Hey again my lovelies!

I really want to thank everyone for their reviews – they're the reason this chapter isn't as ridiculously late as the previous one… and I felt really motivated to write something. Hope this is good enough!

Enjoy!

I was shattered.

I couldn't hear what the man was saying – all I could see was my dad's smiling face as he reassured me that he would definitely come home. Yet he didn't. The promise was broken; the reassurance meaningless.

And yet, even though I was slowly breaking, falling apart from my despair, I didn't shed a single tear. I couldn't.

I realised I had been completely ignoring what the man before me was saying and sobered up to catch the end of what I realised must've been an apology.

"-I'm truly sorry, we were all expecting an attack but they cast some sort of jutsu which masked their chakra and smell and it was raining in the night and the thunder made it impossible to hear anything and then Orochimaru came out and I'd warned Urisui not to challenge him or stay, that we had to run, to report, but our teammate was caught and the stupid snowflake couldn't just let his teammate be sacrificed and had to run and save him and Orochimaru knew, and- oh god, he knew…" the end of the half-unintelligible tirade turned into a whimper as the man before me fell on his knees and broke into sobs which racked his whole body. In a way, he was suffering as much as I was; he was there, he saw it.

And secretly, I envied him for being able to express his pain outwardly.

Numbly, I went to get the man a tissue and gave him a few seconds to compose himself. He gratefully accepted the tissue and tried to hold in his sobs. At last, he stood up and thrust out the hand which was holding the scroll.

"I-I," he hiccupped. "I'm sorry. I-I can't imagine how hard it is for you. Your father was a great man." He paused, the 'was' ringing painfully clear in my ears. "I will see to it that his name is engraved on the memorial stone." He tried to send me a smile, but the pain and grief evident in his eyes destroyed the happiness of the action.

I felt somehow guilty. This man who only knew my father as a teammate was grieving more than I seemed to be. But on the inside, my heart, lungs, brain; everything I needed to live or feel emotions with was tearing itself to shreds. I waited until the man turned on his heel and left before I dared to walk back into the house.

Breakfast forgotten, I trudged over to the sofa, mind and body set on autopilot, as I sat down and wrapped my arms around my knees as means of comfort. Here, in the confines of my own house, I could grieve in peace.

Still, the tears did not come.

I don't know how long I sat there. Seconds blended into minutes, minutes into hours, hours into days. The pain didn't recede. Until, after what felt like an eternity, I heard a bang. Jumping, I looked out the window and saw that it was raining, and then I heard the thunder again. Suddenly, an enormous fear seized me, and I ran, petrified into my bedroom, moving for the first time in days.

The words 'it was raining in the night and the thunder made it impossible to hear anything and then Orochimaru came…' kept ringing in my ears, over and over and over. I cried, shaking like a leaf. I have never cried because of thunder, but after realising that it had, in a way, been an indirect cause of my father's death, it petrified me. So, for the first time in my life, I cried myself to sleep.

When I woke up, I was no longer in the state I was in after I heard the news. My movements were robotic and routine, no emotion apart from cold detachment evident on my face, which was so unlike me I shivered every time I passed a mirror.

And yet, I was finally doing something other than existing, and as I sat down to eat my breakfast, I chanced a glance at the calendar – 29th August blinked back at me. I frowned, trying to remember why that seemed so important. Suddenly, like a slap to the face, I realised – I will be starting Academy in three days!

Somehow, the prospect of starting school didn't excite me as much as before – I started seeing the negative side of school – interactions with typical children my age, ignorant and inexperienced; simple, mind-numbingly boring lessons; and at least six years cooped up in that building before I can become a real ninja.

Yeah. No wonder it seemed so dull after I realised the true extent of the Academy.

But I promised dad. And I'd rather die of boredom five days a week than break that promise.

I could bring some reading material… I consoled myself. The only problem is, I've read through all of the scrolls I own at least twice already.

Suddenly, my eyes fell on the box which lay innocently on the top shelf. What had dad said? That it contains the scrolls I could read when I'm a bit older.

Well, sorry dad. I need some boredom reliever, and you're not here to stop me.

When I realised what I'd thought, tears gathered in my eyes. How could I just… so mindlessly… so ignorantly… have I forgotten him already?

