When Kizashi and Miyako got to his home, a standard two-bedroom house just outside of the centre of the village, Haruno Mebuki was in the kitchen preparing lunch for her daughter, husband, and herself. She concerned at Kizashi being summoned by the Hokage, so used cooking as a way to distract her mind.
"Kizashi, how was your meeting?" Mebuki questioned her husband after hearing the front door open and him entering the house.
"Honey, we have a guest," Kizashi replied as he slipped his shoes off, Miyako following his motions, setting them up neatly next to the other pairs of shoes in the genkan – which is the main entrance of the house where shoes are removed and kept.
"A guest?" Mebuki questioned in surprise as she walked into the hallway leading the genkan, staring in surprise when she saw Miyako standing next to her husband. "Oh? Who is this?"
Miyako bowed to the blonde-haired woman. "I'm Shinjitsu Miyako, pleased to meet you Haruno-san."
Mebuki stared in surprise at the girl, having thought – along with everyone else – that all the Shinjitsu Clan had perished in the fire. "Nice to meet you too, Miyako-chan," Mebuki greeted with a kind smile, looking to her husband for answers.
"Miyako-chan is my, our, mission. Hokage-sama has put us in charge of her safety and wellbeing. As of today, she is our niece Haruno Miyako," Kizashi explained nervously, worried that his wife would get angry at the sudden development.
Mebuki grinned. "Oh, that's great! I wanted a playmate for Sakura, now she has a cousin who will be like a sister to her!" Mebuki explained, before holding a hand out to Miyako. "Come with me to meet your cousin. Kizashi, you can finish making lunch."
Kizashi groaned playfully but nodded and went to the kitchen as Miyako took her new aunt's hand. Mebuki led Miyako up the stairs and to a room where a little girl around Miyako's age played with some pink character blocks.
"Sakura-chan, I want you to meet your new roommate and cousin Miyako," Mebuki explained and the little girl with pink hair grinned, standing up and wobbling over to Miyako.
"Hewo! Pway?" Sakura questioned, and Miyako looked at Mebuki in confirmation.
"Go ahead, just be gentle, she's two years younger than you," Mebuki explained and Miyako nodded in understanding before walking into the room and sitting on the floor with Sakura and stacking up the boxes.
Mebuki smiled gently before walking out. She knew that this was going to be good for her daughter and the young heiress.
...
The next day, two days after Miyako was found by ANBU, she was with Kizashi in the main part of the village. Mebuki was at home with a sleeping Sakura, and Miyako was board. She knew that the only reason Kizashi has brought her with him was that she was getting restless. Of course, she didn't mind as she followed him as he did his errands for his wife.
Miyako paused in front of a store, a shining hair clip catching her eye in the window. She couldn't help but smile at its beauty. She dragged her gaze away from the object, prepared to go back to Kizashi. Unfortunately, Kizashi hadn't realised the girl had stopped and kept walking, fading into the crowds.
Great, Miyako sighed, stupid shiny thing.
Miyako decided to walk to a nearby park, knowing that Kizashi will probably look for her there. She had told her aunt and uncle about how things were with her clan – including how when she went out, she told to go to the nearest park if she were to get separated from the others.
She walked into the snow-filled park, noting that only one other person was there. She studied the person. It was a male, about seven, maybe eight, years old. He had fair skin, dark hair and matching dark eyes. She decided to approach the boy, not even considering that he could be dangerous.
"Are you a shinobi?" Miyako questioned the boy, startling him as he hadn't noticed the girl had walked up to him.
He studied her, taking in her blue eyes and unusual purple hair. He could sense some chakra emitting from her, more than others her age. He suspected she may be from a shinobi family.
"Yes," the boy replied, watching as the girl tilted her head in fascination at the boy.
"You look young," she stated matter of factly.
"I graduated early," the boy replied, and the girl grinned.
"I'm Haruno Miyako, nice to meet you," the girl finally introduced herself, making the boy frown in confusion, knowing that Haruno was not a clan name. The girls frowned at him when he didn't respond. "This is the part where you tell me your name, shinobi-san."
The boy's lips twitched in amusement at her nickname for him. "I'm Uchiha Itachi."
Miyako grinned. "Want to play hide and seek with me?"
"Where are your parents?" Itachi questioned, ignoring her question for something more important.
Miyako frowned, puffing her cheeks out in annoyance. "Shiny objects," she muttered, glaring at nothing in particular.
Itachi was confused for a second before he chuckled. "You got distracted by a shiny object and lost your parents?"
Miyako nodded, her cheeks going red. "Yes, but I don't have parents. I live with my aunt and uncle."
"Miyako-chan!" Itachi watched as a man with dull pink hair rushed into the park, looking at Miyako with worry in his eyes.
"Kizashi-ji!" Miyako called and ran up to the man, giving him a hug on the legs.
He picked her up. "I was so worried when I realised you were gone. Mebuki would've killed me if something happened to you." As would the Hokage, he added in his mind as an afterthought, which Miyako caught.
Miyako smiled a cheeky grin. "Sorry Kizashi-ji, I got distracted by a shiny object. I'll be more careful," Miyako explained and Kizashi nodded in agreement, his blue gaze falling onto the boy on the bench whom Miyako had been talking to.
"Did you find her?" Kizashi questioned, and Itachi shook his head.
"She found me. I was going to stay with her until someone found her," Itachi explained and Kizashi smiled gratefully.
"Then thank you for keeping her company. Say goodbye Miyako-chan, we're going home," Kizashi stated and Miyako grinned at Itachi, waving at him as Kizashi carried her away.
