So, this is where canon starts, more or less. I'm gonna try my best to stay with the timeline for now, but the canon timeline is very confusing regarding earlier events such as the massacre and future Team 7 joining the academy and there aren't always exact numbers or dates. There are going to be some things that I use as headcanon, either ideas from other fics I've read or from friends. Either way I'm super excited to write this chapter;

Fav character in Naruto: Competition between Tobirama, Obito, or Sakura

Obvy, Naruto 'cause he's the main character

I'm going to assume that in peace times, kids enroll in the academy at around age 7 or 8 and around the end of the summer, say late August. I've changed the story timeline to fit with it. Naruto is now 7 years old, soon to be 8, Sasuke and Sakura are 7 as well. So around 2-ish years before the massacre. Akira's age is 8, just a tad older than Naruto. Itachi will be 10 going on 11 and Shisui will be 12. I know it's weird but bear with me, I'm trying my best.

Akira's birthday: October 24

Naruto's birthday: October 10

Itachi's birthday: June 9

Shisui's birthday: October 19

Sasuke's birthday: July 23

Sakura's birthday: March 28

Just for reference.

Note:

-I'll be using 'daisuki' for I love you to friends and family. I have read up on this and I gathered that in japanese culture it isn't common to say "I love you" to anyone who isn't your significant other. It seems that they prefer to show it through actions. Not hating, just stating.

-I'm changing "nee-san" to "ne-san" or "onee-san/sama," so the "nee-" is a little shorter. Elder brother will be "nii-san."

-Counting on your fingers is different in Japan. I don't know how they do it in the narutoverse, so I'm just basing my stuff on Japanese culture.

I'm also going to try writing in 3rd person but in Akira's POV, if that makes sense. I'm not liking the 'I' stuff very much. I hope that's not, like, a taboo.

Okay, I'm done, hope the chapter is to your liking. But no one is probably reading this so it doesn't matter. I'm just documenting this so I won't forget because my life is chaos. Ted talk over.

So far since dying, I've been beaten six ways to Sunday, then healed by the next morning. befriended a small blond boy who just so happens to be a container for a chakra demon, got myself stabbed, interrogated by a mind reading shinobi , and now… I'm dropping off my brother for his first day at school.

"Akira-chan! Come on, we're gonna be late!" Naruto whines, dragging me by my wrist to the academy. We're already late, so what if we are a little later? Nevertheless, we continued walking through the village. As the academy came into sight, so did a hoard of parents and children. 'This must be the inauguration ceremony.' I pulled the blonde back from the crowd.

"What's wrong?" he asks.

I shake my head, "Nothing." When Naruto and I showed up, the room got significantly quieter. All eyes were on him. I led us to a small area that had promptly cleared out the moment we started to head there. There was a small ledge that we used to see over the sea of people. The Hokage gave his speech and then one of the teachers gave instructions for all the children. Kids started to go inside and I turned to the boy next to me. I took both of his hands in mine and looked into cerulean eyes. I pull him into a hug. He stiffens, but slowly relaxes and wraps his arms around me.

"You'll meet me here after, right?" the boy asks fearfully. I pull back and raise an eyebrow, but my eyes soften when I see the nervous look on his face. I lean forward and plant a kiss on Naruto's forehead. His cheeks turn an adorable pink color and I giggle.

"Yes!"

He stares at me for a couple seconds, then tears spring into his eyes. Mine widened.

'What did I do!? How do I make it stop?!' Soon he's sobbing and buries his face in my shoulder.

"Daisuki, Akira-chan."

My mind blanks and I sniffle, 'dammit, why are you so cute! And why am I so emotional!?'

I lift his head and press our foreheads together. My hands rise to wipe the tears on whiskered cheeks. I toss my head in the direction of the academy. Naruto uses his sleeves to wipe his nose. I laugh and ruffle his hair and he bounds off for the first day of shinobi training.

I walk around the village for a bit, looking for a gig. The language barrier is a real pain in my ass. Soon I find myself in front of a kids store. Inside was an ambush of color. Bright yellows, reds, and blue lined the walls. Browsing the shelves, I picked up some books that seemed like the equivalent for learning the ABC's. 'Guess it's back to the basics.' I sigh. I head to the register to pay.

"Oi!"

I turn around to the mysterious voice. A blush creeps up my neck.

'Holy fuck, that is a fine specimen right there!'

