"You're late."

Amaterasu took off her training pack and settled it at the base of the tree. It just contained some water and some of her brother's old blunt kunai that he couldn't use anymore. She didn't bother reacting to Fugaku's statement. When exactly was 'mid-morning' anyway? Nine? Ten? Whatever, she'd get used to not having clocks soon enough.

"Did you run this morning?" A nod.

He made her run every morning around the compound training grounds and it was quite the distance, perhaps around 7km? She hadn't even been able to run the whole thing for the first week or so, but she improved.

"Time?" he inquired.

"An hour fifteen." was the curt reply.

It was a whole ten minutes faster than last week, so she was very proud of herself.

"If you were trying it would be an hour at most by now." he commented.

She was aware that he knew of her competitiveness. She knew that he was riling her up to push herself, and boy she was still falling for it. Her eyes burned with annoyance as she vowed internally to cut the time down to fifty minutes before next week.

In her past life she hadn't been fit at all. Whatever exercise she did on a daily basis was only to lose pudge. She understood fitness was going to be a large part of this life however and was thankful that she was born a clan child so she could start early.

"We'll work with some weights today." he stated, making her sigh.

"I'd rather not." After a pause, Ama turned to face the familiar stern narrowed eyes with an even gaze.

"You said you wanted to be a kunoichi, and I have warned you that it was going to be difficult." the clan leader said blandly. "The Uchiha clan does not produce any ninja less than extraordinary so, unless you're prepared to work hard, you should quit now."

Amaterasu almost rolled her eyes before telling him patiently, "I'm not even four yet, working with weights will do more harm than good at this point. I read about it, it's det-ri-men-tal to my growth." Cue silence and staring.

She didn't want to be a muscly midget thank you very much. Now that she thought about it, ninja were generally quite short. She had been short in her past life and hadn't liked it at all.

Amaterasu blanched when Fugaku slowly reached into his kunai pouch. "Okay then, we can work on something else."

Dread pooled in her stomach at his placid tone, and her eyes never left the hand that now held a couple of quite pointy looking shuriken. What the fuck. No way is he even thinking about -

"Let's test your reflexes."

Minato Namikaze had heard a lot about the tiny intelligent bookworm from his rather infatuated wife. Kushina had written about the orphan's development very fondly in her letters to him while he was at the front during the war, and he remembered being startled at the dried teardrops on the paper when said child had been moved to the Uchiha orphanage. Before he could do anything however, the matter had already been resolved.

He had also seen the the child's brother, Shisui Uchiha, a few times on the front. After having gotten over the initial shock that an eight year old was there and yes, said child had just beheaded a fully grown man, Minato slowly accepted the fact that the kid was actually very capable. He had come to understand that good shinobi were always put to use in wartime, no matter how old they were.

Although he knew that those eyes were undoubtedly incredibly powerful, the dull red in them preoccupied him. They came with a large price and Minato was worried for the child's mental health. He had conversed with him once, where he asked the boy what he wanted to do once the war was over. The small Uchiha's resolute answer had both saddened and impressed him.

"I'm going to find a way to stop all the fighting in this world."

Once the war actually ended, and the blond was named the Fourth Hokage, he had been much too busy to think about either sibling but now, as he observed the younger Uchiha tentatively patting his wife's baby bump, he decided she was a very likeable child.

She had arrived at their house around an hour before dinner started to help set up, but spent the time with Minato putting soothing balm on the bruises scattered across her limbs.

"We had 'reflex training' today." Ama said rather sheepishly to a furious Kushina Uzumaki. "I've discovered that I'm really clumsy under pressure. Fugu never actually hit me with anything so all of these are from me crashing into things in panic."

They had chuckled at that and Minato was very amused at the way she addressed her clan head. It was undoubtedly from the influence of his wife.

"How's your brother doing, Ama?" he asked conversationally as they set the table.

"He's alright I think. The break from missions has been good for him, but he has one today with Kashi-nii." she replied as she placed the chopsticks down neatly on the table. Ah yes, he remembered. When Kushina had visited him yesterday she had sent his student off to spend time with this little one.

Minato shared a glance with his wife in the kitchen. She had warned him that she wasn't a normal three year old but it was still rather disconcerting to hear the mature phrasing of her sentences.

As the dinner progressed she showed evident signs of being raised in a clan setting, despite being an orphan. She had proper manners at the table but the way she phrased her sentences didn't match her small body at all. The conversation once touched on the topic of Fūinjutsu (Sealing Techniques) and Minato was definitely shocked that she even knew what it was. Apparently it had piqued her interest after one of Kushina's passing comments and she had read up about it. Speaking of which, he was further surprised when she revealed that she frequently visited the shinobi section of the village library.

