Heya,
nice to read you.

This is a spin on the Uchiha-OC trope, that miraculously survives the Uchiha no Jiken and takes care of Sasuke like a doting mother only to fall in love with Kakashi, once the grumpy jōnin becomes the boy's leader.

Yeah...no.

That's not happening here. No worries. I try to make my stories logical and organic.
This is going to be gritty and raw and bloody and damn painful. Because the whole damn Naruto Universe is traumatic. And let's admit it, that's part of what draws us in. At least, that's what fascinates me enough to write stories. The intricacies of traumatic events and their effects on interhuman dynamics.
...or something like that.

The summary isn't much (yet? I don't know), so thanks for clicking anyway!

Have fun with the first chapter and I'd appreciate feedback in any way; favorites, follows, reviews or criticism.

Read ya soon,
Murphy

Shinobi sandals made only soft noise, as they hastened over tatami mats. A gentle rustle of fabric came from the midnight-blue yukata. The groaning sound of a tatami mat lifted. Then quick steps on stairs. The sliding of a door.
A deep bow. Long, black hair spilt like a waterfall over delicate, strong shoulders.
"Please, excuse my lateness, otō-sama."
A melodic, firm voice. Female and young.

"You are excused. Sit, Kasumi."

The girl straightened up and hastily sat down next to her twin brother, her legs perfectly folded underneath her body in a seiza. Some of the elder shot her disapproving glares. Her brother gifted her with a small, rare smile. Kasumi smiled back, as their chakras mingled in an intimate greeting. Two flames playing with each other in a familiar dance.
Kasumi let her gaze drift in the dimly lit room. She knew everyone; the elders, her father, some middle-aged warriors, a few women. Their clan symbol was proudly displayed on the wall behind her father. It elicited a conflicting feeling of warmth and nausea within Kasumi, so she hastily looked away.
"As I said", one of the elders, continued with a sharp look at Kasumi, "the treatment is unacceptable. Over six years of humiliation. It's time we do something about it, Fugaku."
"And what do you suggest we should do, Hibiki?", Kasumi's father asked calmly. He was as stoic as always, but she could see the wrinkles around his mouth. He was tired.
Hibiki had no answer to that, apparently, as he shrunk back a bit in his sitting position.

"Do we have a lead on who the defector was?", Old Kanna spoke up, her eyes wise and her voice soft.
"Not one measly trail", a middle-aged man growled out. Junpei, a high official within the Konoha Military Police Force.
Old Kanna closed her eyes and nodded slowly. "Then we need to go through all clansmen KIA", she said slowly and nodded again. "See if their bodies were recovered or not."
Junpei's expression hardened. That was an almost impossible task. "Fugaku-sama?", he said towards his clan head, a slight incredulous tone to his dark voice.
Fugaku hesitated, as he pondered. The flicker of fire illuminating the sharp angles of his face.
"There doesn't seem to be another option", he then said and Junpei visibly slumped. "Start with fifty years back."
"What about the village?", Hibiki pushed yet again, his dark eyes gleaming with hatred in the dim light. Kasumi's mouth twitched. She had never liked him.

"Our forces can be organised to strike at any given moment", Asuka said lowly, his face grim, but determined. Kasumi swallowed. She felt Itachi slightly stiffen next to her.
Fugaku nodded. "Then organise them", he said. "Have them alert and sharp. Trained for the worst. But we're not striking. Not yet."
His dark eyes travelled towards his children. "…not yet."

Kasumi and Itachi walked close besides each other, when they left the Naka Shrine later. Their father had looked at them at the end of the meeting, drawing all eyes to them.

"You know, what you have to do."

Kasumi let out a shaky breath and let the sinking feeling of dread wash over her for a second. Immediately a warmth emanated from Itachi to comfort her. Kasumi tilted her head slightly and smiled at him in silent thanks. At least, neither of them had to bear the burden alone.
"Change and meet up in ten minutes?", Itachi asked, once they reached their home. Kasumi nodded and opened her mouth to reply, just as the sound of hastily pattering feet silenced her.
"Nii-san! Nee-san!", Sasuke yelled excitedly as he rushed to greet them at the door. "Do you have time to train with me? You promised yesterday!" His dark eyes clung to his elder sister. Kasumi sighed deeply, her heart heavy as she looked at Sasuke. Itachi took a step forward and poked Sasuke tenderly on his forehead.
"Sorry, Sasuke", he said with a sad smile and stepped to the side to let Kasumi place a soft kiss on the place he had poked.
"Next time", she continued gently, as her twin and her walked past their younger brother towards their respective rooms. Although Kasumi stopped shortly in the kitchen to get some of the bentō boxes her mother prepared each morning and sealed them into special scrolls made by Kushina years ago. They had an appointment to uphold, as much as it pained them to leave Sasuke disheartened like that.

