DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto or it's characters, nor the canon plot. I hope you enjoy!

A/N: I've written this one in third person point-of-view just to see if I would like it, and I think I like it better than first person. What do you guys think? Enjoy! Italics is a flashback, by the way.

"Concentrate."

"I'm trying, sensei!"

"Try harder."

Misaki's chest reverberated with an aggravated growl before falling quiet and focusing on where her sensei was hiding. Not only was she tasked with finding where Yuito-sensei was hidden, but she had to do it in the dark of night with her eyes closed.

Allowing her mind to clear of all thought, she extended the chakra that was available to her, using it to search her surroundings. Yuito-sensei wasn't kidding when he had said that he wasn't going to go easy on her. She was seven now, but this sort of training was better suited to more experienced kids. She wasn't complaining, however. She knew that it would pay off in the long run.

With a gasp of excitement, Misaki sensed a flicker of her sensei's chakra in one of the trees to her right. Pulling a shuriken out of the pack on her side, she flung it in the direction that she thought her sensei to be. Opening her eyes to see if it was the correct target, she just sighed when the clone disappeared. He had tricked her again.

"You're going to have to work on differentiating shadow clones from real people."

Turning to face her sensei, she crossed her arms. "How am I supposed to do that when the clone's signature is exactly like yours, sensei?"

"It's not. If you look deep enough, past the surface, it's different."

Misaki bowed to her sensei and returned to full height, sending him a nod and a smile. "Yes, Yuito-sensei."

The training session was interrupted when the cry of a hawk echoed throughout the training ground they were using for the meeting. It was a distress call. Iruka-sensei had educated them all on the different types of distress calls that were used in the Hidden Leaf Village. There were Green, Yellow, and Red alerts, each distinguished by how many calls the hawk released. The Green alert was three cries, and was used to summon the Jounin of the village to the Hokage. The Yellow was five cries, and was used to summon both the Jounin and Chunin to the Hokage's office. The Red was the highest security alert, seven cries. It sent the village into a state of lockdown and summoned ninja of all ranks to the Hokage's office to await orders. Tonight, the security alert was only a Green, but Yuito-sensei looked tense anyway as he said his goodbyes and left in a hurry toward the Hokage's office. Disheartened that her training session was cut short, but curious about the alert, Misaki took her leave of the training grounds.

….

Walking back into her house, Misaki was startled when she was pulled into a relived hug from Katsuko. It was only natural that she be worried. Even civilians were educated on the alerts that the village used so that they could prepare for evacuation if needed.

"I'm fine, mom. Really. It's only a Green." Misaki had felt that her adoptive parents had earned the right to be called mom and dad. Her and her brother had lived with the couple for a little over a year and they had done everything to make sure that they settled in well. They were Misaki's encouragement and security at the same time, and she was grateful for them. Katsuko released the young girl from her grasp and sent her a soft smile.

"I know, sweetie, but I still worry. Dinner's ready."

Misaki jump-started at the mention of food, and sauntered into the kitchen to be met with the delicious scent of dinner. Miki wove around her feet in greeting, and curled up under her chair to rest. Looks like she had already eaten. Ikuto sat in his seat, already in the process of scarfing down his food. He was four now, capable of speech and giving Misaki even more hell than he ever had before. She loved him all the same. Gakushi sat down when his wife took her place, and they began to eat.

…..

The next day at school, Misaki noticed that Sasuke Uchiha was absent. He wasn't someone who usually skipped out on class, so she thought this strange. Especially when he didn't show up the two days after that, as well.

Misaki brought the topic up during one of her after-school training sessions with Yuito-sensei. Performing the stretch routine that he had taught her, she sent a curious look in her sensei's direction. "Yuito-sensei?"

"Hmm?" He was leaned up against one of the trees in the training ground, using the shade it created to his advantage.

