It wasn't until Inoichi returned home from the interrogation department after dinner time that the situation was explained. Kasumi had gone the whole day with nothing but breakfast and emotional torment and now had to deal with her family, all of which had been acting strange recently. It was after Inoichi had been briefed on the situation that he went to collect Kasumi from her isolation, giving her nothing but an expression of disappointment when she had hoped that her father would be her saviour in this confusing and frightening circumstance. There was silence down the hallway and even for an extended period once they had reached the kitchen. Still with Kasumi being the only one who had no idea what everyone was suddenly angry at her for.

Then Ino made a whimpering noise drawing all attention towards her and causing Airi to race over to her and start whispering words of comfort. It was only on a closer inspection by Kasumi that she noticed that Ino had a cast on her arm. Was that relevant to what was happening? Was Ino alright? When Kasumi went to express concern for her previously mean sister she merely received a backhand across the face from her mother along with poisonous words telling her to be silent and open crying from Ino.

It was only after Ino had stopped crying after being comforted by both parents and Airi had scolded Kasumi that the situation was explained. Ino was asked gently by Inoichi to tell the story of what happened and according to Ino it went very differently than reality.


According to Ino:

Kasumi ran to catch up to both Ino and Sayuri at the clearing where the two girls were found to be making flower crowns and then Kasumi joined them and they all played peacefully for a bit. After a while Kasumi suggested that they climb the tree but Ino protested saying it was dangerous and that they needed a parent to supervise them. Kasumi just openly ignored the concerned Ino and was able to pressure Sayuri into climbing up the tree with her. Eventually Ino scaled the tree as well to make sure that she could keep an eye on the other two and so she wasn't left out. While they were sitting on the branch Kasumi started fighting with Sayuri and when Ino tried to stop them Kasumi accidently pushed her out of the tree. That was how Ino broke her arm. When Ino was on the ground crying in pain Kasumi just climbed down and then ran away and didn't even help her injured sister. Sayuri then had to help Ino and run back to Airi and Mayumi to tell them that Ino was hurt.


This story of pure fiction written to make Kasumi seem like a horrible person was told with an emphasis on drama. Ino would say this in between sniffles and sobs and would glance at Kasumi and then shrink in pretend fear behind her mother.

"Kasumi was acting very scary and I would forgive her because it was an accident but then she just ran away and left me!"

This dramatic finale was completed with another huge outburst of tears.

While Inoichi and Airi continued to comfort Ino once again Kasumi merely stood stunned. It was a slight relief to finally have everything explained but Kasumi was utterly bewildered at the story that Ino had fabricated just in order to get her twin in major trouble. The other problem was that their father would not be able to get the truth because Airi specifically forbid the clan's mind techniques being used on the girls outside of training and instead a trust should be established without the need to resort to such invasive jutsus. Another thing was that even though Inoichi might suspect something with his training Airi would insist on Ino telling the complete truth and will eventually convince Inoichi of the same thing. If what Ino had said in the clearing was right and everyone thought she was some sort of evil, spirit possessed child of destruction then no one would believe Kasumi at all. At least Kasumi now had an idea about why Airi hated her so much recently.

When her parents eventually turned to her for an explanation Kasumi only had the energy to say that she hadn't done anything. Because of this the conversation didn't go anywhere and she was eventually sent back to the spare room without anything to eat. The shock was getting too much. First the clearing and now Ino's fake recount. It didn't end though. Inoichi, who was escorting his brown haired daughter to her new room of isolation and confinement, left her with some parting, heart stabbing words.

"I'm disappointed Kasumi. I would have thought you would have at least helped your sister. What you did, that is not what family or ninja do,"

With this Kasumi resigned herself to cry until sleep took the torment away. Cry for her lost family.