Kasumi shed the traditional yukata she usually wore during down time as soon as she had closed the door to her room. She folded it neatly and put it away. The clothes she would need to wear on missions now, sat on her bed, already waiting. She pulled on the standard kunoichi trousers, sandals and a simple grey shirt over tight under armour. Practical for combat. Not too flashy.
As she pulled her long, black hair into a high ponytail, her dark gaze lifted as well and stopped on a picture frame on her nightstand. It showed Itachi and her with Sasuke in between them. They were younger, much younger than now, in the picture. Almost carefree and smiling brightly. Especially Sasuke. She clenched her jaw tightly and grabbed the hiati-ate from her bed to tie it around her head.
It was Sasuke she was doing this for. So her younger brother had a chance at happiness.
A second later, she stood on the roof, where Itachi already waited for her. They looked at each other and without so much as a silent understanding between them, they shunshinned away.

Their feet easily carried them to the ANBU building, where they vanished inside without anyone noticing them despite the broad daylight. The front desk was manned with an ANBU wearing a mouse mask.
"Uchiha Itachi reporting", Itachi said and stepped forward.
"Huh?", the ANBU said and scrutinised both of them from underneath his mask. "Here's your equipment." He pushed a box with a katana and a porcelain mask towards Itachi.
"Thank you", Itachi said, took the things and stepped to the side.
Kasumi took his place fluidly. "Uchiha Kasumi reporting."
"Hai, hai", Mouse muttered and pushed another, similar set towards her.
"Thank you", Kasumi said, bowed her head and took it.
"You're assigned to Team Ro", the ANBU said. Kasumi and Itachi bowed again and left, while Mouse muttered something about insufferable politeness.

They reached the room marked as Team Ro locker room without problems. Dark eyes shared a look before they entered. They knew, what was coming.
The academy hadn't been kind to prodigies and they had little hope, that it was any different within ANBU. At least, they had each other.
Itachi opened the door and entered first, Kasumi following him. The room was filled with ANBU already in uniform and most even wearing masks. Kasumi felt anxiety take root in her gut, but the calm chakra spike from Itachi let her loosen her muscles again. Her lips twitched in a smile. They had each other. No one could harm them.
"We've been assigned to Team Ro as of today", Itachi said to introduce themselves. "I'm Uchiha Itachi."
"My name is Uchiha Kasumi", Kasumi chimed in, her voice firm like her brother's. "We'd appreciate your guidance." An ANBU not wearing a mask, but face guards came up to them, as the others simply stared. Kasumi's jaw clenched in quiet anger.
"Ah, I see", the ANBU with the face guard said. "So that's you two." He scrutinised them with a smile. "You can use the two lockers farthest in the back."
"Hai", Itachi said and both he and Kasumi walked towards their lockers.

"Those two are them?"
"They say they're only eleven."
"Doesn't that make them the youngest ANBU ever?"

The mumbles followed them and Kasumi had to reign in her temper. Itachi simply let his shoulder brush hers in order to calm his sister. She had inherited their father's temper, while Itachi came after their mother. They balanced each other out pretty decently.
Kasumi took a deep breath, before she stripped out of her shirt, revealing the sleeveless under armour and the swirled ANBU tattoo on her left shoulder.
"Team Ro is to assemble at Training Ground Three in five minutes", the face-guard-ANBU spoke up. Kasumi and Itachi simultaneously turned their heads. All other ANBU were staring at them. Someone muttered something about creepy twins. Kasumi's lips twitched.
"Hai", Itachi said simply and returned towards changing into his uniform. Kasumi shot her new team mates a dark look, before she herself grabbed the grey flak jacket from within the box. Nothing but a short fluctuation of chakra signatures signalled them to the other ANBU leaving them alone.

