Shiro watched her reflection in the mirror, noting how anti-climatic her joining Danzo had been. He had simply escorted her to Root's underground facility and enlisted her as a new member before leaving to go take care of some business.

The red eyed self-proclaimed Kaguya didn't feel any different. Well, at least aside from the sting from what Danzo had revealed to her.

Because seriously?

Akane didn't want her.

Hayate's been lying to her this whole time.

Fugaku and Mikoto probably knew. Maybe even Itachi and Shisui.

Yet, aside from the emotional sting she felt, she still felt the same about them. Akane was still her mother. Fugaku was still the authority figure she secretly looked up to. Mikoto was still her favorite babysitter. Itachi was still the boy who went along with her antics. Shisui was still an indulgent older brother figure. Sasuke, who was probably the only one oblivious about everything, was still her friend.

Her hand unconsciously went to her bare neck, the absence of her necklace making her heart give a pained pang.

The only one who she wasn't sure about was Hayate. But considering she was just a mission to him had been made clear, hadn't it? He clearly showed her where she stood with him.

Shiro's eyes watered.

Yeah, she knew where she stood with him.

It probably didn't matter to him if she never shows up again. She didn't matter to him after all. His life would move on and so would everyone else's lives, whether she was there or not. In fact they would probably be better off without her.

Akane wouldn't have to struggle to pay rent.

Hayate could take on more interesting missions.

Fugaku wouldn't have to worry about her pranks anymore.

Mikoto wouldn't have to worry about her influencing Sasuke anymore.

Itachi didn't have a pest that would stalk him with his little brother anymore.

Shisui wouldn't have to handle a kid constantly badgering after him demanding to learn something.

Sasuke wouldn't have an annoying pest keeping him away from training.

They would all be better without her.

Danzo on the other hand?

He had seen something in her. What he saw, she wasn't sure about. Nor did she really care. She just felt good about being needed by someone, even if it was probably for Danzo's selfish gains. Ironically, out of all the adult figures in her life Danzo has yet to utter any lies to her.

Danzo wanted to make her stronger than Tsunade.

With his help, she could achieve her goal.

Wiping away her tears, Shiro gave her reflection a genuine smile. "They'll be okay without you." She assured herself. "They'll be better than okay without you." She repeated one last time.

'So focus on yourself right now and make sure you don't lose your emotions. Emotions are the reason why your goal is to help, right?' A voice inside her head encouraged.

"No way am I going to change!" Shiro grinned before childishly sticking out her tongue while pulling her left lower eyelid down.

The mirror reflected her childish pose, along with a cursed seal on her tongue.


o0o.o0o.


Akane paced around her crappy apartment, her usually neat hair sticking up and her eyes worn with tired bags. Her face was curled into a desperate type of worry.

Her daughter had been missing for two days, without any sign.

At first, Hayate had suggested that maybe Shiro had gone to stay with the Uchiha before explaining the falling out he and Shiro had over Shiro's latest quest to find a teacher. That had earned Hayate an annoyed scowl from the overprotective mother who swore to punish him for making Shiro sad.

Hayate had never been more unnerved by the woman.

However, when Akane had gone to pick up Shiro the next day with plans to go have a mother-daughter bonding time to cheer Shiro up, Mikoto had been confused. The Uchiha had explained that Shiro had never showed up.

"Hey Mikoto-san, I came to pick up Shiro."

"Akane-san? What are you talking about? Shiro isn't here."

"...oh."

"Akane-san, you're pale. Is everything okay?"

"No, not really. I have to go. Bye."

In a desperate attempt, Akane had ran off to the Nara compound, thinking that maybe Shiro had went there instead considering her daughter thought of the clan head as a 'cool dude' and had hoped that Shiro was there.

She had needed Shiro to be there.

Shiro wasn't there.

"I haven't seen the kid since I rejected her request."

"Thank you Shikaku-san."

Akane had searched everywhere she could think of, going as far as to force Team Shikaku to help her. Even the normally aloof Ibiki had been concerned, considering he was the one who took care of his little brother and imagined himself in Akane's place.

In the end they couldn't find the girl.

Not even with the seal Hayate had engraved on her necklace.

