Kyoko speed-walked to the Academy, eager to pick up Dai and train with Kurenai. She couldn't believe her sensei wanted to train her personally! There was a skip in her step as she reached the steps to the Academy. She waited with the other parents and siblings until the classes were let out. The bell rang and every kid in the Academy ran out. Kyoko scanned the herd of children, trying to find Dai. She spotted him a split second before he tackled her enthusiastically, knocking her a step back.
"I love it when you pick me up!" He said, rubbing his face into her shirt. Kyoko ruffled his hair.
"We have to get home quickly. I have to train with my sensei." She said, trying to pry his arms from around her waist.
"You're always training! Can't I come?" He asked, his arms still around Kyoko's body.
"I'm working on some really advanced stuff. I'm the only one out of my squad that my sensei is teaching this. It'll be boring." She said.
"I don't care." He said.
"Fine. But you HAVE to let me go!" Kyoko said.
Dai detached himself and grabbed her hand, letting her lead the way to Kurenai. He had a smile on his face and a skip to his step as they walked to the river.
"Kyoko!" Kyoko turned her head to see Naruto running towards her. "Can you help me with my Shadow Clone jutsu?" He stopped right in front of her. Him and Dai shared a look.
"Not right now, Naruto. I have to go train with my sensei. Maybe later?" She said. Dai's hand tightened around hers.
"Alright, fine." He seemed a bit disappointed. After a pause, he said, "I'll see you tonight!" He quickly ran off.
"No! Naruto! I didn't mean later tonight!" Kyoko hung her head. "That kid." She mumbled to herself.
Kyoko started walking again with Dai in tow. He was quieter this time. They were walking in silence for a minute or so before he spoke up.
"Kyoko?" He whispered. She looked down at him.
"Yeah?"
"Why don't you ever help me train? You're always helping Naruto and he's not your brother." Dai looked at the ground as he spoke.
"Well Naruto doesn't have any family and I'm his only friend, so there aren't many people to help him. You have your mom and my dad to help you. He needs me more." She said, keeping her gaze on Dai.
"Yeah, but shouldn't family come first and not him? I need your help too."
"Dai, you just started the Academy. If you start struggling and need my help, I'll help you. Naruto needs me now though. I'm the only person he has right now." She squeezed his hand.
"I just want to spend more time with you." He pressed his cheek against her hand.
"I know. I promise we'll spend more time together soon. I'm just really busy right now." She thought about Itachi and his mission. In six months it would all be over and she would have more time to spend with Dai. She bit her lip. More time with Dai because Itachi doesn't need her because the Uchiha clan is dead. Oh how she hoped it wouldn't come to that. She didn't want Itachi to be responsible for that.
Dai didn't notice her dark thoughts and his mood brightened with the thought of spending time with his sister in the future. The skip returned in his step and he started chattering about his day.
"But Misoki didn't finish his homework, so he tried to copy off of mine, but I told the teacher and he yelled at him." Dai finished.
"Well it's a good thing you didn't let him cheat." Kyoko said.
"Great ninjas don't cheat." Dai said.
The two of them reached the river, where Kurenai was already waiting with her arms crossed in front of her.
"Brought an audience, I see." She remarked with a small smile.
"He wanted to watch." Kyoko rubbed the back of her head nervously.
"That's fine. As long as he stays on dry land and doesn't try it himself." Kurenai said. Kyoko looked at Dai pointedly.
"I promise I won't do anything! I'll just watch!" He said, turning to the puppy eyes. Kyoko sighed.
"You better. I don't want to have to drag you from the water." She said.
"Good. Now that that's settled," Kurenai stepped onto the river. Kyoko and Dai's eyes widened as she stayed perfectly balanced on the surface of the water. "Let's begin. You'll want to gather chakra on the soles of your feet and, since water is fluid, the amount of chakra you'll need will be changing constantly. You've shown good chakra control during training, so I'm confident you'll pick this up easily."
Kyoko nodded. She concentrated and focused her chakra on the soles of her feet, like she does with tree climbing. She exhaled slowly and took a step onto the river. She fell in immediately. When she surfaced from the water, she heard Dai laughing hysterically.
"Oh shut up!" She yelled. She threw a kunai at his feet and he stopped instantly.
"Sorry, I just expected you to be more graceful." He said with a smile.
"I'd like to see you try this!" Kyoko yelled.
