not from being a potential target but just from proximity. And Neji, he would want to hang out with all of us so he would no doubt be with us as well. Not to mention any other clan children…

Ugh, things just got a whole lot more complicated.

"Well, maybe they can…" I knocked my brain around for answers, "maybe they can run away with Hinata to go get help while I stay and stall the enemy ninja."

That was okay, right?

"Yeah, sure," Yin said, rolling his eyes sarcastically, "you can stall him for the three seconds it takes to slice your neck and then go after Hinata."

Okay, ouch.

"Fine, what do you think then?" I crossed my arms with a huff.

"Finally, you're doing something sensible and asking me," Yin crossed his arms as well, "you get Inoichi to teach you genjutsu."

I gave Yin a blank stare, "You know what he said about working with chakra: not until I'm older."

"I know what he said, I was there!" Yin said, annoyed I wasn't getting the point, "Genjutsu is perfect! Besides the fact that your earlier thoughts about the field was something that piqued your interest, it would be something I could help you in as well. I'm literally made of yin energy which is the energy used in genjutsu techniques. You'd have a step up, not to mention, you'd be able to cast an illusion on the enemy ninja enough to stall him and get help to detain the enemy from Kumo. Additionally, genjutsu does not require a lot of chakra but the trade off is that it requires major chakra control. But, that's the least of your problems cause that's where I'll be of help." Yin smirked proudly as he finished his speech.

That strangely made sense.

"Hoshito..." Inoichi's voice called out from the distance.

"Damn, we ran out of time," Yin muttered, but smiled anyway," but luckily we figured out what you're going to do."

"If you think it'll be easy for Inoichi to teach me a high level genjutsu to put on an advanced shinobi, then you have got to be joking," I grumbled, mentally groaning at the task I had ahead of me.

"Just ask him to show you, not teach you," Yin said, playfully rolling his eyes, "Ino really is right, you really are a dork."

"Hoshito…" Inoichi's voice sounded a bit more clear and much closer.

"Hey, you can't say that!" I said, an embarrassed blush beginning to show on my cheeks, "I am not a-"

I was interrupted by Yin's body as he tackled me in a hug, "It was wonderful to finally meet you and don't worry we will see one another again very soon. Remember, I'm in your mind so we can speak anytime you wish now. I promise I'll answer all your thoughts, even the dorky ones."

Yin winked and pressed a kiss to the middle of my forehead and suddenly everything went black. It was a few seconds later before I opened my eyes and groaned at how bright it was. Was it this bright before? A deep chuckle sounded to my right and a hand patted my head, "You okay there, Hoshito?"

I rubbed my eyes, smiling a little shyly at Inoichi's amused gaze, "Yes, tou-chan, I'm fine."

Inoichi hummed before turning to Ino, who apparently was still meditating, and began waking her up like he did to me. I took advantage of this moment and began thinking of ways I could contact Yin? How would this work exactly? Do I just think as I normally would and would he hear it or do I have to consciously think that I'm sending a thought to him and that's how he hears it? Or what if I-

"The dorky thoughts are coming sooner than I thought," Yin's voice reverberates inside my head and I could practically feel his teasing smile.

"You know maybe I'm not so glad you responded," I mentally glared as I felt Yin's smile widen.

"We both know that's a lie," Yin laughed, "also good luck with Inoichi. Ask him now!"

"Alright, I think that was a very productive meditation session," Inoichi said, smiling widely at the both of us, "we can finally call an end to the training for today!"

"Yay! I can't wait to do this again tou-chan!" Ino shouted, leaping up. She sang a little tune as she carefully lay her flower crown she made onto my head before skipping away happily towards the house, "Hurry up, Ito! Let's go play!"

Inoichi chuckled once again, looking out to where Ino was skipping, before holding out his hand to help me up off the ground.

I guess it was now or never.

"Tou-chan?" I asked, doing my best to keep my voice as innocent sounding as possible.

"Yes, Hoshito?" Inoichi looked down at me, his face gentle but one of his eyebrows were raised the slightest bit. I had no doubt he would school his expression much better during shinobi interrogations but for now I like to think he did these tell-tale signs to show his emotions. It was all these little things that he did to help prepare for a life as a shinobi. That or I just thought way too hard into all of these things.

"I was wondering if you could show me how to do genjutsu?" I gave Inoichi my puppy dog eyes.

Inoichi's eyes gleamed, "Genjutsu, huh?"

"Yes, tou-chan. Please!" I dragged out the last syllable, emphasizing my puppy dog eyes even further.

"Hoshito, you're a bright boy," Inoichi said, "so I know you remember what I said earlier: I wouldn't teach you any techniques using chakra until you were older."