Angry at myself, I swiped at the tears and reached for the box. I haven't forgotten him… I'm just… coping.

Before I could take of the lid, something else fell from the shelf. It was a rolled up piece of parchment, and somehow, I recognised it. Curious, I opened it.

Urisui,

I know that what I have done has made you view me in a completely different light than before. I apologise for betraying your trust but there was nothing else which could've been done, and I cannot share with you the reasons for my actions.

I write this as a final request, and in a way, to relieve some of my guilt.

You were always one of the few I trusted . When my cousin first introduced us, I was… wary of you, to say the least. You were always so cheerful and happy, too happy, and, I admit, it has led me to doubt your experience – after all, I thought, how could you have witnessed the reality we live in and still stay so happy?

It baffled me.

Only after you were assigned to my ANBU squad did I realise how wrong I was. You were vicious, clear, and determined on missions, yet with an obvious, almost painful desire to live and come back home.

I always wondered why they assigned a Jounin to an ANBU squad.

I realised soon enough – nobody ever died when we followed your plans.

Now I know what you'd say, in fact, I can still picture you trying to comfort me saying that;

"It was an unpredictable, unavoidable turn of events and if anyone's to blame for Shizuo's death it's definitely NOT you but the bastards who'd killed him!"

It was so noble of you, comforting me like that, but regardless of all your efforts, it still added up to the same reality;

Intentionally or not, I had killed Shizuo. I had ruined his life.

That's why I wish, I hope, I would even beg you if I could, protect Sasuke. Steer him onto the right path, make sure I won't ruin his life like I ruined Shizuo's.

He's all I have left.

I'm afraid this is the last time I'll be able to communicate freely with you. Next time we meet, it'll probably be as enemies, on a battlefield.

So I have one more thing to ask of you;

Whatever you may hear about me in the upcoming years, please, don't think any less of me. Know, that under all the masks I'll wear, I'll always be Konoha's Uchiha Itachi.

Please remember that. And look after your daughter. She needs you.

-Eternally yours,

'Your little pacifist'
Uchiha Itachi

Shock. Disbelief. Surprise. Anger. Fear.

Those were the emotions which shot through me at astounding speed, mingling into one, then separating again, some becoming clearer at various parts of the letter. Had I not stumbled upon this, I would've been completely oblivious, or still wallowing in my grief. Because, well, who'd have told me? Uchiha Itachi is currently a missing-nin with a bounty on his head; dad is dead; none of their teammates are mentioned apart from the dead one – this secret would've been taken to the grave. Literally.

I was far from being the perfect daughter, but did I not deserve to know of my dad's past?

I guess it doesn't matter now anyway – there's no one I know who could tell me anything about him. Feeling more than a little confused, I headed out of the house, scrolls forgotten, to train.

I lost myself in the speed of the attacks, the familiarity of the exercises as I vented out my frustration, one thought present in my head 'He never told me… anything'. I ignored the pain as my knuckles split against the bark of the trees, or my muscles when they pulled and almost ripped due to the speed. I kept going, always circulating chakra, wanting, needing to believe that if I push the feelings of pain, anger, betrayal to the back of my mind and ignore them they'll really disappear.

Unfortunately, it seemed that feelings were like babies; the more you try to ignore them, the louder they get.

Still unsatisfied, I kept going. I kept going until I realised I would collapse if I didn't stop. Emotionally, physically, and chakra exhausted, I staggered back home and into the shower. The hot water washed away the blood, grime and sweat which covered me, and relaxed my tense muscles. I was soon forced to abandon my little piece of heaven as the water turned cold. Wrapped in a white, fluffy towel, I headed out of the bathroom and into my room and collapsed onto the bed, asleep the moment my head made contact with the pillow.

Next morning I found myself easily falling back into the routine I always used when dad was away on missions. Except that this time, there was never a smile on my face; when I went out to the shops, I stopped to greet some villagers I had become acquainted to via dad, and many of them had asked me how I was coping. I couldn't give them the honest answer – not at all, so instead, I thanked them for their concern and forced a smile onto my face, regardless of the fact that my facial muscles always gave a vicious protest.

I stepped into the shady shop which has become my most-often-visited place over the last two years. The shopkeeper, who still disliked me regardless of the fact that I was probably his most loyal customer, gave me a rare smile as I walked in.

