"Ah! Jeez!" I yelled out, holding my now bleeding arm. I looked up at my temporary teacher, glaring at him. "Shisui, what the hell?!" He laughed nervously, scratching his head. "You need to move faster." He paused, looking at my ankles. "What's with the weights, anyway?"

I kicked the dirt in his direction before answering. "Fugaku said I need to wear them to increase my speed. So I have to keep them on." He gave a chuckle. "Ah, good ol' Fugaku. He's pretty strict on you, isn't he?" I nodded, holding my tanto out in front of me again, signalling I was ready to begin. He nodded, and jumped in, our swords clashing with each other, creating a few sparks.

Shisui's style of swordplay was very straightforward, and required a lot of strength. Mine was more of a dance, and even though I was a total klutz, it worked for me very well. Ever since Shisui started training me, my swordsmanship had increased a lot, which was good because we were less than a week from the finals. I needed to catch up to Itachi if I didn't want to get totally decimated in the exams.

I deflected another swipe from my partner. "I'm going to get my ass kicked, aren't I?" I asked him with disappointment on my face. "Absolutely not. I won't allow it. Itachi may have beaten you before, but this is where you turn tables." I looked at him disapprovingly. "Yeah? Me and what army?"

He gave me a pose showing off his miniscule muscles and a bright smile. "Me of course!" I found it almost impossible not to smile. For someone so smart, he sure could act like a fool. "Alright, what's next then?" He gave an evil smirk, "Your body flicker. I want it to be flawless." I crossed my arms.

"Like you right?" I answered sarcastically, although I don't think that's the way he took it. He gave another smile and a thumbs up. "Yes, exactly like me." I rolled my eyes, and then pointed to a spot near the tree line of our training field. He nodded, and I started the flicker. I tried to keep it steady, but was struggling towards the end, making it waver the last couple of seconds.

"You focus too much in the beginning. That's not when it matters. Watch me." He flickered, and I noticed that he only 'faltered' in the beginning, moving one way then the complete opposite in the last couple seconds. Jumping again, I focused on only hiding myself in the last stretch, ending in a bit of a crouch. I looked up to him excitedly, and got a nod of approval. I jumped with joy, and tried again and again, getting it right every time.

"Alright, alright. Enough jumping around. If you're going to face Itachi, then you need to learn how to move faster than him, so we have to do a bit of speed training." He brought out two more weights, presumably for my wrists, and a rope. I took the weights and put them on, then raised an eyebrow at the rope.

"You'll see!" he said with a goofy smile before telling me to turn around. I did as told, and then felt something around my waist. I lifted my arms and looked down, seeing two hands and a rope. I immediately turned around, a glare set on my face. "You're tying rope around me, why?" He only took my shoulders and pushed me back around. "Alright, now you can run." I huffed and pushed my hair back behind my hair band.

I took my first step, feeling the weight and the strain now against my waist. I tried running, but was held in place by the boy behind me. "You know you're supposed to let up a bit so I can at least get a couple feet ahead, you dork." I felt him let up a bit and started to run. And damn, it was a bit hard. He put up a bit of resistance, but otherwise I was good to go.

We did the resistant running for about an hour before I got tired and just fell forward, yet I did not hit the ground. "Shisui, just end my suffering now." I heard a laugh, "Are you sure you want me to do that?" I grunted in response, and felt the line loosen. I fell forward, my face planting itself in the dirt. All my breath left me, and I deflated in exhaustion. "My tiny little ten year old body can't handle this training." He struggled to keep in his laugh, and I didn't even have enough energy to chew him out over it.

Training is so much fun.

….

The finalists stood in the stadium, all lined up in front of the proctor awaiting instructions. I had to move my hair down to try and cover my black eye, given to me by Shisui when we trained this morning because he thought it would be a good idea to have a fist fight. I glanced up to the boy in the stands, seeing him sit next to Fugaku and Mikoto, Sasuke on her lap looking as excited as ever to see his brother fight. He gave me a sheepish grin and thumbs up as Fugaku glared at him, probably already have given him an earful.

We met up earlier with the family to walk to the stadium together, Shisui trying to hide behind me, attempting to hide from the older man. When I was inquired about my eye, I only threw my thumb back to the boy behind me, and the glaring commenced from Fugaku, while Itachi only sighed at our antics.

Itachi stood beside me, as proper as ever, standing as straight as a pole. Mangetsu stood on my other side, chewing on his water bottle straw, making the most annoying squeaking noise with it. I, on the other hand, had my shoulders slumped and arms crossed, glaring at the boy in the stands.