"I know that tou-chan!" I said, "But I was just wondering if you could show me how to do it. I'm just curious is all." I shrugged my shoulders, looking down and kicking at the ground slightly. Presenting myself as a discouraged and innocent child was easier than I thought.

"Fine you convinced me, Hoshito!" Inoichi said, in a far too dramatic manner to showcase sincerity, "I'll show you how to do it!"

I glanced up in surprise and gave Inoichi a bright smile, "Thanks tou-chan!"

"Now watch very carefully," Inoichi said, smiling much too innocently.

Okay, something was up.

I had no warning cause suddenly Inoichi's hands were a blur in front of me for, I kid you not, a solid second before they were down by his sides. "And that's how you cast a genjutsu, Hoshito."

"Huh?!" I said, very confused, "You did it too fast!"

"And give you the opportunity to try and recreate it?" Inoichi asked in a tone that was very much satisfied that he fooled me, "I don't think so Hoshito, sorry. And don't feel too bad, I did show you what you wanted after all."

Inoichi laughed fully when he saw my pouting expression, "Come on, let's go inside. I'll treat you to ice cream to make you feel better." Inoichi scooped me up into his arms and together we made our way into the house. Ugh, I can't believe he really did that! I mean, okay, he did show me what I wanted but it was way too fast! Now what was I going to do at Hinata's birthday party? How was I going to stall the enemy ninja now?

"Don't worry Hoshito," Yin's voice spoke in my head, a little giddy, "I was able to go through the memory and slow down the speed of his hands."

Wait, so then that means-

"That's right!" Yin giggled, "I know what hand seals to do."

"That's awesome, Yin! Great job!"

I smiled and perked up in Inoichi's arms, much happier now that I got what I wanted. Inoichi, noticing my change in mood, patted my bottom a couple times softly. He must think it was the ice cream that improved my mood. We entered the house only to hear Ino's giggles and a very familiar chuckle from the living room.

Could it be?

I wiggled out of Inoichi's arms, Inoichi letting me go with a fond sigh, and I darted towards the living room to confirm my suspicions. The chakra came to me before the sight did. A familiar metal-wood tree with blue leaves. I burst into the living room, a wide smile already on my face. Of course he had been expecting me, probably from hearing my footsteps, and he too had a very pleased smile on his face.

Oh, how I've missed Fū.

I was to his spot in a flash and launched myself at him in what I liked to call my ultimate Yama-hug launch. Fū caught me with ease, rubbing my back as he returned my hug, "Hello, Hoshito-kun. It is very good to see you."

I buried my face even further into him, sighing in contentment, "I missed you, you know?"

"We saw each other just the other day?" Fū said, a bit incredulous but happy nonetheless.

I pulled away slightly from the hug and grabbed his face in my hands. His golden brown orbs widened a little when they met with mine, recognizing the seriousness in my gaze just like the first time we had met, "It was too long ago, Fū."

"See I told you that you should come visit us more often!" Ino sang, peeking her head over my shoulder to look at Fū as well, "Ito gets hug-deprimed."

"No, it's not hug-deprimed Ino," I said, correcting her, "it's hug-debribed. I'm hug-debribed not hug-deprimed."

Ino's mouth briefly turned into an o-shape before she firmly nodded, taking my words to heart. Fū's laughter made us look at him in confusion, "I think you two mean hug-deprived."

Oh. I blushed furiously and ducked my head into my hands. In my defense, I was still very much learning Japanese so some words just alluded me.

"But I apologize Hoshito-kun," Fū said, gently taking my hands away from my face, "I will try to come visit much more often. I'm sorry that every day after the academy and training practice was not enough for you."

"Good, that's all I ask." I said, knowing full well I was being unreasonable but what can I say? Fū has very much grown on me.

"Fū!" Inoichi called out happily, "It's always great to see you! How was your day at the academy?"

"Same as always Inoichi-san," Fū's smile bordered on a slight smirk, "easy as always."

Inoichi came over and ruffled his hair, "That's my boy!"

The blush on Fū's face was a very welcoming sight indeed.

"If you're not too busy, I was going to head off and treat Ino and Hoshito to ice cream," Inoichi explained, "they just finished their first day of meditative training! It went really well, they both achieved their mental states nicely."

"You guys did, did you?" Fū gathered Ino into his arms as well and looked at us appraisingly, "How was your training experience?"

"It was so cool!" Ino gushed excitedly, "I had my eyes closed but I could see everything at the same time! I just wish everything wasn't so sad though! There was no happy at all but that's okay cause I went into my mind and it is very pretty and happy in there. Lots of pinks, and yellows. Oh and blue!"

Hold on.