The sound of the door opening shook Akane out of her trip down memory lane and caused her to quickly turn around. "Any news?" Her voice sounded pathetic even to her.

But this was her daughter.

She didn't care if she seemed pathetic.

Shiro was her light.

Hayate was obviously tense. "Danzo Shimura has her."

"The councilman..?"

"Yes."

Akane's face curled into an enraged expression as she stormed away.

Hayate was hot on her trails. "Where are you going?"

"Where else? To the fucking Hokage!" Akane snapped picking up her pace.


o0o.o0o.


Shiro was childishly singing out loud as she walked around Danzo's office, unknowingly confusing a few passing Root members who didn't know what do to.

"Say goodbye to the pain of the past!"

The self-proclaimed Kaguya twirled around to the center of the room, not pausing in her singing.

"Love is an open door!"

Just as sung that, the door went open.

Without thinking about it, Shiro turned to face whoever had entered.

"Love is an open door!"

She opened her eyes to see two calm and neutral expressions. She gave them a big grin. "Why hello there." Yet, despite her friendly attitude she took the chance to observe them.

One had fair-skin and short spike dull black the exception of a small area around his nose and mouth, his features were covered by a mask. He wore a black long-sleeved and zipped jacket with a red sash around his waist and light grey knee-length pants with black shinobi sandals. He also wore a pair of black gloves and glasses, built into the mask.

'Aburame.' Shiro immediately concluded, vaguely recognizing the boy from the series. As far as she recalled, he was friends with Shino. Though she didn't know for sure, considering he wasn't even a supporting character.

Her gaze then went to the other boy, having a vague idea as to who he would be.

As she had expected, she was met with a shock of auburn hair and amber eyes. Just like in the series, he wore a light brown short kimono with a black sash, grey pants and shinobi sandals.

'Yamanaka.' Shiro wasn't sure if the boy was related to Ino or not, considering it wasn't mentioned in the series. She had less information on the auburn haired boy than she did on the masked one.

"Danzo-sensei is away." Shiro found herself informing them without thinking, her grin eased into an easy-going smile.

"We're here for you." The Aburame calmly intoned.

"Eh?"

"Danzo-sama has assigned us to you."

"What does that mean?" Shiro asked in confusion.

"It means we're in charge of your training." The Yamanaka explained.

"Eh?! I thought Danzo-sensei was going to be my sensei!" Shiro exclaimed.

"Danzo-sama doesn't have time to focus on one sole person, he has far more important duties to attend to. As such, he entrusted us with your training. Be grateful." The Yamanaka said in an almost chiding tone.

Shiro pouted.

He was right.

Danzo was the leader of Root and a member of the council, of course he wouldn't really have time for her.

She heard the Aburame say something she couldn't quite catch.

"I'm Fu and this is my partner Torune." The Yamanaka, Fu, calmly introduced himself.

Shiro perked up. She loved introducing herself.

"My name's Shiro! I'm from the Kaguya clan!" Shiro started giving them a thumbs up that would make Might Guy himself proud. "I like sweets, telling stories and pranks. I hate liars. One day, I'm going to surpass Tsunade!" She finished off with a bright smile.

"We'll have to fix that." She heard Fu mutter.

"It is nice to meet you, I suppose." Torune nodded at her.

She grinned at the Aburame, deciding he was her favorite considering he acknowledged her introduction. "Please take care of me Torune-sempai, Fu-sempai."


.o0o.o0o.


A blonde blue eyed boy arrived at an empty park, looking around in confusion.

'Where is she?' He wondered, feeling disappointed.

He had been expecting to see her, the pretty white haired girl with red eyes that would tell stories to everyone, even to him. In fact, when she told her awesome stories, she would even smile at him earnestly.

Whenever she would do that, he would return her smile.

He started off with shy smiles, until suddenly one day he started grinning widely at her when she noticed him standing with the crowd of kids, and sometimes adults, and in return she would send him a smile of her own.

He was a fan of hers.

Even though he didn't really know her name.

(He secretly called her Tenshi-chan, because she kinda looked like an angel to him.)

"Huh?" The boy mumbled seeing something shine a few steps away from him.