The proctor coughed, getting our attention. He explained the rule to us, which were the exact same as the secondary exam. Fight until one gives up or dies. No interference from the ref unless absolutely necessary. The first matchup was between Maen and one of the two Suna shinobi. From what I gathered, the Suna shinobi was a wind user, and used his jutsu to make himself faster, giving me an idea of using it as well.

Maen was easily more skilled than he. It was the speed of his opponent that was a struggle for him. Maen was always trying to keep the space between himself and the other shinobi, keeping his shadows on the kids' tail. The chase seemed to go on and on, to the point where they eventually headed into taijutsu, Maen having the heavier hits, but the other kid having faster movement. Finally though, Maen was able to land a solid hit to the kids jaw, knocking him out cold. He was declared winner, and made his way back up to the observatory where Itachi and I congratulated him on his win.

"That was a little long winded, Maen." I told the boy with a small smirk. I received a glare and a flick to the nose. "Don't do that again." I laughed, rubbing my nose, trying to get rid of the sting. We moved to the railing, waiting to see who would be announced to go down next. It was two Iwa shinobi, which I did not know. It seemed as though they were teammates, the boy of the two getting a bit nervous fighting his female counterpart.

It was awful. The fight was so one sided it was disgusting. The boy didn't put any effort in, afraid of hitting his teammate, while she held no remorse, beating him into the ground. He had to be taken out on a stretcher, and the disappointment was quite clear on the girl's face. I shook my head, unable to look any longer.

The next match was announced, Itachi and one of the Iwa kids being called to the field. Itachi seemed to be holding his chakra for the last round; which he would no doubt reach. He was on the other kid like mud on a pig. He was showing his taijutsu prowess, not letting his opponent get the upper hand for even a moment. The kid had so many cuts from Itachi's sword; he eventually gave up in fear of dying to blood loss. Itachi bowed to his opponent, and then made his way up to us, where I gave him a high five, congratulating him on his match.

A Kumo and Kiri shinobi were called to the floor. I unfortunately did not get to watch, getting fed up with Mangetsu's idiocy with his stupid water bottle. "Will you stop with the squeaking of the straw?!" I yelled at him, trying to grab the water bottle out of his hand. "Oi! Hands away from me, pipsqueak!" He retorted, hitting me on the head with said bottle. I growled at him, trying to jump after him, only to be held back by my teammates, who then proceeded to apologize for me.

"Suchiru, you can't just go after the other contestants like that." Itachi scolded, holding the bridge of his nose in agitation. I crossed my arms, "That stupid straw was annoying me. He doesn't know how to keep quiet!" I told him, the last part loud enough for the boy in question to hear, only to have him playing with the straw even more. Maen approached the two of us, pointing down to the field. "Suchiru, you're up." I smiled brightly, jumping over the railing and landing in a role, popping up when I reached the proctor.

The match started as soon as the Iwa shinobi I was facing showed up. Another earth user, so it shouldn't be too hard. I started off with taijutsu, trying to get a feel for their strength. We clashed, kunai and tanto creating sparks as we fought. I twisted my body, kicking him in the stomach, causing him to fly back a bit. He landed on his feet, and quickly jumped back while creating hand signs. The earth split, causing me to jump back to avoid the damage. The boy was after me in an instant, going for the stab. I pulled my tanto back out and shoved it into the ground, using it to spin around and swiftly kick him again. He landed on his side, then rolled to get back up. I formed a few signs of my own, and throwing lightning needles at him, a few of them sending shocks through his body. I moved in as quick as I could, allowing my blade to take the lightning nature in it, and slicing his chest with it. I cart wheeled away, bringing my tanto up in front of me, ready for retaliation. The boy in front on the other side of the stadium collapsed to the ground, my lightning numbing him enough where he couldn't move. I was declared winner, and I bowed to my opponent, and then moved to the stands with my team.

Mangetsu and another Iwa kid were next up. Mangetsu won this match easily, the Iwa shinobi having a fire affinity. He boasted the whole way up, then approached me and annoyed me with his straw, making me punch him repeatedly while my teammates attempted to get me off of him. Maen had to leave, his match with the Iwa girl beginning.

This match was intense. The two of them had earth affinities, so the ground had been totally destroyed, but it gave plenty of areas to hide his shadows. Though, she was familiar with the terrain, and was able to out maneuver him, forcing him to use taijutsu. He eventually gave up, valuing his life more than the battle, but Itachi informed me he had done it because he had no chakra left. I had a weird sense of déjà vu, but waved it off.

