The cab ride back to my house is unnerving.

I've always stood my ground, always been able to find a way to solve my problems. Today, though… Today I could barely stand, let alone, fight back, or even try to protect something precious to me. I was weak and vulnerable. I am weak and vulnerable. For everything I thought I could achieve, this is a reality check. If anything like that were to happen, I would be useless.

Even now, the bravery I didn't realize I had to go out in the middle of the night to work in a club is- is- almost unthinkable. To deliberately walk into a den that flirted with danger… How naive could I be? At least Itachi was one to stop. I might not be so lucky next time.

Naive? No, more like desperate.

I would rather quit. I want to quit. But I- we need the money. This is for more than just me. This isn't because of some silly preteen rebellion or for kicks. I need this job, I need the income. I... need to learn how to protect myself.

Dropping me off one block from my house, I pay the driver and sprint the rest of the way. I can't help but feel a little paranoid. As though someone is watching, or something will reach out from the dark and take me somewhere I can't return from. The hair on the back of my neck stands on end as I unlock and relock the door.

The clock in the kitchen reads 2:30AM and I tiptoe my way through the house. Checking on Kumo, I see boy is sound asleep and sprawled out across the bed. Leaving the door a crack open, I check on my father. He is also knocked out, his snores reverberating through the empty room. An empty bottle hangs from his fingers tips and his food is half eaten. Shutting the door again, I head to the bathroom to shower and get ready for sleep.

Once I'm cleaned up, I head back to Kumo and my bedroom, shoving the kid until there's space for me. After a day like I had, it's relaxing to be able to cuddle up next to Kumo. To hear his even breaths and feel the warmth from his body. This is the reason I can get up tomorrow. Despite the night's events, I'm too exhausted to let it keep me up.

Hang on just a little longer.

The next day at school, I'm reminded of my urgent problem.

Sasuke is early as usual, brooding silently. His usual 'cool guy' persona is ruined by all the bandages, but I guess it could make him look more punk. Seeing him brings back memories of his brother. While that man has backed off for now, it's a very real possibility I'll be found out as Sasuke's classmate and it's not like I'm trying to hide I'm a girl.

Maybe... I should have thought through how I was gonna warn off Sasuke, after all.

Looking away from the boy, I finish up another set of assignments as I try to think of what to do now. Because I have to do something before Itachi finds out. And with how he reacted last night, I'm certain he'll find out soon.

When Ino walks in, she ignores my half-hearted greeting. She instead stands next to my seat and frowns down at me, "You look terrible."

"You're pretty enough for the both of us." I grin back.

"Shut up." She says with her serious face, "Is something wrong?"

Ino is surprisingly astute for a twelve year old, she's able to read my moods easily and can tell when I'm lying. It might have something to do with her dad being an expert in psychology and her idolization of him.

"I'm working through it." I answer honestly.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spy Sasuke paying attention to our conversation. Not wanting anything to potentially get back to him, I stand up and guide Ino out of the classroom. Making sure there's no prying ears nearby I rest my gaze back on Ino.

"If you had to allow someone to get even with you," I ask nonchalantly, "what would you suggest?"

"Wha—" She cut off, seeing something in my face, she pauses to give an honest reply, "I'm not sure what happened, but if you can't give them what caused you to do whatever you did, I'd suggest asking them."

I blinked, "That's… simple." I give a genuine smile, "Thanks Ino! You're pretty smart."

She doesn't blush as much today but I still see it. Staring defiantly back at me she flips her hair, "Of course, now let's head to our seats before that scarf-sensei arrives."

—

I had to wait until lunch break for Sasuke to be alone. He heads out by himself to go to the bathroom. Following behind him a few minutes later, I wait around the corner that leads back to the classroom.

"Sasuke Uchiha." I call out as he enters my line of vision.

He flinches then squares his shoulders and turns to me with a fake-calm expression, "What, Katsumi Matsuzaki."

"Let's have a talk." I command, motioning him to follow me.