'He is quite good looking…'

OH MY KAMI NO. He is barely a teenager for gods' sakes! The Uchiha Shisui was facing me with a raised eyebrow. I raise my hand awkwardly to wave hello and he walks up to the cashier. Shisui holds out his hand and the other man adopts a meek expression. The young Uchiha closes his fist around the money the owner set in his hand and moves towards me. He kneels to my height and puts the bills in my smaller hands. I look up perplexed before my face morphs to shock and frustration.

'Oh my god you got scammed!' I can just picture her rolling around on the floor, laughing. The other one is giggling uncontrollably.

'It was an h-honest m-mistake, but still funny!' I roll my eyes inwardly.

A cheerful voice jolts me out of my musings.

"There you go. Be careful with your money, little miss," he grins. I can't help but grin back.

I nod, "Mm!" I look around and shivers run down my spine. There are more than a few people staring at me with hateful looks. The smile falls from my face.

'We should go, it's not safe.'

'I second that.'

For once, I agree. I turn around and walk outside, thinking I could escape the suffocating atmosphere. Oh, how wrong I was. Outside, there were even more people, just staring. I hear Shisui call out. He pops up next to me.

"Wow, what did you do midget?" He asks jokingly, but even his voice wavers. I glare at him.

"Woah! Okay then, midget doesn't like being called midget. Noted." My eyes narrow. Despite my best effort, I can't help but be suspicious. I'm scared, I'm confused. A traitorous tear runs down my cheek. I quickly brush it away and start walking. Suddenly, my entire body feels as if I'm being pulled away and I fall over, only to be caught by the back of my black tee. I groan. My savior lifts me up and sets me straight. I looked around, we were on one of the training grounds.

I grab my head, "Ugh."

Shisui chuckles, "Yeah, shunshin can do that to you."

Of course he would know that. 'Shunshin no Shisui, huh?' What I'm confused about is why? I look at him, drawing my eyebrows together, hoping he'll get the message. He takes a second, but eventually he answers.

"I didn't want to leave you by yourself, those people looked scary, huh?" I nod. He ruffles my hair, "What's your name midget?"

"Akira." I pout, trying and failing to tame my mane.

His eyes widen comically and he gives a fake gasp, "What? The midget speaks!?" I roll my eyes. Shisui laughs, "Why are all the little people in my life so sassy?" I look at him. "You know, you're a lot like my cousin, Itachi. He's so adorable when he glares."

I giggle, little Itachi was pretty cute. Shisui has a satisfied look on his face.

"So, Akira-chan, what did you buy?" I wrinkle my nose and pull out the reading books I almost got scammed for.

'You're still bitter about that?' she rolls her eyes.

Of course I am, some jerk tried to pull a fast one. That was hard earned money right there! But I digress.

The Uchiha looks through the books for a second, "Oh, are they for a little sibling?" I shake my head.

"Did your parents send you to buy them?" I shake my head again. The boy looks confused.

"Are they for you?" He finally asks. I confirm, 'Thank god, we would've been here all day'

He sat on the grass and I followed suit. He lays back and I sit with my legs crossed, taking in the sun. The air quality here is incredible. My old world was filled with pollution and smog. I bet the oceans here are bluer than Naruto's eyes. A smile graces my face.

'You know, even though we have this whole celestial mission thing, something tells me that we'll still have lots of fun together.'

'I agree.'

"Were you alone?"

I nod. Shisui finally stands up and offers me a hand.

"Come on, I'll take you home." I can't really say anything to that, but I did anyway.

"Just great," I grumble.

"Did you say something?"

I turn to the teen, "Iie."

He looks skeptical, "Okay then, lead the way milady."

I snort, 'The weirdness is strong in this one.'

We head into my district and Shisui looks confused and a little nervous. He looks down at me while we walk.

"Hey, are you sure you live around here?"

I nod, "Mhm."

We make it to Naruto's apartment building and I look up in exasperation.

"I got this one," Shisui's smile looks absolutely devilish. My eyes widen.

I blink and we're at the door. I promptly fall to the floor. "Ow," I groan.

Shisui just laughs. I pull myself up and take out my key. The Uchiha attempts to walk straight in, but I grab his arm and pull him back roughly. He stood behind me surprised, I held up my hand in a stop motion. "Wait."

I walk inside, avoiding the trip wires and alarm bells. Quickly, I disable the traps and invite Shisui in.