"It's just like the academy all over again", Kasumi growled underneath her breath, while she fastened the flak jacket flush to her torso.
Itachi sighed, but then turned his head to smile at his sister. "At least, we got each other."
Kasumi's hard glare softened and her tense shoulders relaxed. "Hai", she smiled back. The standard katana was easily strapped to her back, although she knew, that she would miss her own katana dearly. Then she put shuriken, kunai and multiple scrolls into the ninja pouches attached to her flak jacket.
Her slim hands hesitated for a second. Hovering over the last item.
For Sasuke. She reminded herself, grabbed the porcelain mask and fastened it to hide her features. She turned and looked at her twin. Now, wearing the same uniform and similar masks, it was more than obvious, that they were twins. As either of them had yet to hit puberty, the only thing distinguishing them from each other was the fact, that Itachi still wore his shirt beneath his flak jacket, hiding his tattoo and that Kasumi wore her ponytail higher than Itachi.
"Ready?", she asked him. Dark eyes locking with equally dark ones.
"As I'll ever be."

The others waited for them. As they walked closer, right next to each other, their shoulders almost touching, a kunai suddenly embedded itself next to Kasumi's left foot. Her left eye twitched underneath her mask. But Itachi stoically walked on, so Kasumi took a deep breath to reign in her anger once more and followed his lead. Shuriken followed to fly around them. They walked on. They'd know, if one was dangerous.
When one of the shuriken sunk into the tree trunk right in front of Itachi's face with a low thud, Kasumi stopped. Her teeth gnawed, but she was well-bred enough to not show her anger openly.
"What are you doing?" A sharp voice asked from behind them. Kasumi slowly turned her head to see the ANBU with the dog mask standing there, his whole demeanour utterly unimpressed. Another ANBU wearing a cat mask stood next to him.
"Explain yourselves!"

"We wanted to make sure, they had the skills to be one of us. Since they're so young", one of the ANBU answered finally. Kasumi wanted to scoff. Her eyes prickled with the need to reveal her Sharingan. To show them exactly, what her skills entailed. But the calm presence of Itachi next to her reminded her, that bloodshed was unnecessary. They knew, what they were capable of and that was enough.
Her mind wandered towards their mother whispering sweet nothings with a watery voice to them, before she left Itachi and Kasumi alone with Sasuke. She remembered the blood on the clothes of her clansmen and the deeply etched sorrow within their eyes. So many, so, so many funerals. No. Itachi and her had sworn to reduce the bloodshed to the absolutely necessary. It was the reason they had become as efficient as they were now.
The faster one could end a fight, the less blood was spilt.

"Do you have a problem with the decision of your superiors?", Inu asked, his voice still sharp, pulling Kasumi back to reality.
"No, that's not it—"
"Haven't you already sensed, that they're not ordinary?", Inu cut his team mate off. Kasumi wrinkled her nose. Words like those had singled her brother and her out from their peers in the academy.

Inu turned towards them. "I'm Kakashi", he introduced himself. "Captain of Team Ro." Kasumi tilted her head towards him and up, to get a good look. He was tall and as well-trained as all of them. Spiky, grey hair protruded from his head and all around his mask like a lion's mane. Hn. He had a powerful chakra signature to him.
"I want you two to learn the ANBU rules and formations quickly", he continued.
"Hai." Again it was Itachi, who answered for them both.

"To set the team at ease, though…Let's test your skill level", Kakashi said and pointed towards multiple kunai targets on the trees close by.
Itachi looked at Kasumi, who tilted her head in a tiny nod. Her brother went first. Kunai ready, he jumped up with might, swirled around to distribute the kunai. With a quick flick of his wrists, he sent some more kunai flying, so they could hit the others into their correct trajectory. With a flip he landed in a quiet thud. The kunai deadly centre in the targets.
"He's good", one of their new team mates uttered lowly. Kasumi rolled her eyes behind her mask. Of course he was good.
She jumped from her place, shuriken in small hands. A gleam in the air and the shuriken went flying. Using the same trick as her brother, she changed the trajectory with a few other shuriken and landed next to him, while her weapons found their target spot on.
None spoke after that. Kasumi's left eye twitched. Idiots.

