I do not own any of the characters or ideas created by Kishimoto Masashi. However Sayo and my original story line belong to me.

Sayo did not know whether the warmth she was feeling was from the frothy hot chocolate oozing down the back of her throat or the increasing beam on her father's face. If she did have the choice however she hoped it was the beverage she was in the midst of consuming as sticking to her promise of not becoming her father's pet again if he failed to recognise the villager's view of her would be an extremely difficult decision to make. Sayo knew her father's tactics well, especially since he had brought her into none other then a cake shop and treated her to two foods containing her favourite ingredient of them all: chocolate.

Roughly half an hour after they had entered the shop, their peaceful snack time had been disrupted by none other then other families and their respective heads coming in and out of the shop to either take away those delicious goodies or stay and enjoy them in one of them tables adjacent to theirs. It was not long after she found that they are no longer alone and thus her fear of not being able to withstand her father's alluring composure became practically non-existent as she promptly noticed their judgemental glances at not only her but as her father's association with her as well.

Exactly after an hour of entering the shop, Sayo and her father left to reenter the main section of the village. And once there Sayo noticed how reluctant many hidden leaf residents were in approaching them. At first Sayo thought to be a rather peculiar for them to stay away from the two of them but she quickly understood that the other villagers didn't actually want her father to realise their contempt towards her.

Damn you...you really think me so unworthy to be the Sannin's heir.

And suddenly her thought process was halted by none other then an approaching father and daughter by the looks of it. The father in the equation was of a truly towering height with featureless white eyes. He was clad in a very traditional, loose fitting robes with a long-sleeved, brown haori. His long brown hair cascaded down to his hips, his face was hard, his nose small and his eyes appeared to be etched in a never ending frown.

Meanwhile to his left stood a tiny female with short, levelled hime-cut style hair just about her forehead, with chin-length strands framing her face. She wore a traditional peach kimono and her timidness and scared smile was similar to what she had felt when being presented to those numerous villagers and their cruel, cruel mutterings.

"Hiashi...how have you been?"

Sayo immediately noticed how uneasy this man was around her father and his response was astonishing to say the least.

"Good...good afternoon Lord Master Jiraiya..." his slight stutter had started a vast array of thoughts within Sayo's mind as she promptly realised that her father's rank in the shinobi world most likely outstripped his own.

"My family and I have been exploring a selection of routes in which to better the training of the younger generation..."

Not long after Sayo realised exactly who this man was and she fought the suffocating sensation which were beginning to restrict her throat. He was one of the same shinobi who had belittled her worth and now that they were face to face, she became extremely conscious of his observant eyes.

Every passing minutes that he and her father spent discussing the important developments of the hidden leaf, the more she noticed his hardened face was being directed at her. As she dared to contemplate what thoughts could have been passing through his mind, she quickly came to the conclusion that they were criticising her for being undeserving of her status. And after ten minutes of this continued charade of Hiashi standing in awe of her father and sneakily glaring at her, Sayo's fury began to grown exponentially.

It seemed that no matter how many times she glanced towards her father, his calm composure did not falter. And soon her heart began to sink and sink and sink and she understood that her father was either too conceited or simply unable to see how much this shinobi along with many others viewed her as a weakling unable to pave her path to power.

And as a result her mind began to consider many, many things and the only one which seemed appropriate at that very moment in time was simple. Her father had failed at his last chance and she would once again direct her energy towards distancing herself and working extra hard to make sure that he wouldn't be able to ensnare her in his alluring web of false security any time in the coming future.

...

The way home was spent in silence...well of Sayo's side that was. But that didn't mean that her father had tried countless amounts of way in which to force her to open her mouth and give him the satisfaction of responding. Firstly she didn't want to feel as if he were the one in control of the situation and secondly with the fury still brimming for her fingertips, she was certain that any words she would have managed to utter at that moment in time would be a true setback in her desire to be treated as a independent citizen of Konoha and hopefully...should fate allow it; the world.

Instead of giving into her father's persistent questioning, she had divulged into the bleakness of her current status within her home village. Images of the public presentation were now combined with the cold glares which she had been faced with today. Her fury not only came from the fact that her father hadn't proven himself incapable of caring for the emotional aspect of her upbringing but also because of how sneakily the villagers had acted around their father. As the more she pondered upon the matter, the more she comprehended that her father's frank hubris numbed his shinobi skills in identifying the problem at hand.

Through her mind ran many possibilities of what she could achieve and they had included her pursuit of revenge against her father once more with working to destroy his reputation and the peace which he held so dear. But as she considered that option, she remembered how her last quest had turned out. Her father had seemingly known all about the traps she had been laying for him and it was only because she had used tears had she managed to worm her way out a proper scolding or any sort of punishment.

Would he actually punish me? I don't think he would have the balls to do anything to suggest that he has lost his hold over me.

So she found herself contemplating on redirecting her attention to the shinobi population and the villagers which viewed her as a pretty china doll. The closer she and her father were to reaching their home, her mind had began to come up with everything she could do to significantly inconvenience their lives. And hopefully she could cause enough havoc to make herself feel better for all those glares they had given her.

If only I had an accomplice...someone I could trust...

...