Maen joined us, laughing at his battle. I asked if he was alright with losing, given that there was more of a chance that he wouldn't get chunin, but he seemed pretty alright with it. "It's not about winning anyway; it's about the strategies you use and whatnot. I'm not worried." Was his response. I nodded hesitantly, because Itachi and the same girl from Iwa was being called to the center of the stadium, and depending on who won the fight, it would be relatively easy, or I would be facing Itachi, and just the thought alone was making me incredibly nervous. He hadn't used much chakra in comparison to me, and was definitely more skilled.

I rubbed my hands together nervously while watching them fight. Itachi clearly had the upper hand, but I felt like he was dragging it on much longer than he needed to. He was continually casting weak genjutsus on her, keeping her away from him. What was he doing? Giving me more time to prepare myself? Usually I wouldn't mind having a good spar with him. But this was a fight; a fight to the death. Or at least until one or the other gave up. And in front of a full stadium no less. My nerves were getting to me. I despised crowds, especially when all their eyes were on me.

Their match ended as Itachi gave her a chance to surrender with his sword at her throat, and she took it. Begrudgingly, she made her way of the field limping, her head hung low in defeat. I was then called down to the final match of the exam. I jumped down from the balcony, landing in a crouch, and then walked to my opponent and the proctor.

"The final match between Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Suchiru will now commence." he announced to the crowd as they cheered, excited to see this particular match. I held out my shaking hand, "Good luck Itachi, even though we both know you don't need it." He smiled at me, taking my hand and shaking it. "Good luck, Suchiru." We stepped back and got into fighting stances, of course his looking much more like the Uchiha style than mine. The proctor's hand had raised, and everyone held their breath. It shot down quickly and the match began,

We both darted in, starting off with taijutsu, just to see how serious the other was. As we fought, I tried to get the idea of him just being an opponent in my head. 'This is no longer Itachi to me, he's an enemy and they must be eliminated. ' My eyes glazed over a bit, and I was able to hit him harder. I swiftly grabbed my tanto, attempting to cut him with it before he could react, but I was too slow. He whipped out a kunai to deflect my swipe, and quickly grabbed his own sword. We fought with them, sparks flying and cuts were administered to both of us, though I unfortunately had more.

I dove in for an attack, and threw my tanto, forcing him to dodge then threw more shuriken at him quickly. I hit with one, but it didn't slow him down any. He came at me, sword in hand and I pulled out a kunai, blocking his attack then pushing it off, punching his cheek. He flew back a bit, but rolled away and stood back up quickly. I smirked, making some hand signs and the kunai I held sparked to life. He made his own signs, then proceeded to spit out water, cover about half of the field. I threw the kunai away quickly, and it hit the water, electrocuting it and making it a no man zone.

I used my wind style, pushing the water towards him, then it froze up, spikes pointed in his direction. I used it to my advantage, jumping over them as quick as I could and grabbed Itachi, throwing him into them. He was impaled, many of the ice spikes coming through his body. But no blood. His body quickly started to distort itself, crows flying in every direction and all around me, making it near impossible to see. I swatted them away, only to see Itachi coming at me with my own tanto. I bent backwards, feeling the wind of it on the tip of my nose. I quickly spun on my hands, using my wind style to speed my movements up.

We engaged in taijutsu again, our movements becoming blurred. I saw red, and proceeded to avoid his eyes. I knew he would never use it on me, but it's better to be safe than sorry. I paid attention to his hands and his body movements, cursing at my luck. I jumped up ad over him, throwing shuriken at him from the air, and landed behind him, grabbing my tanto he discarded. I made quick swipes at him, cutting him only once, and then jumped back again. It's impossible to get close to him without him having the upper hand. I have to do something to increase my speed!' I looked up into the stands as Itachi and I stood across from each other, catching our breath.

Shisui was cheering me on, and Sasuke was trying to compete with him by cheering for his brother. Fugaku seemed to be satisfied by what he was seeing, and Mikoto seemed to be very into the match, her eyes wide and hands clasped together in anticipation. I mouthed a sorry to Fugaku, and he furrowed his brows. I sat down; my legs crossed and went for my ankles. Itachi raised his brows from where he was standing, but quickly covered it with a small smile.

I undid the velcro that held the weights together and tossed them to the side. I stood up again, testing out my now free legs. I felt so much lighter, now that I had nothing slowing down my movements. I got into my stance again, and Itachi tensed up, now ready to fight once again. I flickered in spot for a moment before moving forward, appearing in front of him, kicking him in the stomach and watching him fly back, landing on his back and quickly rolling to stand up.