"They are talented", Kakashi commented lowly. "But making exceptions for someone so young is rather unusual for ANBU." Kasumi straightened herself up next to her brother. They shared a short glance. They knew, why there had been an exception for them.
"Danzō-sama recommended them", Neko offered as an explanation to his captain. Kasumi curled her lips at the thought of the old Council member. He had only recommended them to go into ANBU, to have two promising Uchiha within his grasp. Nothing more, nothing less. And their father had gone along with it to have his very own, loyal spies within the Black Ops.
"No kidding?", Kakashi asked. "They don't fit the mold, though. What do you think?" He turned towards Neko.
"Danzō-sama has his own, personal set of criteria for ANBU and Root agents", Neko answered easily, while Kasumi and Itachi just stood there. Kasumi's chakra smoldering right beneath her skin, while Itachi's was calm.
"Ah", Kakashi nodded and looked at the newest recruits to his team.

"Kasumi."
The girl looked up, the darkness beneath her mask glaring at Kakashi.
"You're with Tenzō today", he nodded towards Neko. Kasumi nodded and shunshinned next to the ANBU.
"Itachi", Kakashi continued. "You're with me."
"Hai, taichō", Itachi said. Kasumi wanted to roll her eyes at her brother. They were both polite and well-mannered, but Itachi brought it to a whole new level.
"The rest", Kakashi turned his head away from the young Uchihas, "training day."

Tenzō had pulled a mission scroll from his pouch as soon as he had led Kasumi away from the rest of Team Ro.
"A simple guarding detail", he said and Kasumi could hear the smile in his voice. She nodded, as he handed her the scroll to read through their orders. Guard an important foreign merchant applying for asylum on his way to Konohagakure. Contact with enemy nin highly possible.
"Am I right in assuming, that there's a Chūnin team assigned as well?", Kasumi asked lowly. Tenzō's head shot down to look at her.
"You talk", he said bluntly.
Kasumi furrowed her brows behind the mask. "Of course, I talk." She did prefer Itachi talking, though. He usually had a better way with words, than her polite, but blunt rudeness.
When Tenzō still didn't answer, Kasumi repeated: "So…what about the Chūnin team, senpai?"
That apparently snapped Tenzō out of whatever musing he was in. "H-hai", he said, a bit baffled by the honorific, but then he nodded. "Two Chūnin and a Jōnin. And you can call me Tenzō." Tenzō looked at the sky and then back at the girl. "You ready? We have to catch them before they're out of the village."
Kasumi simply nodded and a moment later, they both vanished in a fast shunshin, leaving nothing behind but a small dust of dirt swirling around.

They had caught up to the Chūnin team in no time, running in an easy jog parallel to them, without them noticing. Though, truth be told, Kasumi nearly missed the next branch, when she saw who exactly was part of the Chūnin team. She would know those two everywhere. Her heart ached a bit, but the determination to make this mission a success only intensified.
"You good?", Tenzō asked in that calm way, that reminded her a bit of Itachi.
"Ah", Kasumi answered with a noncommittal shrug. "Izumo and Kotetsu were part of my Genin team", she added after a while, he should know, because that could become a possible liability to their mission. As if understanding her falter better, Tenzō nodded and looked back to the front to see where he was running.

A few hours later they arrived at a village, where a fat, boisterous merchant with layers upon layers of thick yukata and multiple rings on his fingers waited impatiently on them. Kasumi looked up into the sky to check for the time. They were probably two to three hours early. Idiot. Her left eye twitched.
Tenzō and her observed the exchange quietly from around a corner, hidden from sight and clouded in Genjutsu. Kasumi leaned against the wall, arms crossed in front of her chest and one foot pushed up against the wall. Her head slightly downcast to listen easier. A small, fond smile pulled at her lips, when she heard Kotetsu's lazy drawl and Izumo's chiding. Ah. Sometimes she missed those idiots.