Finishing the last stretch of the routine, Misaki walked over to stand beside the relaxed man. "Do you know if there's anything wrong with Sasuke Uchiha? He's been absent from class for a few days."

Yuito's eyes met Misaki's inquisitive ones, as he placed a hand on her left shoulder and bent down to her level. "Do you remember the other night when the town was placed on an alert?" Yuito-sensei continued when Misaki answered his question with a nod. "Well, he's connected to the reason why."

"Is he okay?"

Yuito seemed to give a lot of thought to the question Misaki had asked. "Physically, yes. But he probably won't be as he once was."

"Why?"

"Have you heard of Itachi? Sasuke's older brother?"

Misaki remembered the younger Uchiha mentioning his older brother one day at the academy.

"That's really cool!"

Misaki grinned as she hit the training dummy and followed up with a quick kick before turning to face the Uchiha boy by her side. "Thanks, Sasuke. My sensei taught me that, so really he's the one that's cool."

Misaki received a confused glance from Sasuke at the mention of her sensei. "Iruka-sensei?"

Misaki smiled and shook her head, before sending a few more punches to the dummy in front of her. "No, my parents hired a trainer to train me after school on weekdays."

"Oh. Well, that's still pretty cool."

Misaki nodded in gratitude at the boy as he performed his own taijutsu moves on the dummy next to hers. "Who teaches you, Sasuke? You didn't learn those moves from Iruka-sensei, either."

Sasuke smiled in pride as he glanced back over to the girl training by his side. "My brother, Itachi. He's probably the most powerful ninja I know, and he's really talented."

The two ceased their training in favor of taking a short break. Each of them picked up the water bottles that students were required to carry while practicing any kind of jutsu. Iruka-sensei must have had a bad experience with dehydration to require such a thing, but it certainly wasn't something to complain about. "You've never mentioned your brother before."

"Really?" Misaki shook her head to answer the young boy's question before he continued speaking. "Well, he's great. I'm going to be just like him when I get older."

"I'd like to meet him." Sasuke looked to Misaki in shock, before matching her smile with one of his own.

"Sure."

"Yeah, I remember Sasuke mentioning him during training one day. He said that he wanted to be just like Itachi and he was going to take me to meet him."

Yuito-sensei closed his eyes and sighed before releasing Misaki's shoulder in favor of leaning against the tree once more. "Itachi murdered his entire clan that night, leaving only Sasuke alive."

Misaki inhaled deeply in shock, but kept her eyes on her sensei to be sure that it wasn't just a cruel joke of some sort.

"We were called to search the village for Itachi, but he had fled and there was no trace of him anywhere. He covered his tracks well." Misaki lowered her gaze to the ground beneath her feet, feeling her anger swell deep inside of her gut. Sasuke had idolized Itachi, even going so far as to say that he wanted to be exactly like him when he was grown. That kind of betrayal is unforgivable. Thinking of Sasuke, her anger morphed into pity. She knew how he felt, and it was a pain that would always be with him.

"So, try to be easy on Sasuke and avoid the topic of the incident at school, huh?"

Misaki asked no more questions about that night, only nodded and readied herself for another grueling training session. A rigorous training session didn't stop the bad feeling in her gut, however.

…..

When Sasuke returned to the academy, it was obvious that the experience had changed him. Knowing better than to approach him, Misaki just let him be. It was probably one of the best things that she could do for him. The brooding demeanor that came with Sasuke's tragic experience was apparently attractive to a majority of the female population. Every day that passed, more and more girls were drawn to him, including Ino and Sakura. Naruto grew jealous of the brooding boy, and soon a rivalry between the two was birthed. In any other circumstance, Misaki would have found the situation amusing but she only felt more pity for the boy. The last thing that he wanted was attention, she could tell. Maybe one day he would return to his old self.

Maybe one day.

A/N: Graduation will most likely be in the next one, along with a sneak peak of some of Misaki's new skills that she's gained from her training. :) Review and let me know what you think!