"I heard the news." Was his greeting.

Yeah, I thought. Kind of hard not to have.

Having once heard dad say that sarcasm is one of the services I shouldn't offer, I simply settled for justifying my reason of visiting his shop.

"I'm starting Academy the day after tomorrow. I want to look cool." I know appearance shouldn't really be a ninja's concern, but I wanted to make it clear that I didn't want anyone to approach me, and to those brave – (read: stupid ) – souls who'll disregard my warning… well, it won't be pretty.

Shirani-san seemed to catch on quite quickly. "Ah. OK, follow me kiddo." He led me to the back of the shop, and after some rifling through the hangers, he pulled out a pretty two-piece grey and black outfit. It consisted of a black short-sleeved mesh shirt, a sleeveless grey vest which went over that, and black leggings. "This should do." He fidgeted for a second before he went and dug some more in the back. A few seconds later, he came back holding something in his hand. "Here. I'm sorry for your loss." He stated gruffly while not even looking at me, as he thrust out his hand.

Gingerly taking the black material which was held in his hand, I gasped as I realised they were gloves. Not only that, I realised as I put them on – the gloves, when put on properly would stretch over the elbow, but I noticed small holes about three-quarters of the way up… just like they were made for-

"Senbon needles." I muttered. "A self-launching machine." I glanced up at Shirani-san's retreating back with a new-found respect. That man knew exactly what to do to make me feel better, as ridiculous as that sounds.

Walking out of the shop, the new outfit ready in the bag together with my soon-to-be-best-friend senbon machine, I went home to prepare for the first day of school… Which will be tomorrow.

The Great Opening Ceremony was everything… but great. I can't remember what I imagined it'd be like all those years ago when I first learned of the ninja world, but my imagination was definitely better than reality.

Generally, it can be summed up in two words – absolute boredom. It consisted of the Hokage talking about how a Village's future relies on its Genin and Academy students, which, in a way is right, but by the time he got to that point most people had already stopped paying attention and were examining their surroundings, waiting for his speech to end. I wondered how they managed to cram so many people into one room – there were at least hundred children and each had their parents or clan representatives alongside them.

In fact, the four-wall arrangement managed to provide a source of amusement; about half-way through the Hokage's speech, somebody literally flew through the wall, leaving a small, human-sized hole in the construction. The culprit stopped for a minute, shook the dust from his hair, looked around, and, as my eyes adjusted to the insane brightness of his blonde hair, I noticed the small wince he gave as the adults, as if on some unspoken command, all turned to glare at him. The boy quickly collected himself and plastered on a cocky grin.

"Ne, Old-Man, stop talking already, you're boring them to death, dattebayo!" and he turned on his heel and ran as fast as his little legs could carry him out of the door.

Even I had to stifle my gasp at the blatant lack of respect the kid had for the Hokage (I supposed he was older than me, but given my obvious intellectual superiority, I was therefore given the right to call him 'kid') but the man just went on talking like nothing had happened, the only sign of weariness or annoyance being the deep sigh and puff of his pipe he gave. Soon, everyone fell back into the sleepy trance.

Once the Hokage finished talking, we were dismissed and led to our classrooms by our senseis. I immediately headed for the desk at the very back of the class, inwardly scoffing at the people who sat right in front of the sensei. Our sensei, who introduced himself as Kaimei-sensei, then began giving us a basic recap of the Hokage's speech, and the plan for our Academic career. I tuned him out, instead deciding to analyse my classmates.

At first glance, four out of twenty eight people stood out. One was a girl who was taking notes of what the sensei was saying. I held in the urge to laugh. The second one seemed to be dozing off, and every time his eyes slid shut he would jerk up and look around like a scared rabbit to see if he'd been caught. The third and fourth were simply annoying- they were chatting so loudly I wondered how the sensei didn't hear them. I guessed he just liked the sound of his own voice.

Sighing, I pulled out a scroll I had taken from the box and immersed myself in it. I was curious what it contained, and was pleasantly surprised when I realised it contained a detailed map of the village's underground tunnels which were used in the First Shinobi War. I was even more surprised by the fact that most of them were still intact.