"Bye Itachi-kun, I hope to see you again soon," she called out before facing the front and starting to chat with Kizashi. She missed the small smile on Itachi's lips and the thought that crossed his mind of him wanting to see her again too.
...
For Miyako, the days started to blur together. She missed her real family, but she cared deeply for the Haruno's, and they cared deeply for her too. She had finally gotten used to the surname Haruno. It took a month, and close slip-ups were commonplace for the girl, and even her guardians, but they got there in the end.
"Look Mi!" Sakura called as she ran up to Miyako, showing a cherry blossom flower to her. "It's me!"
Miyako cracked a smile, having fallen in deep, familial love with her not-cousin. She saw Sakura as the little sibling she always wanted and knew she'd do all she can to keep her safe. "It's pretty, Sakura," Miyako stated.
She and Sakura were at a park near their home. It was a warm spring day, and the cherry blossoms have started to bloom, washing away the horrid winter and the storm it had brought with it. Though, said storm brought something good with it, a new home and family for Miyako, so she wasn't too upset with it.
Sakura climbed onto Miyako's lap and put the flower in her hair, a wide grin on her lips. "There."
Miyako giggled and watched as Sakura ran off to play on the slide. Miyako stayed seated in the grass under a cherry blossom tree. She had a hard time truly letting herself have fun, and considering what she went through, it is not surprising that she was far too mature for her age. It was this maturity that allowed Miyako to take Sakura to the park without parental observation.
"Play hide!" Sakura announced with a grin from in front of Miyako, surprising the girl as she hadn't realised Sakura had returned from the slide.
Miyako was confused at the girl's exclamation, having trouble understanding what the girl meant. That was until her eyes widened as she realised what the girl said. "You want to play hide and seek?" Miyako questioned and Sakura nodded with a wide grin on her face. "OK, I'll count to ten and you go hide somewhere in the park, OK?"
Sakura grinned and nodded as Miyako turned around to face the tree behind her and starting to count slowly so Sakura could find a good hiding spot (or as good of a hiding spot a soon to be three-year-old could find).
Once Miyako reached ten, she grinned and turned around to face the park. "Ready or not, here I come!"
Miyako heard a small giggle and walked towards the tunnel in the playground. Miyako, of course, pretended to not know Sakura's location. After a few minutes of Sakura giggling, and Miyako pretending not to know where she is, Miyako decided it was time to 'find' Sakura.
She returned to the tunnel but froze when she sensed something was amiss. Moving in front of the tunnel's entrance, she turned to face the rest of the park, trying to note something out of place. She couldn't figure it out, but she knew something was wrong.
"You could sense me, so you are Shinjitsu Miyako," a sly, cold voice stated simply from the shadows, making Miyako tense up, preparing to protect herself and her cousin if she had to.
"Who are you?" Miyako demanded in nervous anticipation.
"Someone who's going to... liberate you from this god-forsaken village. Someone who will make you the best you can be," the male voice replied and out of the shadows a man with long black hair seemingly appeared.
"No, I'm not going anywhere," Miyako spat out, fear filling up her body as she sensed nothing but death and greed from the man in front of her.
"You're acting as if I'm giving you a choice," the man stated with a smirk before lunging at the girl.
She didn't think as she blocked his attack and kicked him back. The man was surprised, having thought she wouldn't be able to protect herself even a little bit. He chuckled as the girl charged towards him, preparing to punch him in the face, but he easily blocked it, grabbing onto her small fist.
"Well, aren't you cute?" the man questioned as the girl tried to get out of his grip. "There is more potential in you than I initially thought. I'll make a weapon out of you yet."
The man went to grab her, but jumped back, letting the girl go as he came to face with a dozen ANBU. "Orochimaru, by order of the Hokage, you are to leave the girl and the village alone, immediately," an ANBU ordered and Orochimaru laughed.
"I will leave for now, but I'll be back," he promised before vanishing.
...
Miyako was unable to breathe as Mebuki squished her, tears streaming down the blonde woman's face. She had been like that since Miyako was brought home after spending two hours with the Hokage trying to figure out what had happened and how Orochimaru had heard wind of Miyako's continued existence.
"Mebuki-ba, I'm fine. What about Sakura?" Miyako squealed out as she pushed the woman off her. Miyako was more worried about her cousin than she was herself.
"Sakura is fine. She's sleeping," Mebuki replied, her body shaking at the thought of potentially losing both her daughter and adopted niece.
"I'm glad. I was so scared for her," Miyako replied with a soft smile.
Mebuki studied the girl, realising quickly that she seemed almost unaffected about having almost been kidnapped. Then again, she watched her family being massacred right in front of her, perhaps there was more mental damage than they originally thought.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Mebuki questioned and Miyako tilted her head, a question in her eyes. "I mean, you were almost kidnapped."
Miyako's eyes widened in understanding before bursting out in laughter. "It's not the first time, Mebuki-ba. For as long as I can remember, someone was always trying to kidnap me. It's why Mama and Papa had started to train me early. It was the daughter of the clan head after all."
Mebuki was surprised at the girls' statement and went to ask further questions when Kizashi returned from the Hokage's office, a tired look on his face. Mebuki turned to face her husband. "So, what did Lord Hokage have to say about all this?" Mebuki questioned him.
"As of next week, Miyako will start at the academy," Kizashi explained and Mebuki's eyes widened in surprise.
"But... she's not even five yet," Mebuki stated, worried for the girl's safety.
"I will be in about two weeks' time. March 20th is my birthday," Miyako explained and Mebuki sighed.
"I guess we should prepare for schooling," Mebuki stated. "Sakura's going to miss having you around all the time though."