I gave him no time to recover, jumping after him and going to punch his crouching form. He jumped back and I hit the ground, leaving a good crack behind after I lifted my fist. He came after me, throwing kunai and shuriken as quick as he could, and I could only deflect a few. Cuts were all over my arms and legs, and I gripped a kunai that stabbed my shoulder, and threw it to the ground, probably a bit more dramatically than I needed to. I started making signs for a wind style jutsu, and he quickly made some for his fire ball jutsu, making me unable to cast mine. I hastily made a wall to hide behind, jumping out as soon as the fire ceased, and started up my lightning thief jutsu, the lightning dancing between my palms. I casted it forward, attempting to catch him with it.

I chased him around the stadium with it, dodging anything he threw at me. My lightning dissipated, and I shook my hands to get the numb feeling out of them. 'I'm running out of chakra. I need to end this.' I flickered towards him, trying to catch him off guard, only to get clotheslined when I was halfway through. I coughed and landed on my side, one hand on the ground trying to lift myself up, and the other around my neck, trying to get my breath back. He stood over me, sword pointed at my head, and I knew it was over. I could use my iron sand to get out of it, but that would be revealing myself to everyone here. I couldn't do it. I grunted and rolled onto my back, letting out a big sigh of defeat. I lifted my hands up in defense.

"I know when I'm defeated. I surrender." The crowed erupted into cheer as the proctor signalled the end of the match. A hand appeared in front of my face, and I took it. Itachi and I shook hands, and I congratulated him. "Well you certainly didn't make it easy for me, I hope you know." I laughed, rubbing the back of my head. "I tried not to." He smiled, then put a hand on my shoulder.

"Next time Shisui teaches you some to 'get ahead' of me, make sure it's something I don't know how to out maneuver." he said with a wink and my head dropped. "I should have known you knew how to counter that." The proctor walked over to the two of us, allowing the Itachi and I to go join the rest of the contestants on the balcony as the Hokage gave the finishing speech. We nodded, joining Maen and getting congratulations from him and some of the others.

After the speech, everyone in the stands began to file out, going home for the day. Itachi and I waited for the majority masses to leave before exiting ourselves. We walked through the door, spotting his family waiting out of the way of the door. Sasuke brightened up immediately when he saw his older brother, running up to him and telling him how cool he looked in the tournament. Shisui came up to me and slung his arm around my shoulders.

"That was some pretty good fighting you did out there, Suchiru. It's a shame that you couldn't beat Itachi." I sighed, looking up at the older boy. "Yeah well, I guess I couldn't beat him with something he already knew how to get around." Shisui blinked, then smiled goofily. "Yeah, I guess I forgot about that." I gave him an unbelieving stare.

"You mean that the three weeks that we were training for, you didn't remember that you use the body flicker to fight against him?" He waved his hand dismissively, "I get forgetful sometimes. Forgive me, your majesty." I only laughed at him, and then a sharp pain in my shoulder jolted me to a stop.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked me before seeing my hand, blood seeping between my fingers. "It's a small cut I got while fighting Itachi. I'll be fine." I told him, trying to smile through the pain. He rolled his eyes, then proceeded to pick me up, carrying me past the family we walked behind. "I'm taking her to the hospital. We should be back for dinner."

I huffed, glaring up at the boy. "I can walk, you know." He shook his head, his grip tightening on me. "Nope. Can't chance it." I closed my eyes, holding the bridge of my nose. "You are being dramatic, Shisui. I'm fine." He laughed. "As if you didn't know that before." He walked us in the front doors of the hospital, and to the front desk. He informed them that I had a wound and they told us to go to the emergency room just down the hallway. He thanked her and we made our way down the hall.

"That was a pretty good fight between you two, to be honest. Out of all the contestants he faced, you were the most difficult." I waved him off, "You're just saying that. He could have handed my ass to me at any point in that fight." Shisui shook his head. "No, I'm serious. I was watching him. At the end of the fight, that fireball, was the last jutsu he could use. He was using the sharingan the whole match, and it took its toll on him." The nurse walked over, getting all her instruments together. I thought about it. He did have to do three matches in a row, so there's no doubt that he would have been a bit tired from them.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The nurse directed at Shisui. He looked over to me and I nodded, letting him know I'd be fine. "I'll find you somewhere out there when I'm done. Shouldn't be too long anyway." He nodded, "Alright. See you in a bit." He left, leaving the nurse and me alone. She motioned for me to take my coat off, and I complied.

