He could not longer hear the quiet mumbles from the party. They walked in silence beside each other between the various traditional buildings. The path worn from many shoes walking this very route.

Eventually Itachi stopped near a training field. It was a wide clearing surrounded by trees on one side and walls covered in seals on the other to prevent damages to the housing behind it. Three targets were set up on large wooden poles to the left, and to the right a bunch of practice dummies were placed. Various chipped weapons were left, discarded among the ankle-high grass.

Asahi looked at him with a deadpan expression, "please don't tell me you want to train on your birthday." Itachi merely looked away sheepishly prompting Asahi to pinch the bridge of his nose and sigh. He looked down at the both of them, and took note of their clothing. "I don't think we should train in these fancy kimonos, yeah?"

He paused then walked towards the middle of the training ground, and Itachi followed closely behind. Asahi pointed at the ground in a silent command. Itachi followed and did as he ordered with a blank expression that Asahi thought was one of curiosity. Asahi then pulled out his sketchpad, which he always had on his person, and sat in front of him. "I'm gonna draw you," he stated, not giving Itachi any choice in the matter. "Just sit still please." He cleared his throat and began to sketch the general shape of his subject.

They sat silently, with only the scratch of Asahi's pencil on the page as a constant noise. Asahi found comfort in the familiar setting and his features relaxed even more than they normally were. He felt completely at ease. The pencil drifted across the page in rhythmic graceful strokes. He focused on the serene, blank, expression itachi wore and detailed the slight sparkle in his eye that betrayed his amusement, still getting used to Asahi's random quirks after a month long friendship.

Itachi shifted and Asahi looked up at him in question. "Do you want to take a break? We have been sitting here for a while now." He observed and shifted his gaze to the honeyed rays that told about an hour had passed. He was nearly finished anyways. He still needed to pencil in some of the details in the trees and rays of light scattered around Itachi who was sitting in a somewhat languid seiza. Itachi nodded then leaned forwards to inspect his work. He had only seen some of Asahi's minor sketches before, but never something he had sat down and concentrated on like this.

Asahi watched as Itachi's eyes widened in a kind of smug content, calmly committing the expression to memory so he could draw it later. He so wished he had a camera. If he was any other person, other than an Uchiha, Itachi might as well have been gasping in surprise. He laughed lightly and turned towards the page. He had certainly gotten a lot better, but not yet up to his previous life's standards. Curse you pudgy child fingers!

He was much more dexterous, however, because of this and could easily mold the hand signs his mother had begun to teach him. Itachi turned towards him with a bit more of a composed expression, but his eyes betrayed his excitement. "Asahi-san, you're drawing is wonderful." He stated this in a serious tone as he scooted forwards a bit closer. Asahi chuckled a bit nervously. "Oh yeah? Thank you very much Itachi-san!" He paused and glanced down at the page in contemplation. "Do you want it? Consider it another birthday gift!" He smiled demurely, unsure if he would take it, but his smile widened into a grin when Itachi nodded and so he carefully ripped out the page and handed it to the waiting boy.

Itachi didn't look up from the drawing even as Asahi stood up. He chuckled at Itachi's excitement, almost forgetting that he was still just three. He offered a hand which Itachi took and helped him up. He glanced around and noticed a bit more time has passed. "Ne, Itachi-san, they'll miss the birthday boy if he's gone for too long, you know." Itachi shrugged and barely glanced away from the drawing to look at his friend. Asahi laughed at this and grabbed his hand to pull him along.

He wasn't afraid to act as a child despite being an adult in his mind. As he pulled halfheartedly on itachi's arm to drag him along he had a thought. What will I do when I grow up? Obviously he was going to become a great ninja, an s ranked ninja at that. That much was obvious and he had already planned to do that. He had already decided he would protect those he was close to, and not think of anyone as fictional characters. Plus that probably meant he would flip the plot the bird, which he didn't mind, but he still had dreams to travel the world and draw portraits of the people he happened to meet. Maybe with his power he could help them along the way.

He turned to Itachi with a pensive expression. "Itachi-san… What's your dream?" Itachi started at the question and turned away from the drawing to give him his full attention. He replied seriously and quickly, as if he had thought of this very thing many times. "To be a great ninja, an anbu." An anbu, huh? I wonder how much of that is his dad's influence. He's such a pacifist, but maybe he thinks this is how he'll be able to protect his family? He simply gave him a languid smile in response and nodded before turning back. The party was just around this next bend.

"What about you, Asahi-san?" He stopped and turned, pausing for a bit to find the right words. "I want to experience the world, Itachi-san!" He gave him a grin, and without waiting for a response he dragged Itachi back into the party, where many were waiting to wish Itachi well or simply waiting to try and manipulate him for political gain.

Hello everyone! I'm actually posting this chapter on time! It's a miracle. Anyways I wanted to thank y'all for the wonderful reviews! Y'all have no idea how excited I get when I see a new one pop up! They seriously make my day. So please leave some more and share! I love to hear your thoughts and criticisms, so let loose! Got any ideas? Share them below! To all of my Americans, I hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving, and let me tell you that I can't wait for Christmas!

Edit: Sorry everyone! I didn't realize that when I posted this chapter it hadn't kept it's structure which made it hard to read. It should be fixed now haha..

Also I wanted to clarify a couple of things! Some of you are confused on whether or not Asahi is a Hyuuga. This is probably because I compared their eyes to his in the beginning. He is not a Hyuuga, but rather a clan that I made up. I sprinkled in a little bit of backstory, but basically his mother and him are much like the Uzumaki and are the perceived last of their scattered clan, and his father is a Sarutobi. Sorry for the confusion! You'll also hear a bit more about his plans for the future in the next couple chapters, and his training will get a bit more in depth when he starts his physical training. Hopefully this cleared up a few things, but if you have any more questions or suggestions leave them below and I'll try to make everything a bit clearer it the future! Thanks for your patience,

Author Lowkey.