Disclaimer: No, I do not own the characters in my story other than Bri and another original character that was introduced in an earlier chapter! This particular one brings out Itachi's future relationship with Bri.

The Life of Bri Tsutoni

~Approximately 1 month later

~Bri's POV

Kushina sensei had discussed arrangements for our new team leader with the Hokage recently and she was to be meeting us tomorrow for our last mission with her. She had yet to specify why she would no longer be training us, but we had hoped she would elaborate more on the matter soon.

Tomorrow just so happened to be my eleventh birthday. The only information she provided us with about the mission was to "dress comfortably and be prepared to get exhausted." Anko, Kurenai, and I were deciphering what it was that we would possibly be doing that could have anything to do with her hint.

"I bet we'll be hunting for runaway pets again," Kurenai mumbled.

"No way! I bet we'll have to help elderlies with their daily chores like the last time," Anko suggested, frowning.

"If it is either of those, she wouldn't have told us to dress casually. We are still required to wear our uniforms during those missions, so this one must be an informal one. But, what? I can't think of anything that fits," I added.

"Hmmmm," we harrumphed.

"Let's just go to bed. We will find out what it is tomorrow anyway. Besides, we should really be thinking about what you want to do, birthday girl!" Anko said to break the silence.

We slept later than anticipated, and were rudely interrupted from our deep slumber by a pounding on our bedroom door. We jumped out of our beds hurriedly and raced to get dressed so that it would seem that we up and ready the whole time.

I decided on a simple white v-neck top with purple shorts while Kurenai pulled on a blue tank top over black tights. Anko wore a simple orange t-shirt with some wrinkled tan pants that still had a weapons sack tied around the right thigh. She giggled with a hand behind her head as we checked out her messiness.

The door was knocked off its hinges before we could open it for our pissed off sensei.

"Ladies! You three have been taking this long only to look like sloppy little children! Anko-chan, no weapons for this mission. You need to change your pants regardless; they are a wrinkled mess! Bri-chan, I understand that you like to keep your hair tied up with those hair pins, but sharp items are an unnecessary risk we will need to avoid for this task. Go take your hair down. Kurenai-chan! Well…you…never mind, it looks like you are the only one I can depend on these days," Kushina-sensei reprimanded us as we stood in shock at the broken door.

"Maybe we would have been ready properly and sooner if you had given us a bit more information to go by!" Anko smarted back.

"Shut up and change your damn pants you little heathen! Those green shorts you never wear will look cute with your orange t-shirt," Kushina replied.

"Ewww! No way! I'll just put on this red shirt instead. It will look good with the orange skirt I haven't worn yet," Anko smirked as she quickly changed into a more feminine outfit.

Meanwhile, I took my hair was down from the pins and examined the mess around my waist. Well, my knees at this point. I hadn't realized how long it had gotten.

"Wow Bri-chan. Do you wash your hair while it is still pulled up, or what? That is by far the craziest nest of hair I have ever seen. Here, let me fix that for you," Kushina-sensei said as she grabbed a brush and pushed me into the vanity seat close to me.

Maybe if she had almost drowned in a bucket of water because of her long hair, she wouldn't want to take it down either! She attacked my hair with full vengeance and it hurt. IT HURT. Tears threatened to escape and eventually did thanks to my soul protector's confusion by the end of the vicious cycle of combing.

My scalp was in pain, but I also felt something foreign stir in my chest. The last time anyone fixed my hair was my mother when I was a two year old. Had it really been that long since I had a mother figure in my life? I looked over at Anko and Kurenai staring at Kushina the same way I was. It had been a long time for them to have a woman look after us with such care too. The odd sensation my heart felt was clearly a longing for the mother-daughter relationship I had been without.

She finished brushing my hair and pulled it into a ponytail before tying it off with a white ribbon. She smiled as she inspected the three of us again and then pushed us out of the house and onto a familiar trail leading directly to the Academy.

"Umm, Sensei? Is there a reason we are headed to our old school?" Kurenai asked hesitantly.

Before Kushina answered, Anko screamed out, forcing us to stop in our tracks as she went on a wild confessing tangent.