"You didn't see any purple lights, Ino?" I turned to my twin sister curiously, "When you were looking at the black and white stuff?"

"Purple lights?" Ino blinked, very confused, "Where?"

"They were only on people," I told her and pointed to her forehead, "and the light was right here."

"Hmmm," Ino thought for a moment before pouting, "nope I didn't see any purple lights. You're so lucky you got to see them! And in my favorite color too!"

"Hoshito," Inoichi asked, and I straightened up at his tone, "you saw the mind's light with your third eye during the meditation?" Inoichi was staring at me with a very serious gaze. I nervously glanced at Fū and saw he was staring similarly at me.

"Um," I shifted in Fū's lap a little, "yes? Is that what the purple light is called?"

Inoichi nodded once, his face in utter shock.

"Inoichi-san," Fū said slowly, forming his thoughts, "is it possible for someone so young to have reached that mental perception so fast? Even with me, it didn't take me until I was eight to reach that stage."

"It is not unheard of, no," Inoichi stated, "but it is certainly very rare. Even I didn't reach that stage until I was almost five…."

Inoichi's expression turned into one that beamed with pride, "Well it looks like we have a Yamanaka prodigy on our hands!"

Then I was lifted into the air, Inoichi's shouting words of praise. Fū was giving me compliments while I could vaguely hear Ino asking what a 'prahdigee' was. I would have laughed if I wasn't too terrified by the news. Being a child prodigy in Konoha was like walking into a blizzard with no clothes on or being locked in a room with a bunch of starved wolves. It may sound like an exaggeration but the danger intensity was very much true. It all boiled down to one person too: Danzō. Danzō practically hunted down child prodigies and forced them into joining his ROOT faction. Another person I should be concerned about is Orochimaru too, but seeing as he's not in Konoha at this present moment, Danzō would remain as my primary concern. If word got around that I was a prodigy in the making...it would only be a matter of time before he found out.

"I have to go tell Aiko the good news," Inoichi spoke, his eyes glittering, "would you be willing to take the twins out for ice cream in my place Fū?"

"Of course, Inoichi-san," Fū nodded his head, "I'd be happy to take the twins out."

"Great, thanks Fū!" Inoichi smiled brilliantly, hugging Fū and kissing the top of mine and Ino's head before rushing off to find Aiko elsewhere in the house.

Fū grabbed both mine and Ino's hands and guided us out of the house, "Let's go get ice cream."

"YAY!" Ino shouted out excitedly and I mumbled my own words of excitement, a bit too preoccupied with my thoughts.

This changes everything.

If I'm labeled as a prodigy then that puts me on the enemy radar much sooner than I would have liked, but maybe this could be a good thing instead? As a prodigy, I could graduate faster which means I would be able to get to the frontlines of battle before the Konoha Twelve. This means I would be able to interact with Danzō, Orochimaru, Obito, etc. and I would be able to take off some of the attention off of Naruto and Sasuke and put it on me. If I could shift Danzō's attention onto me and make him less sharingan eye-crazy then he would look to other outlets for achieving more power. This goes the same for Orochimaru. If I was able to entice Orochimaru to the mind of a Yamanaka then maybe he wouldn't target Sasuke so heavily. But then I could possibly turn into a target of getting Orochimaru's curse mark which was something I definitely did not want to happen. But wouldn't it be better for me to get it than Sasuke? I knew the risks of getting it and I knew there was no chance in hell that I was going to let Sasuke go down that dark path again. So if anyone had to get the mark, I should just let it be me, right? If this was an opportunity to ensure Sasuke's safety, even by a small percentage, then shouldn't I take it?

I wanted to save people from the future I saw happen, so I should be taking all the risks.

So why do I hesitate?

"There's nothing wrong with self-preservation," Yin's voice sounded softly in my head.

"What do I do, Yin?" I asked my mental half, hopelessly, "I mean this is what I've decided on doing so why am I so unsure?"

"You've just so happened to encounter a scenario you didn't expect," Yin reasoned, "there are more than one way to go about saving the people you want to. You'll just have to take into account that you're now a prodigy as well."

"I should have been more careful," I sighed, scolding myself, "I should have-"

"There's no use talking about what you should have or shouldn't have done," Yin advised, "all that you should do is focus on the present. You will handle everything else as they come. Don't worry, you can plan better next time."

"How exactly can I plan better?" I deadpanned to him. It didn't matter if I was a prodigy or not, if I encountered Danzō or Orochimaru now...I shivered at the possibility of what may happen. Experimentations to see what my physical and mental limitations were and seeing how they could extend it. Or what if they dissected my brain to try and unlock the Yamanaka mental jutsu from the source?! Panic gripped my being and my breathing began to quicken.

