When it was decided that Orochimaru would take Suigetsu and Karin to help him aid Tsunade and the rest of the kage, Suigetsu grabbed Sakaria and pulled her flush to him, her back against his chest. He was not prepared to let her go into battle without him.

"You won't be any help out there anyway," the mist shinobi said as he leaned into her ear, his grip on her shoulders almost cutting off circulation to her arms. "You can help us with the kage and we'll catch back up to Sasuke later." Sakaria, half convinced, looked back over to Sasuke who was going over some semblance of an action plan with the former Hokage and Jugo.

When he felt his sister's eyes on him, he turned to her and nodded her over, "Sakaria, you'll be coming with me." With a certainty in his voice, he stared at her expectantly, waiting for her to move. When Sakaria pulled away from Suigetsu with no questions asked, he growled and mustered as much courage as he could to speak out against Sasuke's decision.

"Sasuke, she isn't ready. You can't just throw her to the wolves!"

"I didn't know you knew what was best for her," Sasuke said, his voice disparaging and harsh. "She won't be going anywhere with Orochimaru on her own." He looked to Sakaria as she stood between the two. "Let's go."

Just when Suigetsu went to argue that she wouldn't be alone if he was with her, the snake sage spoke instead. "Now, Sasuke," Orochimaru purred, pretending to feel hurt by his comment, "How is it that you don't trust me after all I've done to prove my loyalty?" He chuckled as Sakaria took another step toward her brother.

"I'm not taking any chances," Sasuke snarled, his voice growing louder to get his point across, "Sakaria. Let's. Go."

His short tone caused his sister to furrow her brow at him. Who did he think he was ordering her around like a child? His "when I say jump" demeanor bore an uncanny resemblance to their father's, and it caused her to want to rebel even if what he was saying was in her best interest. Despite this, she walked over to him, looked back at Suigetsu, and shrugged a little trying to seem nonchalant about following her brother's command. "I'll see you soon, waterboy!" She giggled, waving a little. With that, and a few shouts of protest from Karin about how unfair it was that Sakaria got to stay with Sasuke and she didn't, they vanished, heading off into battle.

It seemed they arrived just in time. The war, of course, had been waging for quite some time already, and battle conditions seemed to be coming to a rather disastrous head. Thankfully, Minato successfully transported an attack by the large enemy in front of them just before it devastated the allied Shinobi force. In order to better assess the situation, Sasuke told Sakaria to stay with Jugo until he said otherwise, and she begrudgingly followed orders. Why do I feel like he's pawning me off with a babysitter? Sakaria looked up at Jugo who returned her gaze solemnly. "Don't worry, you're safe with me." The raven haired girl glared and turned her attention back to Sasuke as his former teammates all greeted him with shock but, ultimately, thankful faces.

If Sasuke is here, then... Shikamaru looked around to see if he could find Sakaria, and when his eyes landed on the small Uchiha, he seemed to lose focus for only a second. She hadn't spotted him yet, her dark eyes still fixated on her elder brother as he sized up their opponent, but Shikamaru was glad to see her on their side without that troublesome companion of hers in the way. It was when Ino piped up telling Team Ten to flaunt their Ino-Shika-Cho combination, that he doubled down and was ready to show off.

All at once it seemed, the beast in front of them split into several new enemies, guarding the main body from any attack that Hashirama could lead after he'd pinned it to the ground with his jutsu. To combat this, the trio pulled off a move they'd been practicing for quite some time; the human boulder yo-yo. They took out twenty five enemies immediately, then Choji grinned down at his teammates. "I'm going to expand even more! Can you handle more weight?"

"Yeah, you're still light," Shikamaru rasped back, "And besides, this isn't quite flashy enough to impress." His eyes cut over to Sakaria, and he smirked when he noticed her staring at his team.

"What!? Who's being super competitive now!?" Ino shrieked, her hand still on Shikamaru's head. Though the two were connected, she still hadn't noticed Sakaria standing in the background of the madness with her large red haired companion. Even without understanding Shikamaru's uncharacteristic ambition, she focused again and attacked with her team, taking out several more of the sand colored fissures before them.