On the merchant's insistence, they set out that very afternoon. They would need to camp on the road, if the slow pace was anything to judge by. Kasumi sighed. She had wanted to be home for dinner…and train with Sasuke afterwards. She had to make up for that.
"I've send word, that the mission will take longer", Tenzō said next to Kasumi.
"Thank you", Kasumi replied, before she added, "do you have provisions with you, Tenzō-senpai?" Her gaze lingered on the slow trek of waggons and employees of the merchant below them. The two ANBU had jumped almost lazily from branch to branch for the last couple of hours. The merchant was a difficult client and Kasumi was relieved, that she didn't have to deal with him. That she could stay in the shadows.
"Some food pills", Tenzō replied and Kasumi pulled a face underneath her mask. She hated those things with a passion. A slow nod was all Tenzō got as an answer and they fell yet again into comfortable silence. Kasumi appreciated, that her team mate wasn't someone prone to talking. And apparently also not as judgemental as the rest of Team Ro, with the exception of their buntaichō. She started to feel somewhat comfortable in his presence.

Ah. Kasumi wondered, how Itachi was doing. Her gaze lifted to the blue sky she could see through the leaves of the trees just above her. She was curious about their new team mates. Itachi would have much to tell her.

They stopped only a bit later. The place was a good one, hidden from sight and shielded from nature's most rough forces. Tenzō signalled for Kasumi, that they'd make a perimeter sweep and meet up at the other side of the camp. Kasumi nodded and only a second later, the red glow of the Sharingan illuminated the eye slits of her mask. She looked like a demon of old ages. Tenzō furrowed his brows slightly, as the girl shunshinned away. The Sharingan was indeed an eerie sight.
The sight didn't greet him, when Tenzō arrived at the other side of the camp. Kasumi had found a comfortable place on a broad branch, one leg up, the other hanging from the branch and her back rested against the tree trunk. Tenzō blinked. So lazy. He smiled. It felt a bit familiar.
"Let's eat something", Tenzō said and pushed his mask to the side. He pulled a pack of food pills from his pouch.
"Oh, please wait a moment, Tenzō-senpai", Kasumi stopped him. Tenzō's face heated up, he wasn't used to be called senpai.
She pushed her mask away, just like he had and produced a scroll from her pouch. Her left hand held the scroll and her right hand made half of a hand sign. The seal on the scroll released and a bentō box appeared in a puff of smoke. Tenzō's eyes widened comically, when Kasumi caught it in mid air and held it out to him.
"My okā-san makes them for us and seals them in special scrolls from—" Her words faltered. "…scrolls she had gotten from Kushina-san", she ended a bit more subdued. Tenzō stared at her. Kushina?
"Tenzō-senpai. It's not poisoned", she added calmly, when Tenzō had yet to move a muscle. At that, he held his hand out to take the bentō box from her, but didn't let his eyes trail off of the girl. Kasumi huffed in…was that amusement? She exchanged the now empty scroll with another one, just to unsealed it for a second bentō box to appear. Tenzō blinked utterly baffled.
"Itadakimasu", she said and put her small hands together in a quiet clap. Then she just started eating.

"How many bentō boxes are you carrying around with you?!", Tenzō suddenly blurted out. The box in his own hand almost forgotten at the girl's antics. Kasumi stopped with the chopsticks half-way to her mouth. She let her other hand slip into the pouch at the back of her flak jacket. An entirely too cute look crossed her face, as she concentrated on counting the scrolls.
"One more, senpai", she then answered and went back to eating. When she didn't hear anything from him, her dark eyes lifted and found his in the quickly disappearing daylight. They were surprisingly stern for an eleven-year-old and Tenzō remembered with a jolt through his muscles, that the girl was Uchiha Fugaku's daughter.
"Please, eat, Tenzō-senpai. Food pills are gross and if one wants to fight properly, one has to eat properly."
"H-hai", Tenzō replied and stared at the delicious looking bentō box in his hand. He wasn't sure, how exactly he would report this back to Kakashi.

Their dinner was cut short, when their heads simultaneously perked up. Two pairs of dark eyes met. In an instant, the bentō boxes were put down and the masks readjusted to hide their faces.
"What do you sense?", Tenzō asked.
Kasumi closed her eyes to remove an unnecessary stimuli. "Five incoming. Three o'clock. Half a click away."
A moment later, they felt the Jōnin stand from his position, the Chūnin stirred as well.
"Tell them, that we'll handle this and then join me", Tenzō ordered. Kasumi nodded and a heart beat later, both had vanished.