"Oh dear. Training accident?" She asked me as I revealed the wound. I shook my head no and took the coat off fully, showing the cuts and bruises I received during the exam. "Oh dear, what happened to you?" I shrugged my shoulders. "I was in the chunin exams. They just ended about half an hour ago." She then smiled.

"Well that's good. How far did you make it?" she asked me as she started healing my wound. "Oh, I was in the finals. I lost, sadly." She nodded, too concentrated to speak. She put pressure on the wound, making me wince, but otherwise it went alright.

"Alright, all finished. Don't move your shoulder too much. If you happen to reopen it, just come back here and I'll fix it up again." She told me, waving her finger. I promised I would try to stay out of trouble, and left the room to find Shisui. I walked out to the lobby, waving down the boy who dragged me here in the first place. He stood up, "How's the shoulder?" I moved it up and down a bit, making sure not to bother it too much. "It's all good, and now all I have are bruises." I told him as we walked out the front of the hospital, starting our way to the main Uchiha household.

"Well that's good then. Now all you have to do is wait to see if you've become chunin! Which I have no doubt you did." He told me, and I nodded. It would be interesting for sure, if I become chunin, because at that point, I can be picked up to be part of ANBU or to be a tokubetsu jonin, which would be highly unlikely, given I'm not part of a specific clan that takes part in that kind of stuff. Then there's the problem of the sharingan awakening. I'm sure people will eventually start questioning that I don't have it yet, and Fugaku will either have to lie about my identity, or reveal who I actually am. But I guess until that point in time I won't have to worry about it too much.

We arrived at home and walked through the front door, taking our shoes off and walking down the hallway to get to the kitchen. Mikoto was instantly there to block my way and turn me right back around. "There is no way I am allowing you to step foot into the kitchen young lady!" I tensed up at her words, trying to think if I did something to upset her. "Is this because I lost? It wasn't on purpose, I swear." I told her quickly, trying to save myself.

"Good heavens no. It's because you're filthy. Go get washed up. Then you can come in." I blushed with embarrassment and went to my room, gathering up a spare set of clothes and made my way to the bathroom. I washed myself down, making sure to get all the blood and dirt off of me, then changed into a high collared dark blue t-shirt, black leggings and beige shorts on top of them. I walked back out to the kitchen, getting a nod of approval from Mikoto and a thumbs up from Shisui. I plopped myself beside said boy and sipped on the tea that was set on the table, enjoying the warm liquid after the long day. Shortly after some onigiri was set down by Mikoto and we all dug into that.

It was a peaceful afternoon. It was something that I hadn't had in awhile, and it was nice. For the past while, Itachi and I had been on missions or just training, always keeping up with our studies, no time for leisure activities. Now we were laughing with the family, and even Fugaku was cracking a smile every once in awhile. Shisui and I proceeded to have a mock fight in the backyard, him letting me win to make me feel better about the match Itachi and I had earlier, which, in my defense, was probably the best fight I had ever had. Sasuke had challenged Itachi to a fight, which was quite hilarious in its own. At first, Itachi had flicked him in the forehead, his signature 'maybe next time, Sasuke.' phrase spoken to the poor boy, but Shisui and I convinced him to at least attempt it.

Sasuke had claimed triumph over his older brother, defeating him after ten minutes of struggling. Mikoto had then called us in for dinner, serving up fried chicken (which I absolutely loved) and a stir fry of vegetables and noodles which I made myself. I also tried recreating a non alcoholic sangria that I remembered from my past life, getting it almost exactly the same. The rest of the evening went relatively well, and when it was finally time to get ready to sleep, Shisui had asked if I would accompany him home, to which I had agreed.

We started our trek home, walking in silence for a bit. "So, you still want to train together? Our styles are kinda the same, so it would work.." He asked me, a bit of hesitation in his voice. "Sure! But you gotta promise that you're gonna help me get better than Itachi!" I said to him, grabbing onto his arm. "Haha, alright, that will be our mission then." he responded, turning his head and scratching his cheek, a small blush crawling across his face. I immediately grinned at him.

"Why are you blushing, Shisui?" He attempted to hide it by pretending to rub his nose, but it only got worse. "I'm not, brat." I laughed, "You are, though! You look like a tomato!" He coughed, trying to regain his composure. His face settled back to its normal colour, "Ok, so we are going to forget about that." I giggled, trying to keep my laughing to a minimum. "Forget what?"

He nodded, accepting that I would drop it. For now at least. We reached his place, and I let go of his arm as he pulled out the keys to his apartment. He unlocked the door and opened it, but briskly turned around and told me to stay put for a moment. I raised my brow at his actions, but stayed where I was. I heard shuffling around before he came back to the door, his hands behind his back.