Luckily the spare room was half there for guests and half for storage so Kasumi at least had a bed to sleep on, even if it was extremely dusty. It also had some books in it so Kasumi had something to occupy her long days with. Airi had even decided that Kasumi was allowed food! The young Yamanaka was brought breakfast, lunch and dinner and a bottle of water along with each meal. Finally she had a bucket and a few changes of clothes. This was all that consisted of her days for the next couple of weeks while she was in her punishment. At first it hardly affected Kasumi as she was busy trying to figure out everything that was going on and why Ino had decided to suddenly turn on her so viciously for no obvious reason. Eventually Kasumi figured that it was best just to go along with everything, after all the punishment had to finish at some point. In the meantime Kasumi became very knowledgeable about plants and poisons as she read every book in that room twice and every book was on these clan specialties.

After her two weeks of confinement nothing much changed besides the ability to now leave the room and go to the bathroom or get an extra drink of water. The spare room became Kasumi's new room as Ino was apparently too scared to have Kasumi around and Kasumi spent most of her time there so that she wouldn't upset Airi or Ino. Airi still made Kasumi take her meals to her room and Inoichi didn't train her as much, not even the hand games. Sayuri never came over anymore and instead Ino would leave and either meet at a clearing or at Sayuri's own house. Either way Kasumi was still isolated from everything outside the Yamanaka clan head's house. No more trips through the village with Airi and definitely no visits with Inoichi to the Akimichi's to see Choji and Shikamaru. The only company was books, which would prove to cause even more trouble for Kasumi later on. Besides this Kasumi was still able to fall into a routine which wasn't entirely terrible. The only disruption was Ino's new hobby, tormenting Kasumi and doing things to get her into trouble. Most commonly Ino would get a cut or bruise and say that Kasumi had attacked her or go to Airi and say that Kasumi and been saying really mean things to her. On all occasions Kasumi would receive a visit by Airi to her new room and brace herself for the loud onslaught after Airi was finished yelling, and sometimes hitting, Kasumi would proclaim her innocence before Airi stormed out of the room, slamming the door and screaming "Liar" over her shoulder.


It was approaching a very special time for the two girls; they would soon be starting at the academy. This got everyone in the clan very excited. There was even a whole clan feast and party put together to commemorate this occasion, the official beginning of the future generation of shinobi for the Yamanaka clan as well as the start for their next clan heir. This was a rare event both within the clan and for Kasumi specifically as she was allowed to leave the house, just in case some of the other clan members started asking questions about where she was. Airi was adamant that the names of herself, Inoichi and Ino would not be tainted with the confirmation that the younger twin was indeed evil. Airi was just thankful that both Ino and Kasumi's hair had now grown long so that they could start following the tradition, even if it was just the academy and they were yet to become shinobi it was still a strong symbol showing how everything was okay, even if it wasn't entirely true.

The event was going very well and Airi was pleased and even optimistically calling the day a success. Ino wasn't showing her fear of having to sit next to Kasumi and Kasumi had not uttered a single word, that was until one of the elder members of the clan decided to have a conversation with both of the twins. This was one of the Yamanakas which was not concerned with the superstition and didn't falsely judge Airi in hopes that the brown haired child was not the clan head's. She freely approached both children and started a discussion about a simple topic; flowers. At first it was simple questions such as what their favourite flowers were and why and then a bit of a naming game about some of the common flowers found within the Yamanaka compound. The conversation gradually developed into a much harder quiz about the different functions of each part of certain flora and what these plants were capable of producing, either a medicine or type of poison. It was at this point that Kasumi's answers became less minimalistic and started expressing her true knowledge about this important subject. She seemed to completely forget the scrutiny of Airi and instead was having fun and eagerly soaking up the extra information that the elder woman gave to fill in any gaps in the conversation. This earnt the attention of not just Airi and Inoichi but most of the Yamanaka clan as well. Most were pleased that a child had such a profound knowledge and interest in a major part of their clan life, mind techniques and flowers were a central part of the clan and this child appeared to be a natural. This pleasant atmosphere lasted the rest of the feast with other Yamanakas deciding to approach the bright child and query her themselves about her knowledge on this topic and even some other less relevant ones. By the end of the day Ino had been mostly ignored and Kasumi was having the best time of her life.


Needless to say both Airi and Ino were not pleased with this sudden favouring of Kasumi and on the conclusion of this grand event Kasumi once again returned home to an angry mother and mean, now jealous, sister. A jealous sister who made it very clear to her mother that she was very upset at Kasumi's sudden attention and that it was obvious that Kasumi was being purposefully mean to poor, innocent Ino.