Kasumi appeared in a crouch in front of the Jōnin. She immediately straightened up. Izumo and Kotetsu jerked back a bit, clearly startled by the sudden arrival of an ANBU.
"Please don't worry, Jōnin-san, we will handle the hostiles", she said to the baffled Jōnin.
Then she jumped up and within a few fast shunshins, she had reached the closest opponent. Her eyes registered the Kiri hitai-ate and analysed him in seconds even without the Sharingan. In a fluid motion, Kasumi pulled the katana from her back, while she easily dodged an attack.
Steel gleamed in the dieing light of the day. A splatter of blood. The thud of a body falling lifelessly to the ground and Kasumi was off to her next target.

It took her and Tenzō less than two minutes to kill all the hostiles silently and without the use of any flashy jutsu. They came to stand next to the last nin fallen. Kasumi cleaned her katana at the clothes of the Kiri-nin, before she sheathed it again.
"So you prefer kenjutsu?", Tenzō asked with a tilt of his head.
"Hai, senpai", Kasumi answered simply, while she leaned down and sealed the body into an empty scroll. It was protocol to gather the bodies for T&I. Tenzō smiled as he saw how meticulous she was. He jumped away to seal the other bodies. A quick examination of one of her victims revealed, that she had killed with one clean cut. Effective and fast. Kakashi would be pleased with the report Tenzō could give.

They both appeared in front of the Jōnin after they gathered all bodies. The snores of the merchant still coming loud and irregular from his tent.
"The threat has been taken care of, Jōnin-san", Kasumi said so politely, that Tenzō had to blink in wonder yet again. "We will continue to be your security detail. So please, sleep tight." Tenzō had to stifle his chuckle. So polite.
Izumo and Kotetsu gawked openly at Kasumi now, but a sharp look from behind a porcelain mask kept them silent. They knew that look too well.
"Thank you, Ōkami-san", the Jōnin said, addressing Kasumi by way of her mask. Amusement was clear in his voice. Tenzō nodded at the Jōnin and then signalled Kasumi to retreat again.

Kasumi took the same position as before the little skirmish and continued to eat her bentō. Tenzō furrowed his brows at that, but returned his attention to his own bentō box only moments later.
It was a really delicious bentō, after all.

Tenzō had sent Kasumi home right after they had arrived in Konohagakure during early afternoon hours the next day. She was to rest up and meet Team Ro the following day at the crack of dawn for a team building training session. Kasumi had excused herself from his presence with a tiny bow and a polite goodbye, telling him in the same breath, that he too should get some much needed sleep.

After reporting back to Danzō, Tenzō went to meet up with Kakashi. He already saw the grey haired head of his friend from afar on a roof opposite to the entrance gate of the Uchiha compound. Tenzō came to a stop next to Kakashi, also looking towards the gate, where none other than Kasumi, clad in tight-fitting combat trousers and a yukata with the Uchiha crest on the back, exited with her little brother trailing after her.
"Eh? I told her to rest", Tenzō said a bit displeased, that she didn't listen to him.
"You did?", Kakashi asked and Tenzō nodded. "We've alternated night shift every two hours", he explained, which basically meant neither of them had gotten a lot of sleep the last night.
"I see", Kakashi murmured, his one visible eye following Kasumi and Sasuke walking down the street. "What do you think of her, Tenzō?"
"She's quiet, not a big talker, but ridiculously skilled for her age", Tenzō began his report, just as the subject of their conversation turned a corner and left their sight. "She's not one for taijutsu, but excels in kenjutsu. Every enemy she engaged with was struck down with one clean cut across the throat. No hesitation."
"Ah", Kakashi nodded and let his eyes travel back to the compound. "Just as expected. Her brother is the same. A bit demure maybe, but definitely a prodigy."
"I see. It's very obvious, that Kasumi's Fugaku-sama's daughter, though", Tenzō ventured into the aspects in his report concerning her character.
Kakashi quirked a brow and looked at his friend. "How so?"
"Polite to a point it's intimidating", Tenzō clarified with a light scowl turning the corners of his mouth down. "And wary of anything and anyone around her. I don't think she relaxed once from her proper mannerism. Maybe a defence mechanism to keep others out?"
"That's possible", Kakashi mused. "The Uchiha have been separated and doubted ever since—" He stopped himself and turned to look at Tenzō. "The team building sessions will be essential. We can't have team mates unable to feel at least professional comfort with the rest of the team. It might make the difference between failing or succeeding in a mission."
"Hai, Kakashi-senpai", Tenzō answered and a faint blush dusted his cheeks as he used the honorific.
Kakashi titled his head in question. "What is it?"
"I-it's nothing, really, j-just…" Tenzō trailed off and stared stoically towards the Uchiha compound. "She called me s-senpai, too."
Kakashi chuckled lowly at the obvious embarrassment of his friend. Then he lifted one hand from the pockets of his trousers and waved a lazy wave, as he turned.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Tenzō", he said, amusement still evident in his voice. "Ja ne." With that he vanished in a poof of smoke.