As I finished my reading and moved to roll the paper back into a scroll I noticed the small Uchiha crest on the back. So this was what the Uchiha gave dad… but why would he steal scrolls from his own family and give them to dad right before he assassinated them? I doubt he held any sentiment towards the library.

Before I knew it, we were released home. Looking back, I realised that it wasn't as bad as I thought.

An entire month passed that way. Kaimei-sensei soon realised that I really didn't wish to contribute in class discussions, and stopped taking away my scrolls as he discovered it didn't lead to anything good. Throughout the whole month, I had not spoken to any of my classmates, but I knew almost everything there was to know about each of them.

Though one day, something changed. I saw him.

It happened during recess as we were finally allowed to go onto the shared playground, not the little garden reserved for the first years. I was, as always, alone, scroll and lunch in hand as I headed for the shade of the trees. I stopped a few steps short as I realised someone was already occupying the bench.

If the glaringly obvious Uchiha crest on his back didn't betray his identity, the black hair and obsidian eyes did. Or rather, the hatred, pain and solitude I saw in those eyes. Sasuke Uchiha sat before me, his lunch untouched and hands folded under his chin, arrogantly glaring at anyone who dared to come near him.

I squared my shoulders and cleared my face of expression, then proceeded to walk to one of the trees by the bench he sat on, acutely aware of his piercing glare. But I ignored it in favour of sitting down, back propped up against the tree, and pulling out the scroll and dango.

I also ignored the indignant squeals which came from the girls surrounding him. All more than ten meters away, in fear of his glare. During the month spent at the Academy I realised that the Uchiha had a large fanclub, which consisted of girls from pretty much every year.

Still, as I hadn't removed my attention from the scroll on my lap – this time about the water walking practice which I was determined to master once I got home – the glares and whispers slowly receded. As he noticed my apparent disinterest in his person, Sasuke's glare disappeared.

I let the silence go on for a few more minutes before my curiosity got the better of me.

"Who do you hate so much, Uchiha?" I asked quietly. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed his head snap in my direction, but I kept my eyes fixed on the scroll in front of me.

After a few seconds, he scoffed. "You know nothing." Still, his gaze did not leave me.

"I know more than you can imagine, and see something you are too blinded by your hatred to see." I responded vaguely, delighting in his puzzled expression. "My father once told me you shouldn't bottle up your hatred inside of you as it's unhealthy. I agree with him, but for a different reason. Hatred is a passion too. Use it to your advantage; it'll give you the determination to get stronger. Sulking in the shadows has never achieved anything."

I turned to face him, a small smile on my face. I took in his wide, disbelieving eyes and squashed the urge to smirk knowingly. If he thought he hated, despised, he was wrong. His hatred was useless, I mused, since he had no idea what to do with it. It was slowly destroying him.

His brother's plea to my father flashed before my eyes. In a way, I was steering him onto the right path – I could see it in his eyes, in those few seconds, I had given him a purpose. Perhaps it was not the most orthodox way of getting someone out of depression, and the opposite of what his brother desired, but who was I to care for what a missing-nin wanted?

"You're not the only one who'd lost someone important." And with those words, I rose and left the sad boy behind, just seconds before the bell rang.

"Right, settle down! I need to run to the office and collect something; I'll be back in a minute!" Kaimei-sensei announced. I shrugged, opening the scroll to continue where I'd left off. But it seemed someone had different intentions.

"Oi, Pinky!" someone hollered. "What were you doing with Sasuke-kun today?" I raised my eyes, and wasn't surprised to see Desumari and her little group of followers. I noticed one of them was carrying a can of some sort, but dismissed it in favour of responding.

"I was talking. It's something civilized people do, you know? Instead of hollering across the room." I replied blandly. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that Kaimei-sensei had returned and was looking questioningly in our direction.

"Don't try to be smart with me, you loser! This will teach you to never talk to Sasuke-kun again!" at some unseen command, the girl who held the can swung it towards me, spilling its' contents. I quickly realised it was paint, but it seemed to be coming in slow motion compared to how fast I moved. In a split I had stood up and grabbed the scroll I'd been reading from the desk and ran to the other side of the room. I was there before the paint even touched where I'd been sitting a few seconds before.

I relished in the girls' surprised expressions as they looked to where I'd gone to, before a voice called out.