"I thought I told you this?" Kushina exclaimed gleefully. "She bothered the guard manning the floor so much he eventually let her in, just to get her to stop." she explained with evident amusement. That was some dedication for a toddler, he thought, slightly taken aback at the sheer abnormality of the situation.

"Do you have any more questions about your reading, Ama-chan? Minato is quite the seal master himself, since he learnt from the best." his wife snarked and he glanced at her fondly.

"Actually I do, but it's not about sealing." the raven-haired girl said after dabbing her mouth with a napkin.

"Is it on that scroll by Kimiko something? That one was good." Kushina commented, and Minato felt her slight surprise when she was answered with a negative.

"I'm on another one now, about the Bijū (Tailed Beasts)."

The effect was immediate. Kushina dropped her spoon, paling rapidly and Minato choked on his rice. They collected themselves in a second but that reaction had evidently taken the child aback. The curious gleam in her ebony irises made him rather anxious.

"And what did you read about these bijū?" Minato tried to continue casually. They hadn't been expecting that. He racked his brain to try and remember if there was a book on the tailed beasts in the library and how much detail it contained.

"It was just interesting. I read that there was one with ten tails, a large mass of chakra that split into the nine tailed beasts we supposedly have today, but I wasn't sure if it was a legend. It was certainly phrased like one but I'm not sure."

"And why not?" Minato pressed lightly before sipping on his soup.

"I mean, we'd never know if they were real or not because apparently the First Hokage started sealing them into people." Was it just him or did he detect a twinge of disdain in the three year old's tone? Minato slowly stroked his wife's trembling knee soothingly under the table.

"So you want to know if they're real?" he clarified, and was once more stumped when the child shook her head.

"At the moment all my evidence is pointing to the answer that they don't exist. I thought that, if such powers had been sealed into people, then the host would have access to basically unlimited chakra, right? So they'd be really strong and therefore play a large part in wars." She paused to make sure she had both their undivided attention before continuing.

"But when I checked the history scrolls of the accounts of shinobi of that time there are very few accounts of ninja with such large chakra reserves. There were a lot on shinobi with great chakra levels, particularly from...Kirigakure (Village Hidden by Mist), was it? But I think some people are just lucky, or there's a Kekkei Genkai or something." she mumbled, before continuing.

"I've reached two conclusions. One is that the book I read on the Tailed Beasts was just a story book that was misplaced into the history section, or..."

She was silent for a bit, thinking.

"Or?" Kushina prompted.

"The accounts on any of these containers were wiped." she theorized.

There was silence, and Minato felt his strained smile slip completely from his face.

"If these containers truly exist, why would they be kept secret? Maybe to protect their identity from their enemies?" the small Uchiha wondered aloud, tapping a finger against her chin and frowning slightly in concentration. "Maybe the chakra from these Tailed Beasts is harmful to their containers and can't be used in human coils? Or maybe the hosts can't control the power, thus making them unable to contribute in a notable way to the war effort."

Her eyes flickered over to his and he found himself unable to speak. This...toddler had just worked out an S-rank village secret from just using her common sense and a few references from the shinobi library.

"Why keep the Tailed Beasts at all then?" she stopped herself, before rolling her eyes. "Sorry, stupid question."

"No that's a good point, why?" Kushina enquired.

"Because, if the Tailed Beasts have any sort of temperament whatsoever, they'd probably resent humans for dealing with them in such a way, and probably go on a rampage after being unsealed. Which," she paused to pick up her chopsticks again, "would be quite bad, considering how much chakra they supposedly have." she concluded quietly.

There was a pause while the adults tried to process all this information.

"So," Minato started lightly, but his blue eyes were sharp. "when did you manage to think through all this?" Ama shrugged in response, before answering.

"Pretty much now. I mean, I read the books and researched all that stuff this afternoon but that thought process just happened. I think better when I'm talking."

Right. Well, this was certainly extraordinary, and not how Minato expected the evening to go. Now though he wanted to see how far this girl's mind could be stretched.

"So, let's say you're right." he began, and noted the way she glanced at him. She seemed to already know that she was right, but how?

"Although I have been making some stabs in the dark with my theories, your reactions showed my conclusion was pretty close to the actual situation." she explained and he realised he had spoken aloud.

"So you said it was probably a village secret right? How much of a secret do you think it is?" he prompted, and it only took a few moments for unease to plaster itself on her face. "Talk me through it." he requested.