Later on in the safe confines of her bedroom and laying on top her bed, Sayo finally braved the forbidden territory which was the relationship between her and her father. She recalled all those wonderful things they had both gotten up to and then there was the public presentation and everything had become valueless. She had attempted to look past all of her father's faults and allow him to fix the rapture in their relationship, but that had obviously been for nought. Now she was pondered upon the possibility that relaying on her father was no longer an option and she understood that to protect herself from both her father and as extension the villagers. And thus distance would shield her heart and permit her to survive and hopefully thrive in this cruel, cruel world.

"Sayo...supper is on the table!"

Grudgingly she got of her bed and onto her feet and she began to make the trek down the stairs. It would be extremely hard to face her father after the disappointing discovery of their outing today. And she only hoped that she could hide her new outlook on life from her father for as long as possible as she didn't want her resolve to falter once more.

Once she reached the dining room she was meet by the extremely beaming face of her father and as she had returned to her previous manner of thinking, she was sure that this was his victory face.

For the first ten minutes of their dinner together, Sayo became increasingly aware of the many curious glances which her mother seemed to be sharing amongst her and her father. Her mother had done this before but from her facial expression alone, it was obvious that her father must have informed her about yesterday's events. By her grinning expression it seemed as if her mother was also expecting to return to her father like an obedient girl child. And as Sayo observed both the facial expressions between her father and mother clearly indicated to her that they viewed her as their property much like all the villagers had murmured during the public presentation.

"So how was your day?" It was an innocent enough question but Sayo chose to remain silent and listen to her father's response.

"The little princess and I had a marvellous day with buying half the shinobi section and treating ourselves to cookies, muffins and hot chocolate"

Sayo was annoyed at how her father had forgotten to mention the meeting which had taken place between him and the Hyuga clan head. Or rather then the conversation which had taken place had not been so important within his mind.

She continued to listen to their small talk and as the time went by she had come to one particular conclusion. Both her father and mother were so wrapped up in the perfect world that they believed to exist that they were obviously blind to want was transpiring within plain sight. And even though at that very moment in time, she held resentment against them both, she could not help but realise that if she sought any affection then it would be better to do so from her mother rather then her father. After all she could at least be sure that her mother wouldn't expect her to submit to her when her mother had so clearly done so with her father.

...

As Sayo stood over the basin in her bathroom she could not help but wonder what the next ideal course of action was there to take. She knew that her father was still under the impression that all was as it was before, and a part of her didn't know whether she ought to simply break that illusion or attempt to drag out their truce for as long as possible.

You will have to choose child.

It was at the exact moment that she had finished washing her face and her teeth that she heard the voice and she could not help but wonder if she should simply rely on it to guide her actions rather then to take risks.

...

As Jiraiya stood in front of his daughter's bookcases, he could not help but wonder why she had become so incredibly silent. After yesterday's and today's events he had hoped that she would finally relinquish her reasons for rebelling but her unease to speak around him or even her mother had made him wonder otherwise. Her silence in the past had ended up being none other then a red alert to something being wrong...Yet once he removed a particular book from it's position, he decided to temporarily shake off his concern and make his way over to his daughter's bed.

Roughly five minutes after he had pulled up a chair beside his daughter's bed, he noticed her coming out of the bathroom with not a single sound of her feet even touching the floor.

That sort of manoeuvre would be highly respected in any shinobi.

He found himself grimacing and merely acknowledging the fact that his daughter's prodigious nature could in any way enhance her elevation in the ninja world. In fact he found himself quelling such thoughts because after knowing how dangerous such a career was, he wasn't quite sure if he would be comfortable in allowing his child to pursue the same career path he had taken.

He waited as she slowly approached him and he instinctually pulled back the bedcovers and gripped one of her hands which gave him the sensation as if he were helping her climb into bed. Sure independence was a good thing to strive for, for any child which wasn't his own. He feared that if she attempted to grow up to quickly then the rapture which had occurred in their relationship would reoccur and if that happened, he did not know whether it would be so easy to fix like this time had been.

And anyway three months from crossing into her fifth year of life is far too young to seek independence.

"I have chosen the story for tonight"

He tried to maintain his neutral tone and from her lack of response, he didn't know whether she was okay with his choice or if she was trying to wind him up by not giving him the satisfaction of a response.

He then commenced on reading the fairy tale and even though narrating the words seemed automatic, his attention was soon beginning to stray away from his current activity. A part of him was starting to panic since the distance in her eyes could only mean one possible thing; Sayo was creating a shield between the two of them and no matter how hard he pondered upon the matter, he simply couldn't deduce what had caused her to become so defensive.

Once Jiraiya had come to the end of the story, he leaned forward and peaked Sayo on the forehead hoping, truly hoping that she would at least look at him if nothing else.

"Goodnight princess..."

He reached towards the bed lamp and switched it off, leaving only the hallway light as their source of seeing each other. And much to his dismay, his child still remained emotionless and distant.

And it was exactly before he crossed the threshold to exit her room for the night that he heard her speak three words with a very clear voice.

"Good night Father"

Hearing these words had caused a large lump to form in his throat and made his heart sink greatly. His entire body felt stiff and his mind began to pound. And not before long, large tears began to cascade down his cheeks as he gently closed her door behind him. And to avoid showing her his weakness, he found himself hurrying to his own bedroom before bursting into fully fledged heartbroken tears with one thought presiding over the rest.

Where...where did I go wrong?