"You said I couldn't, so nyeh!" He stuck his tongue at her.
"You little twerp!" Kyoko started lifting herself out of the water and Dai stepped back nervously.
"Now stop teasing her. She has to focus if she's going to master this technique. I knew you wouldn't get it right away, Kyoko. Gather your chakra and try again." Kurenai interrupted. Kyoko had made it out of the river.
She stood dripping on the river bank and reluctantly turned away from Dai after sending a warning glance his way. She closed her eyes and focused her chakra again. She stepped nervously on the water, keeping one foot on solid ground. It sunk into the river slightly, but didn't fall in. With more confidence, Kyoko placed her other foot on the water. She managed to stay on the surface for a few seconds before she fell in again. Dai snickered, but stopped once Kyoko's head resurfaced. Kurenai glanced at Dai and smirked.
"The water is moving constantly." Kurenai turned her attention back to Kyoko. "Your chakra flow has to change constantly as well. Keep trying." She urged.
Kyoko dragged herself back out of the river and tried again. Each time she tried, she managed to stay on the water a bit longer. It reached the point that she could stand for a minute before she fell in. Kyoko dragged herself out of the river once more and lied down on the ground, panting.
"I don't have enough chakra to continue on. I'll just get worse." Kyoko said, her voice half-muffled by the grass. Kurenai smiled at her student and stepped closer to her until Kyoko was staring at her feet.
"That was good, though. We'll continue tomorrow, same time. Get some rest tonight." She said before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
Dai walked up to his sister. Kyoko buried her face further in the grass and mumbled something. He titled his head and stared down at her. Kyoko picked her head up.
"Let's go home." She said. Dai laid down on her back.
"I don't want to go home. Then I have to do homework." He said. Kyoko sighed.
"Fine." She was tired anyway and doubted she could make it home at the moment. She laid her head back down on the grass and closed her eyes.
They laid together on the grass until Kyoko had enough energy to stand up and make it home. Dai held her hand as they walked back. Once they made it through the door, Tama's voice rang through the house.
"Where have you two been?!" She yelled, stepping into the foyer in front of the door. Kyoko rubbed the back of her head nervously.
"Well, you see-"
"I sent you to pick up Dai nearly three hours ago! I was worried sick about you two!" Tama yelled. She had a wooden spoon in her hand and was waving it threateningly.
"Dai wanted to see me train. I haven't been spending that much time with him, so I figured why not?" Kyoko said timidly. "I told you I had training by the river, so figured you could find us if you really needed to."
"Oh." Her face softened and she blinked. "I guess that's okay. That's actually pretty sweet that you're spending more time with your brother . . . " Her face darkened. "But you could have at least told me!"
"Sorry!" Kyoko said, her hands held up in surrender.
Later that night, when Kyoko stepped into her bedroom to sleep, a voice floated to her from the darkness.
"Kyoko?" She squinted her eyes to see better and saw the headband reflecting moonlight at her and a figure with long, dark hair sitting on her bed.
"Itachi?" She whispered. "What are you doing here?"
His hand patted the bed next to him and Kyoko sat down. She looked at him, trying to read his expression.
After a moment, he spoke. "Things are getting worse. Soon I'll have to . . ." He trailed off. Kyoko grabbed his hand. "I don't want to. I don't want to do it. Please don't let them make me do it." He leaned his face down to her chest. "Please, Kyoko, they're going to make me into a monster."
Kyoko was shocked at the sudden emotion from Itachi. He very rarely showed it. She felt wetness on her shirt and cautiously petted his head.
"If the Uchiha's are trying to start an uprising, you know what that will do. Putting this pressure on you is horrible, though." She paused, searching for the right words. "Physically, you can do it. You're the best ninja I know. Emotionally, I'll be here to help you. I'll be here to make sure the Itachi I met is the Itachi after . . . that." She couldn't bring herself to say it. She bit her lip. "We'll continue to train and we won't think about it until the day that it HAS to happen. The day before we'll go and get dango together and it'll be the best day of your life. The day after . . . I'll be here just like everything is normal. We'll talk about nonsense things and keep our minds off of it." Tears began to stream down her face. "And we'll be okay."
Kyoko wrapped her arms tightly around Itachi and held him as they both wept at the horrible things to come. He lifted his head slightly, but not enough that she could see his face.
"Thank you Kyoko." He whispered.