For a moment I don't think he'll comply, but the sound of hurried footsteps and a 'hn' means he's following. I can feel him staring daggers into my back as I lead him up to the roof, entering through the entrance that Shiranui helpfully leaves unlocked now.

Closing the door behind Sasuke, I try to keep myself calm. It's weird and against every instinct in me to allow myself to submit to someone like Sasuke. He isn't more powerful than me, he isn't responsible, he isn't someone I trust like Ino. He's a rude little snot with a powerful family. For no reason besides his brother trying to hunt me down for revenge or something I have to lower my head to him.

"What… Do you want." I grit out.

His brows furrow in his confusion and I sigh.

"To get even for beating you up," I explain, "what do you want?"

His confused expression morphs into understanding, then a deep frown. He looks away, thinking, and shoves his hands in his pocket.

"I wasn't trying to be weird." He says, "I was just trying to figure out why you're so popular among the girls."

Is he… apologizing?

I blink, sigh, and run a hand through my hair. "Look, Sasuke." I tentatively approach, "I beat you up, because... you were being creepy and stalking me." He doesn't have a bad reaction I guess. Just kinda looks away, so I continue, "I don't know why you thought it was okay," he opens his mouth but I talk over him, "and I don't care. I just didn't like it."

He looks up and nods reluctantly.

"I shouldn't have done that." I admit, "I could have asked you first."

He hn's, and I roll my eyes, "Just tell me what you want to be even."

His frown smooths out at last and he gives an almost imperceptible nod, "Teach me how to fight."

"Oh…" Of course this kid doesn't want to get beat up again, "Ask another thing. I can do your homework, your projects. I'll give you money if you like."

His eyes harden and I can feel the stubbornness exude from him, "I don't care for any of that, I can do that on my own. Teach me how to fight."

Running another hand through my hair, I shake my head, "Sasuke, you stalked me for a few days, I don't have time to teach you." I spell out, "I just got another job too, so my evenings are full."

"And the weekends?" He persists.

"I have another job then, and I have to do groceries and housework and look after my brother." Looking down at him I can't help but wonder why he just doesn't hire a self defense instructor, "Ask for something else."

Frowning, he shakes his head again, "I'll get back to you."

With that, he leaves the roof.

"So that's what's been going on."

I spin around, face flushed, a little embarrassed my apology was overheard by Shiranui. Looking at his relaxed face and annoying smirk, I can't help but feel played somehow.

"What's been going on?" I try to act ignorant.

"I wondered why he was being all sulky lately." He says, "I just thought you rejected his confession or something. Who would've thought you beat him up for stalking."

Calming myself, I walk over to stand in the shade with him, "What tipped you off."

"Sasuke isn't a very subtle kid." Shiranui states, "One moment he's watching you like a hawk, the next he's ignoring you."

"...so your first thought was love confession?"

He shrugs, "I didn't think you'd be the type to beat up another kid."

"I—I overreacted." I respond, looking away.

Sensei bends slightly to be level with me. With his smirk in place I wish he didn't, "Quite the overreaction, Katsumi-chan."

I feel my face flush, again, and I lightly shove that smirking fool away. "Oh be quiet." I mumble, "Is that all you wanted to say?"

"Don't pout, kid." He half-heartedly comforts, laying a hand on my head, "You should have just come to me with this. For all his pride and bravado, Sasuke is just a scaredy-cat right now. I would have straightened out his bad tendencies."

The silence between us stretches. I can't honestly say the thought ever occurred to me to tell one of the teachers. But peering up at Shiranui, I have a feeling that maybe he could have sorted all this out for me.

What about Itachi? Or the family situation? Is he gonna pay for rent and buy food too? Everyone has their own lives, they only say that until it's no longer convenient.

Sighing, I brush off his hand, "I'll keep that in mind, sensei."

His toothpick bobs aggressively again, but his face is impassive, "Be sure you do, kiddo."