"Your reactions pretty much said it all I think. I mean, maybe the existence of Tailed Beasts isn't much of a secret but the identity of these containers must be a huge one." she told him.

"And what do you think are the consequences, for someone knowing a village secret such as this?" His question made her wrinkle her nose in confusion.

"But I don't know who it is. I just know that they might exist." Minato gave her a rather hard stare.

"I'm sure you can work it out if you think about it." he said rather blandly, and saw something spark in her at those words. So she was competitive.

"I'm not sure if you want me to work it out." she mumbled.

"Yeah, do we want her to work it out?" his wife turned to him looking slightly panicked.

"Too late now. She's worked it out." Minato sighed as he saw realisation sink into the child's features as she stared at his wife.

He realised that Amaterasu's intelligence wasn't limited to the books that she's read. Her analytic skills and ability to read people were truly extraordinary. She was unknowingly doing what high level shinobi did to gain information in an enemy village, and the Fourth Hokage could already see her specialising in the intelligence gathering unit. She had been born gifted with this ability and, although her cleverness had originally taken Minato aback, he now understood how.

However, at this rate, she was going to know too much far too quickly, and the Hokage couldn't ignore the unease that was brewing at the pit of his stomach. She already knew what was one of the largest village secrets, one that would be incredibly dangerous if leaked to other villages. The familiar throb in his temple returned as he felt the weight of stress sink onto his shoulders. Uchiha or not, this child was ... strange.

"If I say I won't tell I'm guessing that won't be enough?" she asked in a mixture of hope and desperation, receiving a rather dry look in return.

"Usually when a shinobi finds out information that they're not cleared to have, protocol is that they have to be seen by a Yamanaka, to prove that they really did work it out and wasn't told by a third source." he explained.

"Or they're promoted to that rank, but I don't think Minato will be able to give you S-rank clearance just yet, Su-Chan." Kushina told her kindly, but she was still pale, and for once the child seemed to be taken by complete surprise.

"What? A Yamanaka?" was her almost shrill reply.

The fear in that statement was evident and Minato's gaze turned wary.

"Yes, they possess techniques that allow them look through the mind of other people. It's nothing to worry about Ama-chan, I'm going to check it with the Yamanaka clan head but I don't think you'll be harmed by it."

Amaterasu was silent, and the blond shared a look with his wife. Why did she seem scared?

"Ok." she said finally. "But can I ask you more questions?"

With a hesitant nod from her village leader, the dinner continued.

Oh god, they're going to read her mind and they're going to do it now.

Ama hadn't been able to sleep a wink that night, panicked thoughts running quickly through her brain.

They're going to find out I'm not from here - That I've snatched away the life of a baby that was supposed to be living in this body, and they're going to know what I know.

It couldn't happen. All her planning and acting would all go to waste otherwise, she'd be examined for the rest of this life, there were going to be consequences for hiding such information for so long and oh lord it was going to be an absolute mess if they found out the truth.

She just didn't realise that the knowledge she spouted yesterday would have consequences, she thought she'd be okay because she was close to Kushina, close to the Uchiha clan head, and above all three years old! Three! Why would you have to control what a three year old knew?

But even as she thought this, she knew. Three year olds couldn't protect themselves. If they had access to more secrets than they should and enemies found out, she'd be a target for spies. She just didn't think it through enough. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

They could even think that she was being...influenced?

She. Just. Didn't. Think. It. Through.

The plan was to put together a string of thoughts regarding a theory on the bijū in front of Minato and Kushina, to get them to think she was a tiny genius and maybe even be more open about it in front of her. She'd be able to freely ask questions so she'd learn more and be able to plan better but noooo. She was too short-sighted, she wasn't careful enough and now she thought about it the plan was dumb as fuck. And she was going to pay for it, by having her mind invaded and read through from beginning to end.

Ama had blanked out the walk with Kushina until they reached a building she had never seen before. She didn't notice that they had entered a corridor now and she realised she was seated next to Kushina in waiting chairs resembling ones in hospitals.

The little Uchiha was shaking. A warm hand held hers and a voice murmured soothingly into her hair.

How could she have been so idiotic?! Of course they would have measures to protect a village secret and she had plunged straight into it. She didn't know what to do now. She didn't have time, she felt so vulnerable, so unprotected. She shook more violently, eyes darting from side to side.

"Su-chan, it's alright. Calm down."

She didn't want this! She caught sight of blond hair and clenched her eyes shut, squeezing Kushina's hand as hard as she could in panic.

