It wasn't a surprise that Itachi had become a chuunin, apparently the Uchiha compound had thrown him a special party for climbing the ranks. No one else besides the Uchiha clan had participated, almost as if it were top secret.
Amarante appeared at the Uchiha household, ready for her daily lessons with Mikoto. Mikoto opened the door and Amarante gave a low, elegant bow before properly greeting her elder
"Very good, Amarante-chan, your movement has become very fluid. It looks natural!" Amarante gave a giggle and a thanks. "I think we should work on acting, you'll need to be able to blend into any environment as a shinobi and as a woman."
A couple hours into their session there was a knock on the door, Mikoto got up to answer it. Amarante stayed behind Mikoto, watching the scene and learning.
"Mikoto-sama, is Itachi home?" It was Miu.
"I'm sorry, no he's training."
"Oh, I see. I guess I'll see him at the meeting tonight." Amarante saw Mikoto clutch the door handle just a bit, had she not been trained to notice detail she would have thought nothing of it. But, she was currently learning to pay attention to things like this by this woman. "Good day!"
"Goodbye." Mikoto shut the door gently and turned back around to Amarante. "Alright, where were we?"
As Mikoto and Amarante practiced would be scenarios, things that she had experienced in the past and could have handled better.
Itachi and Fugaku had come home later than usual; Mikoto was prepared and had covered the meals. The two males sat down to their meal, they were both silent as they ate the only recognition was from the eye contact.
Amarante was curious if the males had some kind of disagreement since they were so quiet but didn't voice her curiosity. She spoke when spoken to, at least when Fugaku was around.
Fugaku was slightly impressed with how well Amarante was portraying herself, the more he looked at her the more he saw a political daughter. He noticed how she had looked at his son, he knew she had some admiration for him but he couldn't discern the level…that she concealed well. Maybe she could be used for the clans gain.
"Who was your mother, Amarante-san." Fugaku unexpectedly asked, his voice was set for an interrogation—unintentionally. She made eye contact, a bold move for a 7-year-old, she didn't show him any fear or nervous tick.
"My mother is Senju Kaede." He thought it was odd that she referred to her mother in the present tense. He gave a stiff nod, his way of showing he heard her.
"I don't know much about her besides the fact that she was one of the first hokage's children." After hearing this, the Amarante—that Itachi knew so well— popped out.
"No way! Really? So… that makes me the grandchild of the first and the third hokages!?" She could barely contain her giddy excitement, she was bouncing in her seat. The calm and put together Amarante brightened into the colorful blob that was trying to contain her squeals of excitement.
"Amarante-chan, why are you so excited about learning this?" Mikoto asked the question the Uchiha family was all thinking.
"Hashirama-ojichan, was the one to befriend the Uchiha's and built Konoha! It's so exciting!" Itachi was proud that she had paid attention to his history lessons after all.
Fugaku hated to admit it but he was kind of enjoying this young girl's optimism.
After dinner, Itachi walked Amarante home without being told or asked to.
Amarante had calmed down a bit after the exciting news but she still had this huge grin. As they began walking she started to notice something, you couldn't see the Hokage faces from the Uchiha Compound. They walked past a park and then the Hyuuga Compound that was when she could begin to see the great stone faces. They continued walking. Every day she woke up in the Sarutobi residence, she would walk out and the great stone faces would have their heads held high.
"Itachi…" she trailed off, shy to ask the question. He peered down at her in a questioning way. "Why do the Uchiha's live so far from the Hokage monument?" He stared at her not entirely sure how to answer that question.
"There are…many theories about that. We are closer to the main gate so we would be able to react quickly but it is also said that it was punishment. No one truly knows, maybe Madara picked that particular spot." Another silence fell.
"How was your meeting?" she finally asked, his body stiffened up a bit.
"It was okay, just family stuff." From his body language she was being told not to ask anything more.
She walked up the three steps to her front door and turned around. Itachi was at the bottom of the steps and she was now at his height. She motioned him to come closer and he did out of curiosity. She reversed his signature move on him, but she couldn't reach the crown of his head instead she kissed his forehead.
"Goodnight, Itachi!" She spun around and ran inside. Her heart felt like it was going to run away and her face was burning from the adrenaline rush she got from just giving him a small kiss.
Itachi left with a small smile, her tiny lips felt imprinted on his forehead. He wondered if she ever thought about what her actions before she did them.