—

Somehow… Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and I became a team in science class. With two loud-mouths and an enabler, it'll be a miracle if anything can get done. Right now we're supposed to be studying or strategizing for the upcoming team competition. It's a simple jeopardy-style activity reviewing everything we learned. Sasuke's no slouch in academics and I think Sakura is alright. The real weak link in our group would be, Naruto.

Tapping my pen on the paper detailing the subjects that will be in the competition, I section off what each person should focus their concentration on. Supporting my chin with my palm, I take the paper from my desk and wave it at the other three.

Attention secured, I begin, "I've separated the topics amongst the four of us. Just focus your understanding and memorization there and we'll go up according to subject."

"And who made you the leader." Sakura jeers, "I bet Sasuke-kun would be able to do it better."

For some reason, Sakura has been hostile. I figured since she's frenemies with Ino and I'm friends with Ino, I would be slightly positive, or at least neutral, in her eyes. Unlike Ino, Sakura has eyes for Sasuke only, so it's not like I can sweet talk her attitude away either.

"And I would make a better leader than that teme!" Naruto butts-in.

I roll my eyes towards Sasuke, seeing if he's gonna add in his two-cents. He's not even paying attention. Fingers laced under his chin and elbows propped, he's in his usual I'm-so-cool-thinking-about-really-deep-and-serious-stuff-leave-me-alone mode. Which suits me just fine, at least he and the blond aren't coming to blows yet.

"Right." I deadpan, "So Sakura-chan has the weather stuff because I figured she'd make a good newscaster in the future. Sasuke will cover what we've learned about geology because his personality is like a rock. I'll take astronomy because I heard from a classmate who has Nohara-San before us that we'll be drawing them out, and Naruto…"

Sakura is fuming at being dismissed but Naruto seems to have fallen in line. He's eagerly waiting for what topic he'll cover. I know for certain he doesn't retain much information, especially things he thinks are boring so,

"You get to cover volcanoes." I smile.

It technically falls under geology with Sasuke, but I doubt Naruto would be able to learn and review a week's worth of materials. Besides, he's a little like one, so maybe he'll get along with the topic.

Naruto punches the air, 'whooping' and grinning from ear to ear. Nobara-sensei has to come over and calm him down and by then, Sasuke is studying his assigned section. Seeing Sasuke comply with my orders, Sakura grits her teeth and follows suit.

The competition starts thirty minutes into class. Everyone is hyper focused, competition is fierce, and everyone is bringing their A-game. We've decided to just go for the big points and head down. So far, Sakura is leading in winning the team points, most of the questions being about meteorology.

She's actually a hard worker. She basically has answers memorized and can recall them within a second. It's hard to tell if she speaks so energetically because she's passionate about the subject or hoping to win Sasuke's passion. From the way she looks expectantly at the apathetic boy, I'd say the latter.

Sasuke answers in a lazy yet brusque matter that's really off-putting. It makes the other girls go wild, which, breaks their concentration, so I can't be too mad. Naruto even got to answer a volcano question, which he almost got wrong. I was right to give him one, very specific, topic. My topic hasn't been chosen however, so I'm feeling kind of useless.

"Alright!" Nohara-sensei peps, "There's a tie between team girl power and team awesome!"

Sakura facepalms in embarrassment at our team name, on the other hand, Naruto is looking self satisfied. I glance at the competition. Ino is staring back, eyes challenging, and she sticks out her tongue mockingly. I send back a thumbs down. Ami is talking with her friend Miyuki and Hinata is shuffling nervously in her seat. I send the shy girl a wave and receive a small smile for my efforts.

"The task is," sensei smiles, "to draw and name as many star constellations as you can in two minutes!"

I immediately stand and make my way to the white board. Uncapping the marker, I lock eyes with Ino, smirking, and mouth you're-going-down. She stalks to the front in a huff, accepting my challenge. Too bad for her she really doesn't stand a chance.

"Ready," Nohara-sensei calls, "set," I hear Naruto and Sakura cheering me on in the background, "go!"

—

"You really showed no mercy." Ino whines, "31 constellations! I could only put up twelve, how embarrassing."

I smirk down at her, "There's no way I would not win the no-homework for the rest of the week prize."