"Alright, close your eyes." He told me quickly. I did, but my eyebrow was raised in questioning. "Why…? Should I be concerned?" Nothing but silence. "My eyes are closed. I can't see if you're shaking your head." I told him. "Ah! No. Nothing to be concerned about." I nodded.

"Now put your hands out." I did as told, albeit a tad hesitant. I felt a small metal object drop into my open palm. "Okay. Open your eyes." I opened one eye slowly, and looked into my hands. A hair clip sat there, a small Uchiha emblem on the end of it. I looked up at him, and he only had a goofy smile on his face. "It was supposed to be for you when you won the exams, but that didn't happen. But I'm gonna give it to you anyway." I smiled back at him.

"Thanks, Shisui. I really like it!" as the words left my mouth, he grabbed it from my hand and pulled the hair out of my face, moving to the left and clipping it back. My face heated up from the action, but I quickly composed myself, rubbing my forearm roughly. "Hah, that looks much better. Now I can see your face!" And back came the blush. He laughed, "Now who's blushing?" I only smacked his arm before turning around to leave.

"Goodbye, Shisui!" I called as I walked down the stairs to the street.

"Goodbye Suchiru!"

….

My team stood in the Hokage's office. It was a week after the chunin exams, a week that we had all gotten off to relax. Shibi sensei stood behind Hiruzen, who had three sets of papers in front of him. Hiruzen sighed, looking over the first one.

"Nara Maen?" He asked, and Maen stepped forward, back straight. "Your sensei and I have discussed your performance during the chunin exam. We came to the conclusion that with it, and how you handled your missions beforehand, that you are fit to become a chunin. Congratulations." Maen bowed as he thanked him, taking the vest off the counter before putting it on. "Also, you will soon be placed under a tokubetsu jonin from the Nara clan, to advance your clan jutsu even further. You are dismissed." Hiruzen told him. He bowed once again and made his way out of the room.

He then picked up the next set of papers, looking them over briskly before lifting his eyes to Itachi. "Uchiha Itachi; the winner of the exams." He stated, and looked over the boy beside me. "You showed extreme talent and prowess during the exams, and I was told by your sensei that you often take on a role of leadership during your missions." Itachi nodded. "You have been promoted to chunin, and are also on a watch list for ANBU recruitment." His eyes widened a bit at the last bit of information, but he bowed nonetheless, taking the vest off the desk before putting it on. "You are dismissed."

Then it was me. All by myself, being stared down by my sensei and the Hokage. I gulped, feeling myself start to sweat a bit. "Uchiha… Suchiru." I nodded, standing as straight as I could, hands behind my back. "You definitely have the talent to become quite the powerful kunoichi." He told me, looking over my file with squinted eyes. "But with Maen joining another squad to become a tokubetsu jonin, and Itachi will be more than likely to join ANBU, even at his age; you will be without a squad for a bit." He said, looking me over, eyes staying on my clip for a bit. "How are you enjoying the Uchiha clan?" he asked me suddenly. I looked over to my sensei, seeing his eyebrows rise a bit.

"I enjoy staying with them. They make me feel like I'm a part of the family." I told him truthfully. He nodded, going back to my file again. "Alright. I will attempt to find a group for you to move to. For now, you'll be apprenticing under a student of Shimura Danzo. Understood?" I tensed up upon hearing the name, but nodded anyway. "Alright, now that that is settled, take your vest." I quickly grabbed it, putting it on over my overcoat. I stood back again. "Dismissed." I bowed and made my way out of the office, closing the door behind me and scurrying down the stairs of the building. My teammates were waiting just outside the doors, and I rushed out to meet them.

"So what did he say to you?" Itachi asked, a spark of curiosity in his eyes. "Well, he told me that both of you are moving to different squads pretty soon." I told him as I tried to catch my breath. "We're moving squads?" I nodded. "Wait, what are they going to do with you then?" Maen asked before the younger boy could. I stood up straight, adjusting my new flak jacket. "He told me that I'll be apprenticing under some student of Danzo." I could see Itachi visibly tense by the mention of his name.

"That's… Interesting." I nodded to him. "Yeah, I've got no idea why he would want me under his supervision." I commented, but Itachi shook his head. "Danzo is the head of ROOT. They kinda play outside of the rules of the village." I tapped my chin. "But usually they take kids at a young age, and they don't have parents. Why would he ta-" I cut myself short, and looked at Itachi with panicked eyes. "Are they going to take me?!" I cried out, tears threatening to spill over. He quickly grabbed my shoulders, trying to calm me down. "They won't take you. You have a family, remember? He won't mess with our clan. We're too powerful." My breath stopped. But he would mess with the Uchiha. I knew it. And I doubt most of the clan would stand up for me, I was just an orphan taken in by the clan head to them.