"What do you think you were doing?!"

Kasumi still hadn't come down from her momentary high from good attention and was not expecting this sudden change in atmosphere.

"What?"

This only infuriated Airi more and created a sinister smile on the blonde twin.

"Don't be such a stupid girl! How dare you humiliate your sister in such a way!"

"What?"

This nearly earnt Kasumi a slap to the face but Airi knew that in Inoichi's presence this action wasn't entirely approved. Instead she settled with a violent shove which resulted in Kasumi tripping over and spending the rest of the one sided yelling contest on the floor.

"You completely and utterly humiliated Ino at the party! How did you even learn all that stuff?! It doesn't matter! Go to your room and stay there! And if you think you are so smart about flowers then you can start spending your days working at the back of the flower shop!"

Nothing else was said to Kasumi for the next couple of weeks. She was once again experiencing her family isolation.


Airi did not keep to her promised threat and Kasumi was not given the privilege to leave the house and venture into the village to work at the Yamanaka flower shop and maybe even enjoy herself and learn something interesting. This meant that Kasumi once again had nothing to do except read over the books again and take in what the elder had told her at the party, in other words she was continuing with what had gotten her into trouble. Another problem that Kasumi was faced with was the upcoming enrolment at the academy in case another incident like the party happened with Kasumi 'humiliating' Ino because of Ino's lack of knowledge. While Kasumi was eager to learn and study and wanted to get ahead in her classes she knew that she didn't have that opportunity as her mother would disapprove greatly and very verbally.

With this dilemma hanging precariously over her head Kasumi was unable to show the same level of enthusiasm as Ino as the time leading up to their first day of the academy turned from weeks to days. As Kasumi became more withdrawn and lost in thought Ino thought up one more plot to … commemorate their attendance at the academy and the start of their journey to become shinobi of the hidden leaf village.


"Tomorrow!"

Ino was bounding around the table at breakfast repeatedly shouting this word over and over again making sure that nobody would forget when she would official begin her journey to become a kunoichi of Konoha. Airi was beaming with pride and Inoichi couldn't finish his breakfast because of the smile cemented on his face. Kasumi however was excluded from this family moment as she was eating her breakfast in her room like always but was able to hear with extreme clarity the excited proclamation from her distant twin. Today was going to be exceptionally long for the brown eyed Yamanaka twin with her parents talking animatedly to her sister about who happy they were for her and all the things she has to remember for and expect from the first day at the academy and leaving Kasumi unnoticed and forgotten in the background, as always.

All of this happened while Kasumi was finishing off her small collection of books for the second time that week and she was surprised but happy when she heard someone entering her room. Upon hurriedly abandoning her book Kasumi glanced up to notice with joy that it was her father who had come to give her an unusual visit but it soon became clear from his stern expression that his presence in her room was only because she was in trouble. Kasumi's expression changed quickly upon this realisation to her default blank and emotionless mask that she had adapted over her time of isolation and rejection. Nothing was said or had to be spoken between the Yamanaka father and daughter as Kasumi silently followed his tall stature down the hallway and into the kitchen to see what scheme Ino had brewed in her mind this time to ruin the week for Kasumi.

"You devil child! You horrible, jealous brute!"

It was obvious which parent had already started their reprimanding of the silent Yamanaka girl and it was only with a quick look at Ino that the situation was understood.

"How could you destroy your sister's beautiful hair?! Don't you know the significance of long hair for this clan?!"

Kasumi had long since lost her patience with Ino's lies and deceit and had no idea how to peacefully converse with her mother any more either.

"Technically it isn't a tradition until we graduate the academy,"

This back-chatting didn't please Airi at all and after a lot of yelling from Airi, more disappointment from Inoichi and excessive crying from Ino Kasumi was allowed to return to her room but only after Ino's hair had been fixed and Kasumi's was cut just as short.

Both of the Yamanaka twins would have to start their time at the academy with very short hair but neither of them cared. Ino was pleased her plan had worked and Kasumi was just thankful that she would now be able to leave the house on a regular basis.