"Hey midget?" a voice calls.

I raise an eyebrow and my eyes find his.

"Does someone else live with you?" I nod.

"Who?" I look at him suspiciously. The raven haired boy meets my gaze.

"Why?" I ask.

He ignores my question and takes a look around, "Do you live with your mom and dad?" I slowly shake my head no.

"Ototo." He looks up in surprise.

"Really?" I nod again. Then I turn to the bedroom, cutting off the conversation before he can ask any more questions. They never really specified whether or not Shisui hated Naruto. Or any of the Uchiha really. To be honest, I'm hoping he doesn't. Shisui is a nice person, definitely not your standard Uchiha. He's playful and caring. When I watched him for the first time in the anime, I wished he lived longer. I head to the bathroom to clean up a bit and fix my hair. As I look in the mirror something shines in the corner of my eye. I turn and see something sparkle under a tile.

'Oh! The pin!'

I had put it there so I wouldn't have to worry about losing it. I crouch down and lift the tile out of the floor. The accessory gleamed, as if recently polished. It pulsed with power, divinity. Every color imaginable was somehow compressed into a single item, shifting until settling on a red wine shade swirled with a navy blue.

I tried to pin my hair up, but magnificently failed.

'They make it look so fucking easy…'

'...you're an idiot.'

I jump at a knock on the door.

"Hey, you okay?"

I didn't think I'd been in here that long. Oh well, I'll just put my hair up later. I unlock the door and I find Shisui leaning against the frame. His eyes sweep over my face then land on the pin in my hands.

"Woah kid, that's a pretty thing you got there," he says. He then looks up at me, "Do you know how to do your hair?"

'What kind of question is that?'

"No."

His curious look morphs into glee. 'Oh no, what now?'

"I'm actually meeting someone soon, they might be able to do it for you." His voice turns suspiciously innocent, "It would be a shame if such a beautiful pin goes to waste."

I shake my head vigorously.

"Please?" He drags out the word, almost singing it. I think about his request.

Out of the blue he asks, "Do you like sweet things?"

My face lights up, "Mm!"

He grins, knowing he's got me hooked.

The boy crouches down to my height. "How about this; if you come with me, without kicking up a fuss, I'll take you to get dango." Shisui holds out his hand, I promptly take it and we head to meet our mystery buddy.

'Why the heck did we stop going on walks?'

I just stopped...I guess. I mean I was so busy back then, with exams and my internship. It was hard to really get any down time.

She scoffs, 'On top of that our family was batshit crazy.'

Shut up. Walking with Shisui was fun, he was laid back and just strolled around. If I wanted to go look in a store, he would patiently wait for me to finish exploring. Even though I can't buy anything, it's still fun to look. Who knows, maybe I'll keep a gift in mind for when I can afford it.

I was crouching by a necklace that had caught my eye, "Shisui-san!"

He turned to me from where he was looking at some charms, "What, koneko-chan?"

I gesture to the chain in front of me, "Look!"

The boy's mouth shapes into an 'o' shape and his eyebrows rise. "Oooh, you're right, it's pretty." He says happily.

My eyes drift. I test out the words, they feel odd on my tongue. "Pretty...kitten…"

I don't notice Shisui staring at me with a sorrowful look on his handsome features. I face him and smile, "Akira, pretty!" I point to myself.

"Aa, you are very pretty." He ruffles my hair and leads me out of the shop.

"Shisui," he blurts.

My eyebrows scrunch, "Hm?"

He looks at me, "Just call me Shisui, ok?"

I nod, "Hai," I drawl.

The Uchiha chuckles and looks up at the sky. "Shit!" he curses, "Here Akira, get on my back. We're gonna be late!"

He turns around and crouches, holding his hands out behind him. I hesitantly get on and wrap my arms around his neck, but mindful not to choke him.

Shisui stands, "Ok, you ready?" He smiles back at me. I, on the other hand, am confused. 'Oh hell no, he better not fucking shunshin again!"

Instead, the teen lept to the roof tops, lacing his feet with chakra. I screwed my eyes shut. He noticed I wasn't looking at him and titled his head back to nudge mine.

"Hey, it's okay. Don't worry, I won't drop you."

'Breathe, okay, you can do it. You used to love roller coasters!'

'Yeah, but we were also strapped into a metal cart which thousands of people had ridden in before and not died!'