In an instant, Sakaria's attention was drawn away when she noticed a black and white beast flying through the sky toward the main threat. For a moment, she thought of Deidara, but after realizing it wasn't him, she watched as the shinobi riding the inked beast was shot down and attacked by several sand senbon. Sakaria cringed as though she were bracing herself for his impact, but Naruto caught him in an instant, pulling him to safety. With her heart in her throat, Sakaria thought, I hate being on the sidelines like this... if I was out there I could-

Her train of thought was derailed when she watched Sasuke and his teammates summon three large beasts. Standing on the top of a large frog, a slug, and a snake, team seven seemed ready for a new battle formation, and the youngest Uchiha stood in awe of her brother, slightly jealous that he could pull off a summoning like that. Sasuke... he's... amazing.

When the trio took off, a large gust of wind followed in their wake sending Sakaria's hair flying in a whirlwind behind her along with Jugo's makeshift robe. She covered her eyes from debris with her forearm, still trying to look onward to notice the shinobi who Naruto had snatched from the sky receiving the brunt of the gale force. She thought for only a moment then Sakaria seemed to disappear in the midst of the wind. She was back before Jugo could protest her absence. How did she...? Jugo looked over to the Uchiha girl as the air around them settled and she nodded in the direction of the shinobi she'd assisted.

"Thank you," the pale man said, straightening himself. Just after standing a large slug crept up his shoulder and nuzzled the side of his face causing the cuts he had received from the beast's senbon to disappear. Sakaria turned her attention for a moment to Sakura who was atop the larger form of the slug and glared. She hadn't particularly given the pink haired girl much thought, but had always seen her as weak and sort of useless as far as battle went. To see her healing their allies in such large numbers, was more than annoying.

Even Sakura is helping out. Why do I feel so...

"It's useless, I'm never gonna get this stupid move!" A young Sakaria yelped after falling from a rather high tree branch. If her shortness of breath and the small scrapes and bruises from failing so often didn't make it apparent, she was exhausted and frustrated.

"You're right!" A voice came from above her. In the blink of an eye, the person speaking was in front of her, holding his hand out to help her up. "You're never gonna get it if you quit trying."

"Shisui, it isn't fair!" The girl whined, taking her elder's hand and standing, "You can do it so easy!"

"Practice," Shisui replied with a laugh, annunciating the word as if it was new to her. "You'll be able to do it like me in no time. Now, try again."

With a new found determination, Sakaria stood tall and took in a deep breath. After making a quick hand sign, she disappeared, almost instantaneously, and Shisui watched with his Sharingan to see the movements that someone without their kekkei genkai wouldn't be able to. When Sakaria faltered, he moved faster than she was able to and caught her before she could hurt herself again. The little girl in his arms let out a frustrated groan causing him to smile while he set her feet on the ground.

"You were actually really close that time... The problem is, you're not paying attention to your footing." In a show of demonstration, Shisui seemingly vanished then appeared on a branch far above Sakaria's head.

"I know, I know," She groused up at him. "You've shown me a thousand times! I can't see exactly what you're doing though because I don't have my stupid sharingan yet." Crossing her arms, the ebony haired girl started pouting, wondering when she would awaken her clan's signature dojutsu.

"Hmmm..." The Uchiha boy put a finger to his chin, seemingly deep in thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers. "That's it!" He appeared beside her again, taking her hand in his. "You can't see, but I can help. Try again, one more time."

Confused, Sakaria raised her free hand and formed her hand sign, vanishing in an instant once more, but this time, Shisui was beside her. When he saw her almost lose her footing on the tree limb, he nudged her calf slightly to ensure the flat part of her shoe gripped the top of it. Sakaria, who had closed her eyes in an effort to brace herself for the fall she was sure was going to occur, opened them warily then looked down at her feet, safe on the branch that was rested several yards away from where they'd previously been standing. "I did it!" She yelled out proudly. The excitement caused her to bounce slightly, and her celebration was cut short when she, again, lost her footing and fell to the ground below, causing Shisui to let out a loud laugh.