"Hey, hey calm down Hoshito!" Yin's voice sounded in my head with a soft urgency, "Don't let your imagination get the best of you, you'll be able to solve everything but you just have to take it one step at a time. Take everything as they come, when they come. Don't overexert yourself trying to tackle everything at once."

"Even if I did that, Danzō is one huge mountain to tackle," I thought hopelessly, "I'm just one kid who's in way over his head."

"You're not just one kid Hoshito," a warm feeling settled over my mind, spreading to the rest of my body as well, "I'm here too and I'll always be here for you. I don't want you to forget that you have others here for you as well. I know that planning and training for what's to come is crucial, but you have to remember to enjoy the present sometimes too."

"ICE CREAM!" Ino yelled out excitedly, pulling me out of my thoughts. We were suddenly in sight of the desert shop, Konoha's Delights, and were on track to the entrance doors. It usually encountered heavy foot traffic, being one of the only sweet shops in Konoha, but it wasn't too busy right now. There was just a couple other groups of people in the shop which was a wonderful sight compared to its cramped environment on its especially busy days.

Guess I'll just have to cry about being a prodigy later, but Yin's words did soothe my worry - even if only a little.

Ding!

The door hit a bell, signalling that we had entered the store. Ino was quick to rush to the counter where there were various deserts displayed through a glass screen. It was a mouth-watering sight, to be honest. There were colorful mochi ice cream, delectable jelly anmitsu, and even the famously delicious dango.

"What color of mochi would you two like?" Fū asked, gazing at the desserts displayed with a thoughtful expression.

"I want the purple ones!" Ino said, pressing her face to the glass and then whispering, "I want all of the purple ones."

I smiled at my twin sister, her actions pulling me further away from the self-pitying thoughts. Maybe Yin was right. Maybe I shouldn't keep worrying about the future so heavily and enjoy this time now, when everything is building up. After all, the shitshow of bad-things-happening doesn't really start until after Naruto and the others become genin. Of course, there's still Hinata's kidnapping and the whole Uchiha massacre but that's just two things. Just two little things to fix.

Yeach, I was horrible at cheering myself up.

"You were off to a pretty good start, but then the dorky thoughts entered." Yin teased, "You worry way too much and I forbid you to worry for this present moment. Enjoy this dessert time and tell Fū what color mochi you want. He's been waiting for almost two minutes and he's beginning to look worried."

I focused my eyes onto Fū, who indeed had an expression of worry on his face. Yikes, I better answer him!

"I'd like the yellow and white ones." I answered, looking up at Fū with a bright smile that I hoped was enough to convince Fū that I was okay.

It seemed to do the trick because the worried expression was shook away with a smile, "Alright, I'll go tell them our orders."

Yeah, I'll be okay.

"Don't leave the shop." Fū said this part half-jokingly, half-seriously. As kids he knew we would never leave a place filled with so many sweets, especially Ino who practically lived for it. But also because of the fact that we were kids was why he told us so anyways.

"We won't leave, Fū." I reassured my older cousin.

"Yeah, I could stay here forever!" Ino agreed, pressing her face even closer to the glass separating her from her beloved sweets. It was like she thought that if she pressed herself as close to the glass as possible, she would be able to make the glass vanish and bring the sweets into her waiting embrace. Hmm, that was an oddly specific observation.

Fū gave a fond shake of his head before leaving to go take our orders. I gazed at the various desserts, admiring the sight for a little while, before turning my gaze around the store. It was a cute little shop. There were wooden basket aisles with various candies within and the store was lit up with single exposed bulbs covered with paper lanterns, giving off gentle lighting. The floors were particularly interesting as it was a blue and white checkerboard patterned. The people in here all seemed to be in their own little worlds as well. There was a single dad enjoying a plate of a sponge cake with his daughter. There was a couple feeding their child what seemed to be like his first taste of mochi ice cream. The last group were three people who were sitting at the back table of the store. I barely took in their appearance of pitch black hair and pale beige skin because I was too busy being focused on the bright red and white insignias on the back of the two older boys' shirts.

They were from the Uchiha clan.

My heart froze before rapidly speeding up. There were two older boys and a young boy. One of the older boys had curly, short black hair while the other had his pulled back into a loose ponytail. The little boy, who was facing me, had short hair in the back and long strands in the front going past his chin. There could be no doubt; these people were-

"I can't believe Sasuke doesn't like dango!" the curly haired boy shouted out incredulously, "Are you sure he's related to you Itachi?"

"I am very certain that Sasuke is my little brother, Shisui," Itachi answered in a somewhat monotone voice.