'Come on, he just told us he wasn't going to drop us.'

'And we're supposed to trust him? We've only known the guy for an hour!'

Shut up! Stop being so damn pessimistic!

I lift one lid and immediately, my eyes widen.

'Wow…'

My jaw drops in awe. It's beautiful. With every jump we can see farther and farther over the village. Children played in the streets, vendors called out to people shopping in the market, and men and women chatted in tea shops.

Soon, Shisui landed in a field of grass with three wooden posts in the center.

'A training ground.'

The boy set me on the ground and fell onto his back. In a childlike fashion, I imitated him, and flopped down on the soft ground.

All of a sudden I start giggling and Shisui turns to me and smiles.

Shisui snorts and tugs gently on my brown locks. I grab my head self-consciously and the Uchiha next to me falls back in uncontrollable laughter.

"Shisui."

A familiar voice calls out. I tense.

"Hm?" His head turns to the side, gazing into the forest. There's a rustle in the trees and a dark figure falls from the branches to the forest floor. It walks out into the light, a boy in black training gear with visible tear troughs and long, sable, hair.

'For the love of-!'

Why, in the name of all things unholy, do I just keep running into main characters? WHY?! The universe just loves fucking with me.

"Who is that?" Itachi asks. With his monotone it sounds more like a statement.

In a bout of foolishness, I pouted and let out a 'hmph' sound.

Shisui looked amused, "You know, I don't think that tiny likes being talked about like she's not here."

Itachi turned his piercing gaze to me, "Who are you?" I shrunk back and subtly pulled my knees up to my chest.

"Akira," I mumbled.

"Why are you here," he demanded. He was probably speaking completely pleasantly, but I was always scared of him, he was hella intimidating. I racked my brain for a comprehensible response, which was difficult considering my limited vocabulary. Before I could come up with something that wasn't a terrified scream, Shisui cut in.

"I found her," he gently placed his hand on my head, "She's fun, and I'm keeping her." The long haired boy was about to protest when the older Uchiha wrapped his arms around my waist and set me in his lap, resting his chin on top of me.

"Um…" I started, surprised.

"Nope, this is non-negotiable." He really wasn't budging on this.

I sigh inwardly, 'might as well revel in it.'

I lean back and relax my tense muscles. My head rolled back into Shisui's chest and I closed my eyes. It was nice, and it made me think of how my brothers used to be with me. Then the 11 year-old in front of us took a step back and I looked at him curiously.

"Shisui."

"Yeah?"

"Training."

The troublemaker whined, "Aw, but I'm tired!"

I laughed and stood up, grabbing Shisui's hand to help him to his feet and pushed him as hard as my small arms would allow towards his younger cousin. I made a shooing motion with my hand and the two went to the center of the field. I sat in a nice spot in the shade, leaning against the base of a tree. I watched as the two moved with grace and ferocity. Itachi disappeared from view and Shisui put up his guard. A flash of black jumped towards him, armed with a kunai. The older Uchiha flickered away and Itachi pursued him. They ended up at the far end of the training ground, engaging in hand to hand combat. Itachi was fast, but Shisui was faster. He managed to nick the teen in the arm before they sprang away from each other. But what Itachi lacked in speed, he made up for with strength and strategy. Shisui went in for a right hook, but Itachi ducked and grabbed onto his wrist. He twisted and threw the older boy into the forest, using his own momentum against him.(A/N: I'm really bad at writing fight scenes, wow) They continued to spar and the sun blazed down upon us. I looked up and realized that it was way past noon.

I cursed in English, then started to leave the training grounds in a rush. Itachi noticed and the two Uchihas exchanged words.

Shisui ran up to me, "Where are you going?"

"Academy, little brother." I tried to convey my message.

Itachi looked panicked, well as panicked he could look, and his gaze flickered to the sky. Shisui saw Itachi and the pieces clicked. I looked at him and saw a demonic plan form in his head. 'He can't be…'

"Ne, Itachi-kun, kitten has to head to the Academy too, why don't you walk together?"

Me and the other boy looked at him with a cringe. At least, I cringed.

Itachi and I had spent a solid 10 minutes walking in complete silence. I don't do complete silence, it makes me crazy. I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I tried again. The boy was only a few years older than me, but right now he seemed unreachable.

It came out as more of a strangled croak, "Uchiha-san?"

He paused, "Hn."