After their training session, Shisui sat with Sakaria on a log they'd found in the forest. He reached into the bag he'd brought and held out a bag of chips for them to share. As Sakaria munched away, still riding the high of her accomplishment, Shisui watched her, feeling pride well up within himself. "You did good out there," he reminded, smiling, "before you know it, they'll be calling you the body flicker master."

Sakaria grinned back at him after swallowing the mouthful of chips, but it seemed to fade a little, causing her mentor to cock his head. "It'd be nice if anybody called me anything." She moused, looking away from the brunette Uchiha man. After the sudden realization of what she meant went away, he smirked confidently again.

"Eventually, everyone will recognize you. You're gonna be a top-notch kunoichi one of these days."

There was a moment of silence, as if Sakaria was trying to envision the future that he was trying to paint for her but couldn't, then she spoke again. "Shisui..."

"Yeah?"

"Do you think... Do you think my mom and dad didn't want me?" The question was quiet but deliberate. Shisui felt a pang of sympathy for the little girl and was unsure of what he could say without patronizing her. He decided to simply tell her the truth... or at least as much as he could without reneging on his understanding with Itachi.

"I don't think that at all," He placed a consoling hand on her shoulder and smiled again, "I think your parents love you very much... but I also think that sometimes adults do things and they can't really tell their kids about it until they get older, ya know?" Sakaria's face seemed to twist in irritation at this and she shoved his hand from her, obviously tired of the "we'll tell you when you're older" line, but it only caused Shisui to grin wider at her stubbornness. "I know that doesn't help, cause you're a smart girl... You probably think you're ready to know everything there is to know about the world."

"Because I am!" She shouted in protest, crossing her arms over her chest again.

Shisui chuckled and looked off into the distance as if every answer to the questions she had were somewhere in the forest. "Sometimes... even when it doesn't seem fair and even when it doesn't make things easy... we don't learn things until we're ready." He caught her attention with this and she seemed to drop her guard a little in order to listen to what he was saying. For once, someone was talking to her about the questions she had. He wasn't writing them off as trivial concerns. He wasn't treating her like she was too little. He was talking in a way that might not answer her, but would at least help her make more sense of her own uncertainties. "Kinda like with your sharingan!" Though his metaphor made perfect sense in his own head, Sakaria tilted her head at this, seemingly confused. "It would be a lot easier to master the body flicker technique I'm teaching you if you'd already activated your sharingan... but you haven't yet. Every Uchiha awakens their sharingan in their own time, and it just isn't your time yet..." Shisui set the bag of chips he was holding on the ground, stood, and, like a flash of light, disappeared and reappeared in the blink of an eye, this time holding a budding flower in his hand from one of the trees nearby. "All we can do is work with the skills you already posses... and then, when you do have your sharingan, it'll be that much easier for you." He handed the bud to Sakaria, who held it in her hand and watched as it opened with the help of Shisui's chakra no doubt.

"So... I just have to keep working to be the best ninja I can be... and then eventually everything will just fall together?" Sakaria asked, gazing down at the pink flower that had blossomed in her palms.

"You get it," Shisui confirmed. There was a moment of quiet and Shisui sat beside her again, ready to answer the questions that were sure to follow. The kind of validation he always seemed to offer was one of the reasons she was glad Shisui guessed who she was early on. After discovering her relation to his best friend, and practically tormenting Itachi until he admitted it, Shisui promised their parents he wouldn't say anything to anyone and even offered to keep an eye on her whenever need be.

Though he was trustworthy, Shisui had decided to leave out the minor detail that he'd taken the youngest Uchiha under his wing and started teaching her ninjutsu- it was bad enough that when he told Itachi, he uncharacteristically went into a panic. He knew their parents would be furious if they ever found out, and that was why the three had made a promise not to mention it to anyone. This pact that they had was something that was top secret and all theirs -not even Sasuke knew- and it was exactly why the youngest of the Uchiha knew she could talk to Shisui about anything.