I didn't have much time to process the fact that I was actually seeing the famed Uchihas with my very own eyes, because at that moment their chakra hit me. The first to make its presence could have only been Itachi's. His chakra came to me in the form of a volcano and it was like I was standing right next to the mouth of it. Luckily it wasn't about to erupt, but I could feel the heat from it as if it was close to erupting. I peeked inside the volcano's mouth and my eyes widened at what I saw. Instead of seeing the typical lava inside, it was something else entirely. Inside was boiling water and as each bubble popped it shifted into lava form before delving back into liquid state. How odd? The next chakra to hit me was that of Shisui's. I was suddenly floating in air, gazing at a waterfall. I was floating directly in front of it and no matter how hard I tried to see to the left or right, there was no end in sight. The waterfall seemed to go on forever, but this wasn't the most awe-inspiring part. The water falling was entirely clear and flowed so smoothly it seemed as if the water wasn't moving at all. What was underneath the waterfall revealed a huge expanse of diamond instead of rock. Sasuke's was the last chakra to come to me. I was once again floating in air except all that I could see was the sky. It was a particularly sunny day with a handful of huge, white, cumulonimbus clouds floating in the atmosphere. The most peculiar thing was that, despite the white nature of the clouds, there was lightning sparking through the clouds. It was a dazzling display of red and purple lightning shooting around the clouds.

The chakra images dissolved and I was left with my thoughts. It was definitely one of the more...adventurous chakra images I had received. I wonder why they were so different though? Was it because they were from the Uchiha clan that their chakra seemed to be so unique? Did the possibility or fact that they had the Sharingan change the chakra versatility? Sure the Sharingan was one of the more powerful dojutsu or visual jutsus in the Naruto world, but to have it affect the chakra itself in such a way…

The Uchihas were truly an intriguing bunch.

"Hey, that boy keeps staring at me." a confused voice said.

I followed the voice and found that it was Sasuke who had spoken and okay who did I have to talk to about all these kids being so darn cute?! Sasuke had slightly chubby cheeks which must have been leftover baby fat, but I was not complaining. He had a confused pout on his face and wide, black eyes. He was drawing a circular pattern into the table with his index finger, shyly looking at me and then back to the table at his finger.

"Maybe because you keep staring at him?" Shisui offered as a reason with a single eyebrow raised.

A bright pink blush blossomed on Sasuke's cheeks and he crossed his arms with a huff, "I'm only staring because he started it first!"

"Hello there," Itachi said, turning around with a polite smile, "is there something I can help you with?"

Oh my god Itachi Uchiha was speaking to me!

There was like twenty-five percent of me fanboying and the other seventy-five percent of me in shock because this was Itachi before he became Itachi Uchiha. This Itachi had not yet watched his best friend fall to his death nor gained the Mangekyou sharingan. This Itachi did not know the horrors of murdering his entire clan in an effort to prevent a civil war in Konoha. This Itachi was unpracticed in the cruel ways of the Akatsuki and had no idea of the existence of Obito. This Itachi's sole existence was not to be an obstacle for Sasuke to overcome and to beat. This Itachi was the one who did not yet know just how dark his world could become. Looking at him now, he seemed more...at peace. There were the accentuated tear troughs, of course, but they did not stand out too vividly. His dark eyes showed a deep intelligence and still had a light in them, like he still believed in the good of the world.

This was the Itachi I wanted to save.

I walked closer to him, as if pulled by some form of gravity, and took in the image of him before everything bad happened to him. It was so bizarre to see him in a sweets shop, but it was another reminder that he was human. He was a human who was forced to undergo terrifying situations and despite it all, he always acted in a way that protected the one he loved the most: Sasuke. Itachi Uchiha's story was one of the one's that I hated the most and I planned to make sure the future I knew would never come to play. I was mere inches away from the Uchiha, his polite smile was long gone and instead he stared at me with curiosity. I'm sure this probably would have looked super weird: a random three year old walking up to you and standing in your personal space. But I couldn't help myself, because here he was! The very boy I wanted to save was right before my eyes, so forgive me if I was a little too awestruck. My hand slowly raised to Itachi's face to which Itachi's eyes became a little more alert. I have no doubt he could have stopped me if he wanted to but it seemed like he was curious to see what I would do. I gently ran a finger down one of Itachi's tear troughs, the contact causing Itachi to stiffen at the action.

I like to think that my mind was too busy being shocked that Itachi was right in front of me that that's why I had no control of the words that came out of my mouth, "You're so pretty."

The lightest shade of red dusted across Itachi's cheeks while a rush of heat came into my own. Shisui burst out in a loud, guffawing laughter, holding his stomach as he did.

"Thank you," Itachi whispered, the red still dusting his cheeks.

"You're welcome," I gave Itachi a sheepish smile. Even though it was utterly embarrassing, I don't think I entirely regret it. After all, the reaction I got afterwards was completely worth it!