"Noooooooo! We are not going back there! We all passed the graduation exams and have done everything that we're supposed to do as good little genin! Except for that one isolated incident when I filled the public pool with snakes so that I, Bri-chan, and Kurenai-chan could have it to ourselves. And then there was that time that Kurenai-chan tricked the Hokage into buying the three of us all of the ice cream in the market place with her genjutsu because we couldn't decide which flavor we wanted. He shouldn't have fallen for that anyway! Oh, and there was that one time where Bri-chan dug a hole under the Hyūga main gate so that we could sneak in and see what was on the other side. She didn't mean to collapse the entire gate! It was just an accident!"

She really just had to yell that out for all the arriving students, their parents, and several villagers to hear. The Uchiha police force was still investigating that last part for the Hyūga clan too. Had I not sweet talked Shisui out of reporting our misadventures, we probably would have already been caught and punished by now. Our doom with that is inevitable at this point, thanks to that crazed blabber mouth.

"Mitarashi Anko. Calm down, way down," our sensei whispered looking as embarrassed as Kurenai and me, "the academy is short staffed and they need some free hands to watch over the younger classes. I have volunteered you ladies as substitutes. You three will also not be the only young shinobi group there either, so I hope you won't fail me at being the best little senseis you can be!"

We expressed our relief with sighs and followed her into a classroom filled with the youngest students enrolled. The four of us stood in front of the class, so I was able to scan the faces of all the kids we would be responsible for. The only one I recognized was Uchiha Itachi. I smiled at his large black eyes as he blushed at my attention. I saw him mouth something that looked like 'Nii-san promised to help me strengthen my fire release if I go through with this' to himself as he stared at his desk.

That was strange. Kushina smiled at us menacingly as she waved goodbye and said a quick "happy birthday" to me. This is going to be interesting, I thought as a student allowed these beetle things to crawl up to a weary-eyed Kurenai while yet another student urged his puppy to nip at Anko's ankles. I looked back at the children. Oh yes, this was going to be interesting indeed.

Shortly after introducing ourselves as the temporary teachers, we began the lecture that was left out for us on the stand to our left. The notes were boring as hell and too advanced for the five year olds that were attempting to listen. The ones that knew it already, or were simply ignoring it by sleeping, weren't going to gain anything with us just rambling on about chakra nature and chakra control and blah blah blah.

"I know! Why don't we take a break and play outside!" Anko said, breaking me and the bored students away from our zoned out train of thoughts.

We all agreed and Kurenai, being the perfect little substitute, managed to get them all into a line. I looked questioningly at Itachi who appeared to be whispering something incoherent to the bug boy and dog boy we met when we first arrived. We made it outside, and fortunately were the only class there. My team sat on the benches on the outskirt of the play area as we watched the class split into their different cliques. Itachi stood among the other two boys and spoke as if he were arranging a plan.

"That's so odd. Every time I have visited his family, he always kept to himself and barely said a word," I mumbled aloud to myself.

"Really? If I didn't know better, I would say that he was planning something," Anko said as she perked up to focus on the trio.

The three boys looked up at our direction simultaneously. Oh no.

"That's creepy," Kurenai claimed as she nodded support to our suspicions.

The bug carrier looked back at Itachi and then the Uchiha nodded. At that moment, the boy fell to the ground crying.

"Uh oh!" Kurenai gasped as she ran to the little boy before I could stop her.

She leaned down to soothe the fallen child. He accepted it and immediately replaced his tears with roguish laughter. Kurenai tried to break his embrace but he held on tightly as his beetles began to swarm from his arms and onto hers. The beetles began to crawl into her clothes and hair as she called out for help.

Anko and I looked at one another, unsure as to what we should do. We weren't exactly in the mood to be covered in insects either. Kurenai continued to squeal in disgust and fear while she spun around in circles.

"Aggghhhh! Kami oh sweet Kami! Why?! Why?!" She shouted.

At that moment, Anko and I leaped up to take over the situation. Before we could even get to her, the puppy that harassed Anko earlier charged her again in a surprise attack from behind. He bit her hard on her left ear which forced us both to startle out screams. Anko collapsed to the ground while the pup continued to pounce on her head. He refused to allow her face to escape his lick attack. Panic seized my heart as I realized that I was the only one left; that I would be the next victim.