Blond hair in a high ponytail. Hand on head. Seals - oh god.

"So, is this Amaterasu?" A cool calm voice radiating peace, just like a psychiatrist. Someone who works with minds.

Fuck. She couldn't do this.

She screamed, wrenched her hand out of Kushina's and bolted, shooting down the hallway as fast as she could with the only thing running through her mind being get out of here get out get out you're not safe.

She crashed into something and instinctively clawed at it, shoving it away and continued blindly on until something wrapped their arms around her back.

"NO!" she screeched, thrashing, breathing hard, panting and sobbing loudly, trying to wiggle out of the grip she was trapped in.

" - Amaterasu, Ama, it's okay, you're safe - "

" - Please calm down Su-chan, it's alright - "

She turned and grabbed a handful of the shirt from the person holding her and ceased her movement at the calming voices. The child tucked her head into the person's neck, not noticing their initial stiffening. They had a familiar scent.

"What's gotten into her?"

"I've never seen her like this."

"Shall we go in?" after a pause.

At the four words the child resumed her panicked tantrum,as if someone had pressed the play button, and she vaguely felt the buzzing of chakra as the person holding her tried to stop her from falling.

"Amaterasu Uchiha!" they finally barked after a few moments of struggling, and said child froze before slowly opening her eyes.

The person she had latched onto was none other than Fugaku Uchiha.

"Please don't let them please." she blubbered through her streaming tears, tightening her grip on his shirt and making him wince. "Please, please Fugaku-sama. Don't let them, don't let them. Please, Promise me. Promise you won't let them."

"Okay, I won't let them." he repeated soothingly. " I promise."

She calmed down slightly as he slowly traced circles on her back, but continued hiccupping and the tears never stopped.

She was so scared.

They stayed like that for a while, until someone stepped out of the room. The fairly aged man with a cane and bandages everywhere focused his gaze on her, and Amaterasu's blood ran cold.

Danzō. Fucking. Shimura.

"I never took you as a person good with children, Fugaku-san." his real, gravelly voice sent chills down her spine.

"Danzō-sama."

Ama didn't know it was possible, but her grip tightened to the extent that her arms started to twinge with pain and her breathing accelerated once more.

"We have matters to discuss with you, as the clan head of this child. I do hope she won't be much more of a problem."

Amaterasu managed to suppress the increasing urge to scream once more as Fugaku slowly stepped into the room with her in his arms. She took in the sight of a semicircular platform with a dome before the salty liquid built up once more and she silently wept. Her arms were aching, her temple was throbbing and her lungs felt constricted in fear. She pushed it down though, she had to keep it in until they finished talking. Fugaku had promised. He promised.

Said leader sat down and turned her so that her back was nestled into his chest, and allowed her to view those present.

Minato and Kushina, both looking quite worried, Danzō, and then her eyes locked with who she recognised as Inoichi Yama – FUCK!

As her face crumpled, Kushina hurriedly stood up and non-so-politely told said man to get the fuck out. Ama returned to quietly sniffling and trying to breath normally. Think, she repeated to herself, you're over thirty years old. But she couldn't, her mind was frazzled with stress and fear and she just didn't know what to do.

"What an undisciplined child." Danzō stated disapprovingly.

"She's not usually like this." Kushina shot back hotly, receiving a calming hand on her shoulder from her husband.

"That's even more suspicious. Lashing out at the thought of being caught, probably. Can you talk, child?" Amaterasu didn't react but continued to whimper.

"Ama-chan, can you tell us what you did yesterday?"

No. No. Forget I said it. I never said it. I didn't mean it.

"Enough of this. Bring in the Yamanaka and get it over with. If it is as you said Hokage-sama, I wouldn't waste my time coddling a potential threat." Danzō said coldly.

"She's not a potential - "

"Are you saying a three-year-old can work out this sort of information, in one afternoon, by itself?" Danzō hissed at the indignant redhead.

"She's not an it, she's a - "

"Silence." Kushina gaped at the elder. Minato's cerulean eyes were frosty as he stepped in front of her.

"I do hope you will refrain from talking to my wife in such a manner again."

The tension in the room heightened her stress and Ama couldn't deal with it anymore. She trembled, eyes wide and started to cry once more. Danzō glared lethally at her and suddenly he was right there, eyes gleaming and lips curled into a sneer, but before she could scream -

Black.

Danzō straightened after having knocked out the child and called for the Yamanaka. Kushina was bristling with fury and hurried over to the slack form in Fugaku's arms. A deep crease was between his brows as he stared down at her with, concern?