He curiously approached the shining object and saw a familiar necklace with a dragon pendant. His eyes widened, recognizing that the necklace belonged to the white-haired red eyed girl. The very necklace she would fondly brush while telling her stories.

He immediately crouched down and picked it up.


.o0o.o0o.


Shiro groaned as Fu and Torune once again made another turn in the confusing hallways of Root's underground facility.

"Are we almost there yet?" She asked.

Neither answered her.

"C'mon guys, answer me!" Shiro pleaded.

Again, she didn't receive a reply.

"TORUNE TALK TO ME, TALK TO ME BABY!" She yelled loudly, allowing her voice to echo through the hallways and unknowingly startling a few sleeping members of Root.

"Shiro, please don't do that again." Torune finally said.

"Well, are we almost there yet?" Shiro asked, before pouting when she realized he wasn't going to answer.

Fine, Shiro had more than one strategy after all.

"Fu-sempai, c'mon, don't ignore me."

Fu didn't even twitch.

"Fu-sempaaaaaiiiiii!"

No response.

"Fu-sempai~!" Shiro tried in a cutesy tone.

No reply.

"F-Fu-sempai..." Shiro tried moaning.

He didn't even seem startled.

"NOTICE ME FU-SEMPAI!" Shiro loudly wailed.

Unbeknownst to her, Fu had twitched at that.


.o0o.o0o.


Danzo walked through the halls leading to the Hokage's office.

If Danzo were to be completely honest, taking Shiro in was his plan B.

His plan A was for Shiro to be trained by her guardian, Hayate, and becoming Chunin around the age of ten before taking her in to become a member of Root. But the fool Hayate had refused to train her.

So did the other fools, who failed to see the perfectly blank canvas in front of them.

Danzo however would not let his plans for Shiro, which he had been scheming for years, go to waste. He would take matters into his own hands and paint Shiro to the image he wanted.

He wouldn't let anyone get in his way.

Not Akane.

Not Hayate.

Not Hiruzen.

No one would get in his way.

"I WANT MY FUCKING BABY BACK!" He heard the normally reserved Akane yell as he neared the office.

His lips curled up in a bit of amusement, imagining Hiruzen's face. When he reached the door he knocked out of politeness and schooled his features into a calm and neutral expression.

"Enter." Hiruzen tiredly called out.

Without hesitation Danzo opened the door and stepped in, not even sparing the obviously angered woman and her sidekick Hayate a glance. Instead he looked at Hiruzen who was looking back at him with a tired look.

"You called for me?" Danzo asked, beating around the bush a bit.

"Don't you dare play dumb, you have my child." Akane hissed at him.

"That's what I wanted to talk about." Hiruzen said.

"I see." Danzo muttered loudly enough for everyone to hear. "I think there's been a misunderstanding," he started ignoring everyone's confused expression, "Biologically Shirona is you and Jiraiya's child Miyamoto."

Akane glared at him. "Get to the point."

"But the law says something else." Danzo reached into his robe and pulled out some papers.

Without a word Akane snatched them from him, her face immediately turning pale.

"Do you recognize it?" Danzo found himself taunting the woman a bit. "It's the paper you signed when you gave Shirona to the orphanage six years ago."

"These...I thought they were lost.." Akane quietly said.

"You had them, didn't you?" Hayate asked.

Danzo didn't even bother confirming the obvious. "You see, by all means Shirona was still considered an orphan by law."

"Was?" Hiruzen sharply asked, picking up on how Danzo had worded his sentence.

"Was." Danzo repeated pulling out a single paper from his robe. "Now, she's under my care and will one day succeed me as the leader of Root. Legally speaking, she's now Shiro Shimura."


CHAPTER END!


Author's Note: It's been a long time since I updated, huh? Sorry about that. I really have no excuse. Believe it or not, I already have everything planned out for this story, including the plot twists and the ending. I'm just a lazy ass who binge watches other stuff or play videogames instead of actually doing that.

Anyway, did you enjoy the chapter? Were you surprised? Remember to favorite, follow and review~! And if you have already, thank you for the support!

Questions:

1. What does Torune and Fu think of Shiro?

2. What will Akane and the others do now that Shiro is gone?