If the other two attacks were warnings, they would be hinting that Itachi was to be responsible for the next ambush. I forced myself to stare back at Kurenai who was wiggling in some bizarre dance as she attempted to shake off the black bugs that covered her from head to toe. I then looked back at Anko whose shirt was torn to shreds by the young dog now. All the while, my eyes never stopped searching for the Uchiha whose plotting was the cause of this madness. For the love of Kami, I could not find the little imp.

Instead of handling the situation like any well-trained and sophisticated kunoichi would, I gave up my dignity and ran as fast as I could back to the school and away from the mess behind me. I had abandoned my comrades and the students I was responsible for. At least, I thought that was my plan until I tripped over the all-too-familiar black haired child I was trying to avoid.

"Ooof," I choked out as I ricocheted off of the young boy.

"Itachi! You better have a good excuse to whatever it is you are conspiring to do because if I find out that you did this on your own accord, I will be telling your father! I highly recommend that you stop your plans at once. Today is my birthday after all!"

I gained a new found confidence with each word I shouted. Why was I scared of this five year old again? Oh yeah. He is an Uchiha and the first cousin of Shisui. If he is even half as talented as Shisui, my only advantage would be my age and experience at this point.

"Today being your birthday is the exact reason this is happening. Nii-san promised me he would help me with our clan's jutsu if I did this for him and I do not go back on my promises. Even for you, the prettiest girl in Konoha….at least that's what he says," Itachi replied.

His charcoal eyes twinkled up at my violent violet ones. I had never heard him speak an entire sentence like that. I also never imagined that he would bend to Shisui's will so easily. The little boy was power hungry enough to torture me! Looks like I will be talking to his father after all.

He pulled out a thin wire and began to encircle me with it before I could react to his statement. Next thing I knew, my arms were bound together against my back. I began to run away from the small devil only to be tripped by the same wire he continued to circle me with. I fell flat on my face and into the gravel as he, the bug boy, and puppy boy rolled me towards the swing set. They then began to roll me up the support bars on the swing set and finished tying me to the top of the entire set with whatever was left of the wire.

I laid there with my face towards the bright blue sky as I listened to the growls coming from my other two team mates about another squad headed our way. I remembered Kushina-sensei mentioning other younger squads subbing today too. I began to pray with all my heart that we would not recognize any of them whenever they decided to bring their classes out here. I knew we would not be escaping this humiliating defeat anytime soon.

I did my best to turn my head to my suffering comrades from my precarious perch and noticed that they had also been tied up. Kurenai was left on the ground squirming while Anko was tied onto the bench we had occupied minutes before.

"All of this, all of this trickery caused by three five year olds," I heard Anko cry.

The best case scenario would be to have Kushina-sensei find us. The worst would be that the next class to come out here would be subbed by those we know.

That was when I heard the dreaded laughter. Uchiha Shisui, Gai, Genma, and a girl's voice I was not familiar with exclaimed their shock at the same time as their students did when they reached the playground.

I avoided turning my head into their direction. No way in hell was I about to make eye contact with any of those fools right now. It wasn't like I was able to turn my head that well regardless. I heard the girl speak again.

"How weird. Their students are just sitting so politely in a circle playing duck-duck-goose while their teachers are clearly incapacitated. It must be very humiliating to be overtaken by five year old children. I wonder what the reason is behind all this," she laughed before speaking again, "oh, would you look at that one on top of the swing set! If I didn't know better, that blonde hair belongs to the Tsutoni clan. I thought they could handle anything. What a shame that the last of them can't even supervise a class of babies; not even with two other helpers!"

Well, one thing was for certain. That bitch was on my hit list right under Orochimaru. I listened to my so called best friend and mastermind behind the whole ordeal, Shisui, rolling on the ground laughing his pathetic heart out while Gai rushed over to save Kurenai.

"Oh, my lovely flower! What monster would have done this to such a beautiful creature?" He boomed as he uncoiled her.

I giggled at the face I imagined Kurenai making. Poor Anko was just bypassed on the bench. I heard Genma eventually step in to help her. She must have given him a "help me now or you will die" look. I then heard Shisui's annoying laughter stop so he could speak.