"I've never seen her like this." he said, and she nodded, patting the girl's sweaty face with her sleeve.

"There must be something wrong." she mumbled. "Minato, does she have to do this? She can't even stand the sight of Inoichi-san, and she told us she was scared."

The blond looked like he had aged a decade in the last few minutes, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"I just don't really know what's going on." he sighed. "I don't get why Ama's reacting so strongly to this, and it's worrying me. She shouldn't be so scared." Kushina's jaw slacked.

"No. You're not thinking..." she got a weary look in response and flipped. "Minato! She's a child! I've known her since she was a month old and she's always been mature, there is no spy, no third party influence. Something else is obviously wrong! She's completely innocent!"

He didn't get a chance to reply as Inoichi entered with his team. They stationed themselves around the semi-circular platform while Inoichi walked over to them.

"I tried to explain but Danzō-sama's unyielding." he said gravely. "I can't perform this jutsu on her mind, it's too young and weak, especially in this state. She's terrified and forcing it on her may have irreversible effects on her mental stability. She needs to be awake for the procedure."

"Well then we'll have to come back when she's calmer." retorted Kushina.

"And give time for it to recover and possibly escape? That child has very large chakra levels for her supposed age, and you have all said she is strangely mature. What other answer is there to all of this, other than her being under someone's influence?" Danzō's wheezing voice returned along with the click of his cane. "We wouldn't know who they are, where they're from or what their motives are. Yamanaka-san, begin your preparations."

"Are you willing to risk the mental state of potentially innocent child for your theory? Don't. You. Fucking. Touch. Her. Inoichi."

The redhead noticed that her voice had become lower, more gravelly, and that all she could feel was rage. Tension coiled her body like a spring and fury coursed through her veins, it would be so easy to just snap that ugly little -

"Kushina." one murmur from her husband and the feeling slowly died down. Fugaku wasn't letting go of Ama, looking troubled.

"As the Hokage's wife, I'd expect you to have more control and see the bigger picture. Think of the village. Isn't it true that this child killed her own mother by draining too much of her chakra?" Danzō continued. "That child isn't normal anyway, and you all know it. Now's the opportunity to find out why."

Fugaku stiffened beside her and Kushina realised that he was staring at the child blankly, lost in his thoughts.

"Fugaku, you can refuse right? You're her clan head, none of this has to happen if you don't want it to, right?" she said desperately, shaking off the hand on her shoulder. Said clan head didn't say anything but stood and slowly walked over to the dome.

"Let's just get it over with."

When she next regained consciousness she found that she couldn't move.

The familiar cold panic coursed through her veins and her eyes shot open, just to see Inoichi come into the room. She strained her neck down to see that yes, she was encased by the dome and yes, there were a team of people on the platform behind her, all going through handseals.

"No, please. Please no." she whispered, trying to move, trying to thrash, trying to get out, to get away from the man that was slowly advancing towards her.

The man who was going to reveal her secrets. Undo all she had planned for this world. Ruin a new life that she could potentially have enjoyed and...

...Cut ties from everyone she had come to know and love from her three years here. Their faces flashed before her eyes as she started to hyperventilate.

Shisui. Nii-san. Her brother. Her only blood relation in this whole world.

(Blood running down his face like tears as he smiled, before tipping himself over the edge of the cliff. He was only seventeen.)

The door opened once more and her hope crashed when Danzō stepped inside.

(He shot past, abandoning his cane, and a horrible squelching noise was followed a scream of agony that pierced through the air.)

"Danzō–sama, I must warn you once more that the child's mental stability - "

"You've told me this before. What's important is that we know that there isn't an enemy who knows this information. Now, proceed."

Ama clenched her eyes shut as the Yamanaka came closer. She cried harder, begging for Kushina, Minato, Mikoto, anyone.

"Fugaku-sama!" she sobbed. "You promised! You promised!"

She couldn't be found out. She would be taken away, she wouldn't be able to do anything to help her clan, her brother, her friends. She had to protect them from this man. This man standing right here. Danzō.

No. It wasn't going to happen. A rustling, then the weight of a hand on her head. She wasn't going to let it happen.

"NO."

Her eyes flew open and glowing crimson locked with a startled green.

It was at this point Ama knew...

...she fucked up.

I'm back! Hope you enjoy, sorry if it seems rushed!

I have an announcement to make! As of today, 01/06/16, the beta for this story is... Simone, better known as RADIOPOISONING!

Send some love! We're in the process of working out details and going over the first chapters so expect a few changes!

Love you always,

Lei xx

EDIT 22/10/16