"I like your nerve kiddo," Shisui said with a chuckle, wiping a tear away, "what's your name?"

I turned to face the curly haired boy and for a moment I just stared. Shisui was someone I had only seen very fleetingly in the anime and it was always a sad thought to know that he had such a short time in this world. His story was another that I hated. Danzō would later steal one of Shisui's eye in an effort to gain the power of the sharingan. This would spur Shisui into the action of getting rid of his last eye, entrusting it to Itachi and then committing suicide so Itachi could gain the Mangekyou sharingan. Shisui was someone that I didn't get to really see a lot but his character was someone I had always admired. Maybe this was my chance to get to know him and if everything went well, I would get to save him too. Shisui had the typical Uchiha look with pale skin and dark hair, but that is where the similarities ended. Shisui had smoke grey eyes which were very different from the normally coal black eyes of the Uchiha clan. Shisui also carried himself differently; it seemed like he was more expressive and outgoing than the average Uchiha. And holy shit, this guy had the whitest teeth I had ever seen!

It seemed like I was making a trend of just acting without thinking because the next thing I knew, I was executing my ultimate Yama-hug launch at him.

"My name is Hoshito Yamanaka," I wrapped my arms around him and smiled brightly at his shocked expression, "and I like your hair."

Shisui's hesitated for a second before returning the hug full force, "It's nice to meet you Hoshito-kun," Shisui smiled before ruffling my hair, "my name's Shisui! And I like your eyes, they're really bright!"

"It is a pleasure to meet you Hoshito-kun," Itachi monotoned out with the slightest of smiles on his face, "My name is Itachi Uchiha."

I smiled at the two older Uchiha boys before hopping off of Shisui's lap and going around the table to sit beside the last Uchiha: Sasuke. The boy was already staring at me with wide eyes and was regarding me in both excitement and nervousness. This time my actions were with complete intention. I rose my hands up to Sasuke's face and cupped his face with my hands, "So squishy."

Shisui's laughter sounded again and I could have sworn I heard Itachi's breathy laughter too. It was like his breathing, but heavier? Like gusts of air that came out - not so much like wheezing, but kind of?

Sasuke's whole face flushed pink this time and he opened and closed his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

"Would you like to be my friend?" I asked Sasuke, pulling his face closer to me and giving him my puppy dog eyes, "I only have a couple friends and I'd like to have more! Plus I really like your squishy cheeks and I'm sure we will have tons of fun together!"

Sasuke froze and a little gasp sounded from him. He was staring at me with such a gaze of wonderment and shock, it wasn't hard for me to guess that I was the first person to ask him this.

"Ito come get your ice crea- hey Ito!" Ino shouted towards me, but stopped mid-sentence in surprise, "You know what tou-chan said about boys! You can't just go around kissing them, no matter how much you like them. You have to wait until you're older, like thirty."

Sasuke and I both made noises similar to that of an animal being strangled. Heat that resembled fire settled into my cheeks and I released Sasuke from my hold, finally processing how that could have looked bad. But why would someone even think something like that was going to happen, I was three for crying out loud!

Ino was staring at me with a satisfied smirk, knowing exactly what she had done, and flicked her hair over her shoulder. It was her congratulating me on making a new friend, but her getting back at me for not inviting her sooner. It was just a reminder that Ino was not one to be left out.

"It's not like that Ino!" I decidedly ignored how someone could have cooked eggs on my burning face and glared at my twin sister, "I was just making a new friend."

"Oops, sorry!" Ino said, giving me a sheepish smile and tucked a nonexistent hair behind her ear, silently telling me she meant no real harm.

I pursed my lips at her before wiping my nose with a quick motion: yes, I forgive you.

Ino brightened up and flashed her signature smile to the Uchihas before me, "Hi, I'm Ito's twin sister Ino! I hope we can be friends too!"

And just like that the Uchihas were Yama-hustled.

Ino's signature smile really held so much power. Shisui was quick to flash by her side, patting her head and reassure her that they could be friends. Itachi was more subtle in his reaction, giving a closed eye-smile to Ino and nodding his head. Sasuke looked to be in an absolute daze with his black eyes practically sparkling.

"I can't believe I have two friends." Sasuke whispered in quiet disbelief.

My heart simultaneously melted and broke at those words. I grabbed Sasuke and hugged him to myself, gently rocking our beings back and forth. Sasuke Uchiha was just too precious.

"Hoshito-kun, Ino-chan, your ice cream has arrived..." Fū's voice drifted off as he took in the scene before him before back-tracking, "Ah, I've seen you made new friends. Hello Shisui-kun, Itachi-kun."