Ino lightly shoves me, "I'll get even next time." She promises, "Let me pack up my stuff, I'll meet you at the door."

I nod in agreement and turn back to my temporary team, "Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke," I address, smiling a little giddily from the left over excitement, "you all did pretty good today. Thanks for the win."

"Kekeke, of course Katsumi-kun!" Naruto cheers, "Nothing less than the best for me!"

"Ah, yeah," Sakura mutters, "it was… pretty fun."

"Hn." Sasuke grunts and I can't help rolling my eyes.

"Have fun in your electives." I bid, "Remember to return my notebook soon, Sasuke."

I walk over to the classroom entrance, waiting patiently for Ino to stop fussing through her bag. Next to her, Hinata says her goodbyes, Ino looking up for a moment to flash the girl a smile in return.

The heiress candidate looks fine today. No unusual nervousness, spacing out, or paranoid looking around. I was bothered that she looked so afraid earlier in the year. I wouldn't have guessed it was because her cousin was harassing her. Hinata seems more the type to be easily overwhelmed by people trying to woo her or something, I was concerned she was being stalked.

Turns out I'm the type to be stalked, heh.

Whenever I can, I try to switch with her when she has delivery duties. I'm certain she experiences that harassment from Neji outside of school too, which I can't prevent, but at least I can give a little reprieve during school hours. Checking on her every once in a while doesn't add to my workload either, so it's fine.

Smiling down as she passes I wish her a nice class. She nods back to me, hesitates, then shares a full smile. It takes me off guard, but I grin back. If Kumo was more of a shy kid, maybe he'd be like Hinata. That would've been cute too.

"I'm ready!" Ino claims. We head to calligraphy, taught by Nagashima-sensei, talking idly about our day.

"You know it's kind of unfair how good you are at everything." Ino remarks, unusually jealous.

"It's not like I'm a genius, Ino." I counter.

"That's not what I mean. You're pretty good at academics, you're good looking, popular, able to keep up with the boys in sports, and you have a pretty cool personality." Ino pouts, "What's up with that?"

She's not the type to feel inferior. Not just because she's better than most people and has a high self esteem, Ino just isn't the type to bring others down. She'd rather celebrate successes and work towards goals than wallow in self pity. When it comes down to it, I think she sees me in that way because,

"We just have different priorities, Ino." I comment, "We're both hard working, but I only focus on school and work, and my work just so happens to be pretty physical. If the sport requires technical skill, I'd totally suck at it. I mostly just power through most of them."

She still looks unconvinced, so I continue, "I'm always working every second I can to get through my school work you know, during breaks and lunch and even during classes I'm finishing assignments, reading, anything I can to keep myself ahead. You, on the other hand, flutter from group to group, whenever there's a chance. You like socializing." Feeling her eyes on me, I realize she's glaring, "Not that it's anything bad," I amend, "and you're still in the top twenty percent grade-wise, so it's not like you're just playing around.

"I can't say much about appearances." I allow, "It's just the way you're born and what you do with it. But…" I purposely rake my eyes up and down her form, she predictively blushes, and I grin in amusement, "you're not too shabby yourself Ino. People might find me cool or whatever, but you're the standard of beauty, I'd say. I'm kinda boyish and distant, you're girly and energetic. I think I know who'd win."

"Yeah." Ino sighs, "I am pretty great, huh?"

Before she can do her signature hair-flip, I take the end of her ponytail and whip it over the top of her head. Satisfied when her face is hidden by her mop of hair and the screech of outrage that accompanies it.

"That's what I get for being nice." I mock sigh, "I'll never tell you you're pretty again."

Her laughter rings through the halls as we approach the classroom. Happy that Ino is feeling better, we take our seats and wait for class to begin.

Unfortunately, Neji also signed up for calligraphy and we happen to be on the same scheduled days. After sicking Lee onto him, he's been more distantly-ferocious than ever. I swear he has some type of sixth sense with me. He always seems to notice me first if we are ever in the same vicinity and I end up, unexpectedly, staring into his face of condescension. It's not stalker-Sasuke level, but it's uncomfortable. He doesn't do anything to me, at least. It's mostly cold glares and snarky remarks. Not pleasant, but ignorable.