Kasumi sat on the ground of the Academy's training ground number five, her back rested against a tree and the warm orange light of the setting sun softly caressing her skin. She held a scroll about the Uchiha's katon techniques in her hands, though she hadn't studied in a few minutes. Her dark eyes were trained on her little brother, who relentlessly tossed shuriken and kunai at the targets. A gentle smile tugged at her lips.
"Don't throw with your whole arm, Sasuke-chan", she corrected softly. "Throw with your wrist."
Sasuke looked at her, his eyes bright with joy and determination. "Hai, nee-san!" And he went at it again.
Kasumi was tired, very tired actually, and her back ached from sleeping on a tree the last night, but nothing could have stopped her from training with Sasuke. His joy and happiness, the urge to show her how much he had improved…it was worth the pain and the argument she had had with her father. In the end they had compromised on Kasumi overseeing Sasuke's kenjutsu training, while she studied the new jutsu Fugaku wanted to teach her.

The young Uchiha heiress let her head fall against the tree bark and closed her eyes. Itachi hadn't been in the compound, when she had returned. Probably off, training with Shisui. She was curious, what he had to say about their new taichō. Ah. Maybe they could talk later.
The sun was warm on her skin. Her breathing slowed into a deep, regular rhythm. The constant thud of kunai meeting wood echoed through her mind.

"Sumi-nee! Don't sleep!"

Kasumi blinked her eyes open. Sasuke stood right in front of her, looking down with an expression somewhere between an impressive Uchiha-frown and a cute pout.
"Ah", Kasumi said lazily. "I'm sorry, Sasuke-chan." Her eyes travelled to the darkening sky. Had she really fallen asleep? With a tiny groan, she got up and put the scroll away into the pouch she had strapped to her obi.
"Come, let's get home", she offered her hand with a soft smile. "Okā-san's probably already waiting with dinner."
Sasuke took her hand with a wide grin. His small hand warm in hers. "Hai, nee-san!"

And so they walked through the bustling streets of Konohagakure. Sasuke grinning widely, inspirited from having his sister watch over his training and blissfully unaware of the wary glances.
Kasumi, however, noticed them. The murmur, that followed them. The way some of the merchants put on an extra dark expression, so they wouldn't stop to buy something from them. Eyes following their every movement with contempt and a deeply ingrained wariness. Kasumi's left eye twitched and her gait became a bit more fluid, as her muscles instinctively prepared for an attack. Her shoulders squared in a display of power and she held her chin high.
Every hateful stare was met with the stoic, slightly arrogant look Kasumi had copied from her father. They were Uchiha and that was something to be proud of.

It were moments like this, that made Kasumi understand, why the Elders of her clan were out for blood.
Not that she approved of it. Bloodshed only led to more bloodshed. But as she felt the humiliation and hatred wash over her with a bitter taste on her tongue, she understood.

Gosh, writing Tenzō/Yamato is so difficult!
And don't get me started on Kakashi, who - as I see it - has not yet settled into the personality we know from when he is 26/27 at the beginning of Naruto. He's about 20 in this one and has still a lot of growing to do. But Tenzō's there, so I guessed he's no longer a complete prick...

What do you think about Kasumi?
I tried to make the dynamic she has with Itachi as organic as possible. Since I don't have a twin, I can only hope their special bond comes across?
I also hope, that it's obvious, that she's no Itachi 2.0 but rather her own person with her own characteristics and quirks.

Now, I'm just going to sit in front of my laptop and await judgement by you guys.

Read ya soon,
Murphy