"But... Shisui... How am I supposed to be... anybody if nobody knows I exist?" Sakaria asked, looking up from her cupped hands.

"If I know anything about this world, it's that things don't ever stay the same way. Change occurs in the best... and sometimes in the worst ways." He looked up, gazing out at the tree line again, suddenly feeling pensive as he thought about the future of their clan.

Sakaria, however, found hope in his statement and beamed up at him. "Do you think that the kids in the village will like me?" She asked, feeling electrified by her own curiosity and excitement.

Shisui chuckled again and wiped his hand under his nose in an effort to look as though he hadn't just been deep in thought, "Heh, you're a lot like Itachi, you know?" Sakaria furrowed her brow in confusion until he continued, "You're both pretty strange... but one of these days, you're going to find someone who accepts you for that and who will never betray you."

"Like you and big brother!" Sakaria announced cheerfully, suddenly glad Itachi had a friend like Shisui.

"Yeah, of course!"

As if on cue, Itachi emerged from the brush in the forest to find Sakaria and his best friend sitting side by side on the fallen piece of wood. He immediately noticed how battered his little sister appeared and walked to her side, trying to mask his concern. "You're awfully scraped up."

"We were training!" Sakaria beamed up at him proudly, her voice toned down in order to keep their secret. Her brother, still stoic, knelt beside her and took her hand in his, causing her to drop the flower Shisui had given her in order to inspect her superficial wounds.

"Shisui..." Itachi looked up from his sister's arm and his friend immediately noticed his worry.

"She's alright, Itachi. You worry too much." Shisui said, rustling the little girl's hair.

"Yeah! And watch this Itachi!" Sakaria stood, ready to show off, then instantaneously appeared in the tree tops several yards away. After wobbling on the branch a little, but regaining her footing, she stuck out her thumb and grinned at them as they stood on the ground. Although Shisui was much better at hiding his tension, both men had readied themselves to catch her in a moments notice as soon as she vanished, but when they realized she had almost perfectly completed the jutsu, the elder of the two let out a cheer.

"That's my girl!" Itachi looked over at Shisui as he shouted his praises, then directed his gaze back to his sister.

"Shisui, I worry that if she learns too much she might land herself in a situation where she is unmatched..."

Shisui, sure to speak softly so the returning Uchiha wouldn't hear, turned to his companion. "She wants to learn, Itachi... and there's nothing wrong with her having a little confidence in herself... besides, if I'm going to teach her anything, wouldn't you prefer that she learn something that could ultimately get her away from danger?"

"Well... Yes, but-"

"Big brother! Watch!" Itachi turned his attention back to his sister, who flashed away. After a second passed and he couldn't find her, a look of pure fear crossed his face as his eyes scanned the forest back and forth. Still not seeing her, he activated his sharingan, relieved when her aura appeared and she finally popped up from under a pile of leaves. "Oops!" The girl giggled, smiling brightly at her brother, who was still tense but impressed that she'd managed to appear under the brush pile without making any sort of sound, even if it was purely accidental.

"She's very headstrong, Shisui," Itachi continued, keeping his eyes on his sister as she crawled from the leaf pile, plucking some of the foliage from her long black hair. "I don't want that to develop into recklessness."

"It's a good thing she has her brother's intelligence, then, isn't it?" Shisui said, patting his friend on the back while his trainee ran up to them and jumped in her brother's arms. Itachi picked her up and hugged her tight, silently thankful she was safe.

"What do you think Itachi!? Shisui says one day I'll be a master!" Sakaria bragged leaning back in Itachi's hold so she could study his face.

"Hn." Itachi smirked with closed eyes, "Perhaps one day... but, before that, we should get you home. 'Masters' need their dinner." He set Sakaria on the ground so she could hug Shisui and thank him for the time he'd spent training her, then grabbed her hand and set off in the direction of their house, leaving his friend to pick up the blossom that Sakaria had been holding from the ground. After sitting back down on the log the two had rested on, he set the flower beside him as a sort of placeholder for his pupil, then peacefully looked out to the sky beyond the tree line as it turned a brilliant shade of orange and the sun set over the forest.