On the other hand, Shikamaru is also in this class. When I asked him before why he would pick the strictest teacher for his elective, he told me he turned in his form to choose elective in so late, they just tossed him into whatever class was available, namely calligraphy and home economics. Coincidentally, or maybe predictably, Chōji was also in home economics so it couldn't be too bad.

Nagashima-sensei passed around the fancy pens and markers used in this class and basically said something along the lines of 'I've taught you enough, do what you want for now.' A rather relaxed form of instruction opposed to her usual watchful methods.

"So what'll you be getting Chōji this year?" Shikamaru yawns.

Not looking up from her work Ino shrugs, "I've been looking around but nothing's caught my eye. I feel like we've already gotten him everything he would want."

"Is it his birthday or something?" I ask.

"That's right!" Ino confirms, "I forgot you didn't know. Choji's birthday is May 5th, this Sunday. We haven't put together all the details yet, you'll come to his birthday party, right? It's just a casual get together really."

Mentally going through my schedule, I shake my head regretfully, "Sorry, I have some obligations I can't get out of."

Opening one eye, Shikamaru looks at me curiously, "All Sunday?"

I shrug, "Basically. On the off chance I become available though, I'll come by."

"Sure," Ino nods, "I'll text you the details. Hopefully you can come, it's kinda boring with just the two boys."

"How long have you all known each other?" I inquire.

"Let's see…" Ino thinks, leaning back in her seat, "since we were about three I think." Shikamaru hums his agreement, but doesn't otherwise comment, "and we knew Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and Hinata since we were seven." She adds.

"Oh," I say surprised, "Those four too?"

"Yup. They're all from pretty prestigious families after all." She explains, "While the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi are smaller than the Uchiha, Haruno, and Hyūga organizations, we still hold influence. It's customary to hold social gatherings and the children of these families usually meet."

"Hmm, and Naruto?" I prompt further.

"He's not from one of the old clans." Shikamaru speaks up, "But his parents were pretty well connected. I think they were childhood friends with Mikoto Uchiha, Chōji's dad, my old man, and Ino's dad; apparently they all went to the same school. Later, Naruto's dad became friends with Hinata's father, then Sasuke's dad from association, I guess."

So basically, it's not a coincidence every one of their children went to this school?

"Wait so it's Sasuke's mom that's an Uchiha?" I double-back, "Not his dad?"

Shikamaru gives a long suffering sigh, "Yeah. From what I've heard his dad might have some distant Uchiha relative, but he was basically a nobody before marrying into the Uchiha Clan."

I let out a small chuckle, "I wouldn't quite call the Chief of Police a 'nobody,' Shikamaru."

"Whatever."

Becoming a little serious I ask lowly, "Naruto's parents are dead?"

Ino looks up from her work and nods, "It's been six years now. They died from a car accident. Investigations suspected foul play, but," she shakes her head, "there was no evidence. Minato Namikaze was the Mayor of Konoha at the time. Since his death, the previous mayor, Hiruzen Sarutobi, has stepped up."

"Who does Naruto live with, then?"

"Officially his godfather, Jiraiya has custody over him." Ino says, her eyebrow ticked in annoyance, "But really, he lives at the Sarutobi's or Uchiha's, it's just easier for everyone to have some nobody be named for the arrangement."

I hmm noncommittally, satisfied for now. Looking down at the card stock I was working on, I'm satisfied with this too. I slide it over to Ino.

"Do you have a spare frame for this? If I can't make it, give this to Chōji in my place as his present."

"Food. Friends. Sunshine." She reads, "That's fitting, and cute, I'm sure he'll appreciate this."

A/N

Some background for our characters in this chapter, haha. World building is starting to unfold! Sadly, it might take awhile because Katsumi is in her own little bubble. Just a heads up, there will be romance but it'll be slow burn.