"They won't get you. As long as you've got me, and as long as you don't let them, you don't have to join ROOT." He told me, authority and definite laced in his voice. I nodded hesitantly, trying to calm myself down. Maen coughed behind me, gaining my attention.

"What are you two going on about?" I gave a wide eyed look, then back to Itachi for help. He only shrugged, "It's up to you, if you trust him enough." Maen raised a brow, and my head dropped. I did trust him, but I don't know if I'm actually allowed to say anything. But I guess it is my decision. I looked back up to him, my arms crossed and lips in a tight line.

"You have to promise, no matter what, that you will keep this to yourself. It's important that you do." I told him, showing that I trust him. "Alright, you've got my word." I held a pinkie out for him, and he rolled his eyes, but shook with his anyway. "Alright, let me just," I took a deep breath, and then let it out. "prepare myself. Okay."

I took out a kunai from my pouch and held it in my hand. "Alright. Is it supposed to mean something?" He asked me. Then his eyes went wide as it started to melt, eventually becoming a fine dust. "Oh..kay? How are you doing that?" I breathed in through my nose, and looked around to see if anyone was listening in. "I'm the Third Kazekage's daughter." I could see him tense up, looking me over a bit more closely.

"Then why are you here? In the village, I mean." I sighed. This would take a bit. "During the Third War, my father was kidnapped. Since Konoha and Suna weren't at odds during that time, they decided that sending me here was the best thing to do." He nodded, relaxing a bit. "The reason I was freaking out over the whole ROOT thing is because I don't know if Danzo knows about it. And if he does, then it makes me a high candidate to join that faction." I rubbed my neck before continuing.

"The Uchiha clan head was the one put in charge of me, for my protection." He shifted, rubbing the back of his head. "Alright, that's enough. It's too much trouble. But I will keep it on the down low for you." I smiled, clapping my hands in front of me. "Thank you Maen!" he gave a lopsided smile. "Yeah yeah. I'm only being nice because we won't be seeing much of each other anymore."

My head dropped. "Oh yeah. I forgot about that…" A hand was placed on my head. "But we'll have to get together with Shibi sensei after a while." I brightened up again, and gave him a big hug. "Alright kid, get off. People are starting to stare." I quickly moved off of him, giving him the much needed space. "Alright kiddies, I'm off. See you around." He told the two of us, waving as he left.

Itachi and I walked back to the house, getting ambushed by Sasuke as we walked through the door. "Nii-san! How did the meeting go?!" He asked as he stood in front of the two of us, jumping up and down excitedly. "We are both chunin as of today." Itachi replied with a smile. Sasuke's eyes lit up, looking at his brother admirably. "Yeah, check out our nifty new flak jackets." I said, pointing my thumbs to my chest. Then I had an idea, which was dumb, but cute.

"Hey Sasuke!" I called the kid as he jumped in front of me. I took off my vest, handing it to him. "Put it on!" He did as instructed. "Alright, now strike a pose." He did many poses, all which were strong man poses. I laughed, fluffing up his hair. "Itachi, doesn't he look adorable?" He only smiled before taking his shoes off and making his way into the house. I took my shoes off, then leaned over to Sasuke.

"Alright. You gotta go in there, and tell your mom that you made chunin before me." He nodded excitedly before running off, and I followed him in. "Okaa-san, look! I made chunin before Suchiru! I'm the best ninja ever!" Mikoto gasped, playing along with the four year old. "Wow, Sasuke! You'll be better than Itachi in no time!" she told him with a wink, laughing at his antics.

"Alright, I didn't tell you to say you were the best ninja ever, that spot is reserved for me." I joked as he stuck his tongue out at me. "Alright you two, calm down. It's time for lunch." Mikoto told us before setting some pre-made sandwiches down on the table, beckoning us to eat. We jumped up to the table, and bowed our heads.

"Itadakimasu!"

….

It had been three days since I was promoted, and I haven't heard anything about my assignment. Itachi had started his training with ANBU yesterday, Kakashi retrieving him as we trained. The rest of the day I spent with Sasuke, helping with his pre-school work, and working on his throwing techniques. Shisui is currently out on a mission, and who knows when he'll get back. So for now, I had occupied myself in the backyard of the main Uchiha household, training with my iron sand. Not getting to use it too often causes me to loose my magic touch.