"In their defense, I had no intention of my little cousin really pulling this off. He must really want me to help him develop his jutsu further like I promised. Happy Birthday Bri-chan!" He said with tears streaming down his face from laughing his stupid ass off.

I know Itachi admitted that fucktard was responsible for this, but I didn't want to believe it. How on Earth had he convinced the stoic Itachi to go along with this just for some senseless advancement of a jutsu he already knew?

"Ugghhhhh, Shisui-kun! You are a dead man!" I screamed as I wobbled and shook the swing set, trying to free myself from it.

I had managed to loosen the wires just enough that I started to roll off the bar. My body remained wound up and I knew that this half-way thought out escape plan was a bad idea as the ground got closer to my free falling form. Shisui reached me before I smashed into the rocks. He continued to laugh away at my suffering during his heroic moment. He thinks he is soooo clever.

"If you kill me, then I guess you won't be getting your second birthday surprise."

"Another surprise?" I spat.

"Of course, Bri-chan. I didn't bribe Itachi into torturing you today for nothing!"

"I don't know… I'm not really in the mood for any more of your surprises. I think my reputation is scarred enough, thank you," I dismissed him and walked towards my now free partners.

Itachi stood up from his quiet seat in the circle his "civilized" class was in and grabbed my hand to stop me from leaving Shisui behind.

"I'm sorry," he simply said and then walked back to his classmates that had now formed a line back into the school.

I sighed and looked over at Shisui again. His eyes reminded me of a puppy dog and I couldn't help but smile back. I finally decided to check out the girl that had the smart remarks earlier and noted that she was Shisui's age and could easily pull off being an Uchiha herself. Other than that, I didn't acknowledge her. I can always ask Shisui about her later and I was not in the mood to start an argument with such a foul individual.

~That night after Bri's team celebrated a mini party for her

Anko and Kurenai helped my into the red silk dress I had purchased after our "mission" for whatever it was Shisui had planned for me. The dress was long and had a knee-length split on the left leg side with a white cherry blossom pattern. My friends knew about his plan (not including the prank), but had managed to keep it a secret the entire time until now.

Kurenai took my freshly washed and dried hair and brushed the never ending tangles from it. She then inserted a red cherry blossom clip into my hair to pull my bangs away from my face. They began to giggle as we heard her father answer the door.

"Now you listen closely, Bri has grown up with Kurenai and has been adopted into our family for over a year now and I view her like another daughter. She is only eleven so if I hear even the smallest hint of a rumor that anything unruly happened between the two of you, I will not hesitate to kill you whether you think I can or not," the intimidating father warned.

"I understand Yūhi-sama," Shisui replied with a bow.

My friends pushed me out from our hidden spying position and into the family room where Shisui and Kurenai's father were staring at each other.

"Finally Bri-chan! I thought you would never be done," Kurenai's papa sighed.

"Whatever! Let's go," I teased, grabbing Shisui's hand and leading him out of the house.

He then wrapped a blindfold around my eyes as he took the lead of our walk. I sensed water and trees nearby as he came to a stop.

"Come on! I'm ready to see whatever it is!" I pleaded.

"Okay, okay!" He said as he removed the blindfold.

I was surrounded by yellow lilies; my favorite color of my favorite flower.

"There are eleven of them. I thought you might like them since I see you stare at them whenever you pass the Yamanacha flower shop. Oh, and here's this," he explained as he handed me a small box.

I opened it gleefully and found a pair of sun shaped earrings. They were the same shape as the locket my sensei gave me to match my family crest.

"This is…it's more than perfect. I don't think I can ever thank you enough!" I exclaimed.

He lowered his face so that it was level with mine and smiled. He then winked as he kissed my right cheek. After we devoured the strawberry cake he had his aunt make for me, he took me straight back to my home thirty minutes early to ensure that he remained on my "father's" good side.

I blushed the rest of the night when Anko and Kurenai bombarded me with questions about what happened. I told them that I would talk more about it the next day. I drifted into a deep sleep (surrounded by my eleven bouquets of lilies) as I thought about the raven haired girl from the playground.

I started to dream about her and her scheming against me. My dreams then led me to a child who was about three. He had curly black hair and mismatched eyes. One was gold while the other was black. I dreamed of white snakes, of an orange mask, and of a baby with hair as yellow as Minato-sama's.