Wait, did they know each other?

"Hiya, Fū!" Shisui mock-saluted to him with a half-smirk, "On babysitting duty like us I see."

"Fū-kun," Itachi nodded in greeting, "these are your cousins."

Itachi said it more as a statement than a question.

"They sure are," Fū answered, a soft smile coming onto his face, "and I'm assuming this is your younger brother?"

"Yes, this is Sasuke." Itachi confirmed, gesturing to Sasuke as he did.

Sasuke straightened up and bowed before Fū, "It is nice to meet you Fū-san."

"Fū we made a new friend!" Ino happily announced, "Well, we made three, but Sasuke is our age! So that makes him extra special!"

Sasuke jumped at the declaration, mouthing the words 'extra special' and putting a hand to his heart in surprise. I swear to whatever higher being out there, if Sasuke Uchiha gets any cuter I'm going to punch the sun. I just wanted to wrap him up in a blanket and put him in my pocket, protecting him from all the dangers of the world.

And Universe knows how dangerous the Naruto world was.

"I'm happy you two have made a new addition to your friend's list," Fū said, genuinely happy, "but I'm afraid we have to get going. I've just received word that we have to return to the Yamanaka compound."

Ino whined at the news and Sasuke frowned, another pout was on his lips.

"No worries, we should probably get going too," Shisui waved his hand at the matter, "I promised to show the squirt here how I'm better at throwing shuriken than his nii-san."

"Nobody is better than my nii-san." Sasuke spoke up with complete confidence, "and I'm not a squirt!"

"Whatever you say, squirt." Shisui smiled at Sasuke's indignant grunt that sounded afterwards.

"Well, this seems like this is where we part ways for now," Itachi said, clapping his hands once, "I do hope that we see each other soon. It was nice to make your acquaintance, Ino-chan, Hoshito-kun."

"You'll definitely be seeing more of me," Shisui winked at both Ino and I, flashing us a wide view of his pearly whites, "you two are definitely an interesting pair!"

"Goodbye Hoshito-kun…" Sasuke quietly said to me, nervously fidgeting closer to me and then away. His arms were twitching at his sides and his gaze was everywhere but on me. Was he trying to give me a hug? My answer revealed itself when Sasuke remained close to me, still acting out the same movements.

"You're my friend now so you can drop the -kun. Oh, and call me Ito, Sasuke!" I pulled the awkward boy into a hug with a giggle, "I hope to see you very soon!"

I pulled away from Sasuke who once again avoided eye contact. He hummed in confirmation and looked to the ground with a happy smile, "Okay...Ito."

"You can drop the -chan for me too!" Ino said and scooped Sasuke into a hug of her own, "We're all gonna be the bestest friends!"

Sasuke answered with a quiet, "Yes, I'd like that."

Shortly after, Ino and I were madly waving at the three Uchihas as they parted ways to go to the Uchiha district. Shisui waved back at the two of us, with more energy than our own funnily enough, while Sasuke and Itachi gave more subdued waves - Itachi being more calm in nature and Sasuke did so only because he was still happily blushing.

The way back home was a peaceful one. It was just entering evening time so the sky above Konoha was just turning into beautiful hues of orange, yellow, and pink. The clouds all seemed to have migrated to the horizon, so the light from the sun painted them into beautiful canvases. The heat of the day settled into a happy medium and the people of Konoha that were out and about settled into a leisurely stroll. Ino was chatting non-stop, talking about anything and everything all at once. How she managed to do that and steadily eat her mochi without it melting was a skill only Ino had. Her filling up most of the conversation gave me time to think back on the events that just transpired. I was completely taken by surprise by meeting the Uchihas today, especially people so crucial to the plotline of the Naruto world. I was happy to have befriended Sasuke and got into contact with Itachi and Shisui. The interaction went better than anything I could have imagined so it was probably best that I didn't plan anything for when I met them. I think interactions are better genuine anyways.

But there was just one thing that I didn't quite get.

"Hey, Fū?" I asked when Ino took a pause between talking topics, "It seemed like you knew Itachi-san and Shisui-san. How did you meet them?"

"Good observation Hoshito-kun, you are correct: I do know them," Fū replied, "I know Shisui-kun because we started off in the academy together but then he graduated early. Itachi-kun is a couple years younger than me, but since he is a prodigy, he was moved up to my grade level and we share the same class. But I'm sure it won't be long before he follows in Shisui-kun's footsteps by graduating early as well."

Oh, I did not know all that.

"How come everyone is graduating early?" Ino asked Fū, jumping into the conversation too, "Are you going to graduate early?"