The way I had started to use it lately was somewhat the same as that old Avatar show I used to watch in my previous life, but using more of the fire style bending, combined with the earth style. Very forceful, but still with a touch of grace. Of course, I rarely used my legs, it was mostly arm movements, that way I had better control of my chakra. I heard my name being called suddenly, cause me to drop my sand and form it into marble like objects. The door to the house slid open revealing Shisui, still in his mission clothing.

"The Hokage is summoning you. Sounds pretty urgent." He told me quickly. I nodded, dropping the iron into a basket I kept on the side of the porch, then followed him to the front door where I quickly shoved my shoes on and started making my way to the Hokage's office, Shisui leading the way.

"So what's this about?" I asked him as we jumped the rooftops. He shrugged his shoulders. "Not sure, I think it's about your team placement?" I lifted an eyebrow at him, confused by his answer. "I was told that I would be apprenticing under one of Danzo's underlings." His face grew dark for a moment. "No, not anymore. I talked the Hokage out of that." I nodded, choosing to remain silent for the rest of the way since the air was thick with tension.

We arrived shortly to the Hokage's office. I knocked, then waited for a response. A few moments later we were allowed entrance. The two of us walked in and stood in front of the Hokage, backs straight. We bowed until told we were allowed to rise.

"You asked to see me, Hokage-sama?" I asked him, getting straight to the point. He shook his head yes. "I did. It's regarding your new squad." I nodded to him, beckoning him to continue. "Yes. I was… convinced not to set you up with one of Danzo's students. Instead, you will put on Shisui's squad." He told me, pointing to the boy I was standing beside. I raised my eyebrow at this.

"But sir, his squad is full?" I asked, before looking at Shisui, but his face was once again grim. "I see he hasn't told you. One of his squad members had fallen on their latest mission. You are going to be his replacement." I swallowed hard. "...And the others are alright with this?" I asked hesitantly. "They don't have a choice. Shisui's squad is one of the best we have right now, and it would be a shame to not have it up to full strength." I nodded, not arguing any further. We were both dismissed, and we left the office. As soon as the door closed behind us, I turned to the boy.

"What happened? On your mission?" He shook his head. "It was a mistake. Just a stupid mistake. And Roka paid for it with his life." I looked to the ground, unsure of what to say. "...Was the mission a success at least?" He nodded before scratching both sides of his head roughly. "Yeah, it was. But not the kind of success I like." I rubbed my arm awkwardly, trying to think of something else to say, but nothing came to mind.

"But hey," he said, changing his demeanour completely, "you're a chunin now, and on my team. So we need to be super awesome, unlike Itachi." He smiled brightly at me, but I was still a bit wary of the previous subject. I nodded anyway, a small smile on my face. "Yeah, it should be fun. But I'm gonna have to learn all your styles in order to fit in properly."

He waved his hand dismissively. "You're similar to me. You'll be fine." I rolled my eyes at him, shoving him a bit. "That doesn't mean I'll be used to everyone else's. So you'll have to be a bit patient with me. Especially since I'll be the youngest." He slung his arm around my shoulder, leaning in. "Yeah, but between you and me you're probably one of the stronger ones." I gave him a big grin, "Yeah but unfortunately I won't be able to use my kekkei genkai." He shrugged his shoulders.

We continued home, walking through the front door and taking our shoes off. I ran through the house and into the backyard where everyone had gathered for the afternoon. Sasuke's head popped up at the sound of the door opening, a big smile appearing on his face. "You're home! What did the Hokage say to you?" I jumped down to the grass, picking up the boy and spinning him around.

"Well, he told me that I am now on Shisui's team, since my own team is abandoning me." He giggles as I spun him around, and Itachi spoke up. "So you won't be training under Danzo anymore? That's good." Another pair of feet hit the ground, joining the conversation.

"Yup! All thanks to me." Shisui told him with a lopsided grin. "Really?" "Yes, when I inquired about your team's progress, he told me where you guys were headed, and I was not about to allow some asshole take my little kohai away from me." I rolled my eyes at his response. "Yes, I was so distressed about leaving my senpai behind. I'm so glad I get to spend more time with him." I said sarcastically.

"Oh you know you love me." he teased, poking my arm. "Oh yes. You are the love of my life. The apple of my eye." I droned, making sure to roll my eyes for emphasis.

"I knew it."

….

Alrighty, work is awful, writer's block is awful. everything is awful. Sorry this is two weeks late. Hope you enjoy regardless!