I cleared my throat and gathered my courage, "Imouto? Otouto?" I was hoping he would get what I was trying to say. He isn't a prodigy for nothing.

"Otouto."

I gave him a soft smile, even in his voice, you could hear the affection for his younger sibling. "Naruto," I blurted. "Little brother."

Itachi locked his gaze with mine, and we stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, still walking side by side. It was only a couple seconds before he responded to my earlier statement.

"Sasuke."

I tested out his name, though I had said it many times in the past. "Sasuke.." I whispered. I started to walk backwards and gave Itachi a soft smile. His face remained unchanged as usual.

'Oh, we'll crack him.

'I'll take that bet.'

I giggle at them inwardly. I'm happy for the enthusiasm. The ground crunches under our feet as the Uchiha and I now walk in companionable silence.

Maybe he's not so bad..

Sounds of chatter filled the courtyard as the Academy filtered into view. I scanned the crowd for a spikey blonde head.

'Where could he be?'

'He probably just hasn't come out yet.'

A blue blur suddenly knocked into me, causing me to stumble back before I regained my footing. "What the-," I started. Then I saw Itachi embracing a smaller figure with a familiar duck-ass hairdo. "Sasuke.." my voice was curious and the older boy noticed.

"Sasuke." The kid glanced up, "Apologize." Sasuke looked confused and turned to me, realization dawning on his face.

Sasuke pouted cutely, "Hmph, sorry I guess." Oh the nerve!

I plastered on a smile, not able to stop the twitch of my eyebrow. "It's alright, Sasuke-kun."

I inwardly cackle, Akira: 1, Sasuke: 0. "Bye, Itachi-kun." I give the socially awkward boy a cheeky grin.

I sigh and head through the doors to search for Naruto. Wandering the halls, I quite literally crash into a blonde head.

I groan from my position on the floor, "Ouch.." holding my head.

A high pitched voice stutters out apologies, "Ah! Sorry! I didn't see you." A hand helps me up and I find myself staring into light blue eyes and a pale face.

'Cool! It's Ino!'

I shake my head, "I'm fine."

She smiles, "Okay then," and the girl starts to walk away.

"Wait!" I hold a hand out. I have no idea where I'm going. Ino turns and raises an eyebrow. "Uzumaki Naruto?" She laughs and points down the hallway to the last door down.

"He got in trouble with sensei, on the first day! The teacher held him back for detention."

I sag in disappointment, I was hoping he would keep it together just for today. "Thank you."

"No problem!" Ino waves and runs off.

'Welp, let's go then.'

I walk in on Naruto aggressively cleaning the chalkboard, while the pink chunin berates him. 'Wait, pink?' It was only then did I realize that the shinobi was covered in hot pink paint. I snorted and smothered my face in an effort not to start giggling. The teacher noticed me and slumped defeatedly.

"Are you here for him?"

"Hai, sensei," I responded. The shinobi seemed surprised, he wasn't expecting me to say yes, I suppose. Naruto had only just noticed me through his angry muttering and jumped down to hug me. I returned the hug, then tugged on his ear and tsked. Then I grabbed the back of his shirt and bowed to the shinobi, taking Naruto with me.

"We apologize." We chorused.

He sighed, "Go."

I didn't need to be told twice. As soon as we got outside I leveled the boy with a stern glare.

"I didn't do anything! It was just a joke!" An eyebrow was raised. "I-I, ugh. Fine! I just threw some paint on him, it's not a big deal…" the boy puffed out his cheeks. I would have been mad, which I am, but the reason he does this stuff outweighs my anger. I ruffled his hair and started to walk towards home.

"Next," I started, not sure if I was saying this right, "Next, blue." Naruto's grin almost split his face.

"Got it!"

I giggled and held out my hand for him to hold and we walked home.

It was late at night and I couldn't sleep. I still had some work to do. If I had any chances of saving Shisui and stopping Danzo, I had to first off, be capable of it. My face scrunched in agony. I was going to have to become a shinobi. I found solace in the fact that I don't have to be as powerful as Naruto would be, but good enough to protect myself, and good enough for Itachi to trust me. My ultimate goal is to save lives and avoid the Fourth Shinobi War, but my subgoal, for now, is to stop Sasuke from killing Itachi.

'I guess there's only one thing to do.'

But tomorrow. Because I can barely keep my eyes open. I switch off the lamp and collapse on the couch. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.