"People graduate early if they have the capacity and skill sets to do so, Ino-chan," Fū explained, "they usually are some form of prodigy if they do graduate early. As for myself, if I continue on the progress that I am now then I should be able to graduate a whole two years early. It will be just in time for when you two go off to the academy."

Okay where is all this new information coming from and why had I not known this before? Albeit, Fū was a minor character whose story the anime didn't explain too thoroughly, but if he was in the same academy timeline as Shisui and Itachi one would think it would have been mentioned at one point.

"So, right when we start the academy, you'll be graduating?" Ino thought aloud.

"That's correct." Fū nodded his head.

There was no further time to elaborate because mine and Ino's house was coming into view. It was kind of like a modern log cabin but made out of wooden planks. The roof was a dark blue color and it stood two stories tall. The Yamanaka compound was kind of like a neighborhood that looked like there wasn't a lot of land until you saw each person's backyard. However our house had a pretty decent size front yard that was lined with a white-picket fence. We hadn't even made it past it when the front door burst open, Aiko was running towards us with a warm smile, "Hello!"

Aiko gathered the Ino, Fū and I into one huge embrace, "How was the dessert run?"

"It went smoothly, Aiko-san." Fū answered once he pulled away from Aiko's hug.

"We made a new friend today kaa-chan!" Ino updated Aiko with a squeal, "His name is Sasuke Uchiha! He's our age too!"

Aiko's eyebrows rose up in surprise, "Sasuke Uchiha, huh? Well, I'm happy you two made another new friend."

"As for you mister," Aiko turned her eyes to me, "what's this about me hearing you being a little Yamanaka prodigy."

There was that word again, 'prodigy.' I know before I was freaking out about all the connotations of being a prodigy in Konoha could possibly mean, but looking at AIko made me second guess it. She was staring at me with such...pride...and happiness that it caused a satisfied feeling to burst from within my chest all the way down to my toes. To Aiko, being a prodigy was a huge accomplishment and she was utterly proud too. For now, in this moment, that is what it will be for me too.

"That's what tou-chan says I am," I puffed my chest out and nodded, "he says that because I saw the mind's light way faster that that's why I'm a prodigy."

Aiko squealed before picking me up and spinning me around in a dizzying hug, "That's my bright boy! That's my Hoshito-kun!"

"Don't worry kaa-chan," Ino said once Aiko had stopped spinning me, "I'll make sure being a prodigy doesn't go to his head like it did tou-chan."

"Hey!" Inoichi's voice called out as he walked up to us, "Who said I let it get to my head?"

Aiko bit back her laughter with a smile that revealed all too much that it was her who had said that, "Anyways," AIko skillfully changed the subject, "you two just received a letter that brings some very good news!"

"A letter?" I asked, very confused cause who could be writing to us?, "What did it say?"

"Well it's more of an invitation really," Aiko said, hinting heavily at what it could be.

An invitation? What invitation would we need- oh my god! It's the invitation for Hinata's birthday party?!

"Is it for the birthday party for Hinata?" Ino asked, jumping up and down in barely contained excitement.

"The very one!" Aiko confirmed, producing the letter out of who knows where and waving it in the air, "And it has some exciting news too: the birthday party had to be moved due to personal reasons."

Wait a minute.

"So that means the party had to be moved a couple days sooner." Aiko continued.

Oh no.

"So when is the party?!" Ino practically shouted while my stomach dropped. This wasn't good news at all. Okay, well hopefully with it being moved up, I'll still have a couple days to prepare for it. Then maybe I could-

"The party is tomorrow!" Aiko announced.

Fuck.

A/N: Wow this feels so good to finally update and a lot of things are in motion now! So many introductions to new concepts/people, I hope I managed to write this in a coherent manner. I was so excited to write the interaction between Hoshito and the Uchihas! I like to imagine little Sasuke being too cute for words and Itachi being happy and Shisui being the loud cousin who always knows how to have a good time. Ah, the good times just before shit hits the fan, am I right?

Yin! How did you guys feel about him? He's definitely going to come into play a lot more now that he's been introduced to Hoshito. The dynamic between the two and how they work together in the future….oooh I cannot wait to write this for you all to find out. ;)

Also probably the biggest thing is Hinata's birthday which will be the next chapter. This will be so huge because this is where I plan for things to really start changing and I think you'll be surprised (maybe? hopefully?) on how it all plays out. Any predictions on how it'll go? Who will be there (clan kids wise)? What Hinata's presents will be? Lol.

I've missed so much writing about Hoshito and this world, I will definitely be more consistent with my updating on here. I wrote this chapter super long, in hopes that I can make up for my lack of updates these past couple months. I hope this satisfied the need for more content and don't worry! The next update will be here much quicker than this one arrived.

A platter full of chocolate covered strawberries for your thoughts?