"Desumari, you and your friends better come see me at the end of the day for detention. In the meantime, Sakura, come here." Kaimei-sensei commanded.

I followed obediently and turned to face him. "Yes, sensei?" I asked innocently.

"Academy students are not supposed to know the Shunshin technique. It eats chakra and usually isn't taught until Chunin level. And you didn't use handsigns. What did you do, Sakura?"

I supressed a smirk. He'd mistaken my little escape as Shunshin – a technique which used a quick burst of speed which made it seem as if the user was teleporting. It was in one of the scrolls I'd read, and I supposed it might've been written by Shisui Uchiha himself considering the amount of ways which the scroll gave in which the jutsu could be altered.

Deciding not to spill all of my secrets just yet, I simply replied. "I guess I'm just special, sensei."

~Two Years Later~

Months had gone by really quickly, and I have to say, although I had not learned much, I began to enjoy the Academy. I had met someone who'd made it possible. In fact, that person was heading my way, right now. It seemed he could find me anywhere, even when I didn't want to be found.

Such as now. When I was on the rooftop. Shying away from people. Yet, he was there.

"Guess I can never get rid of you, can I, Neji-chan?"

Neji had to hand it to the kid – she really knew how to annoy him to death. Although he had only known her for a year, and still wasn't too fond of the brat, if someone ever tried to take her away from him, he'd kill them. He remembered when he first met her.

Neji was training by himself near the stream, hoping to finally master the Gentle Fist: Sixty-Four Palms, when he spotted someone on the other side of the stream. He supressed a scoff – the kid had pink hair, yet he could sense that she had some chakra, so she definitely wasn't civilian. But then the kid did something which almost made him lose his balance – she stepped into the stream and stood on the water. Then, calm as if it was something she did every day, she walked to the other side.

As she climbed out, she noticed Neji staring at her. One of her pink eyebrows rose, a curious expression flashing on her face. Although Neji guessed the kid couldn't be older than six, the expression on her face was not that of childish curiosity. It was cool, analytical, and his theory of her being a ninja at least in some form was confirmed when her eyes flashed to meet his.

But then she spoke, and ruined everything.

"Why are you staring like that? Do you want me to bow down to you or something?" Neji couldn't believe the nerve of this girl. Did she not know who he was? As if reading his mind, she grinned. "Oh, I know exactly who you are. But I don't respect people unless they've earned that respect, like the Hokage, or the Sannin. But you? What had you, or your clan done, hm? Your clan killed an innocent man; that's hardly respectable."

Neji couldn't believe it. This girl was either foolish, or suicidal. Probably both, he concluded. Even now, at barely ten years old he already had the Academy senseis bowing down to him, yet this girl refused to. Suddenly, her last sentence hit home. Rage overtook his senses.

"That man was my father." He spat.

The previous expression of lazy defiance which marred the girl's face was gone. Instead, shock and bewilderment replaced it, together with a small flicker of comprehension in her icy jade eyes.

"You're Hyuuga Hizashi's son." The statement was devoid of emotion, but there was a small, barely noticeable undertone which unsettled Neji.

"You're… excited." He noted with a fair bit of apprehension leaking into his voice.

"I told you, I don't respect people unless they've earned that respect, but you, Hyuuga, your eyes betray you. I can see that you want this respect badly, be it from your classmates, senseis, elders; anyone will do. You crave acceptance and respect."

Neji sent her a blank stare. "You're delusional."

"You know I'm right. And if you really want that respect, which we both know you do, then come,"

The brunette watched her shift into a stance, and before his surprise caught up with him, he noted that her stance was not the widely-preached Academy style, yet it held no resemblance to his Juuken either.

"If you really want my respect," her eyes gleamed, "Then come and fight me for it!"

Neji snapped. "You scum. I'll destroy you!"

Needless to say, their first encounter hadn't been the most pleasant one, but it had taught him one thing – to never underestimate his opponent. Especially if they have pink hair. Because he'd underestimated her greatly, and he still wondered, after having seen what had happened to the tree which she'd touched after he just barely managed to dodge out of the way, what would've happened to him if he hadn't moved, considering that the tree exploded into smithereens.

So they'd been playing their little game of cat and mouse, somehow managing to keep it secret from Neji's uncle and the senseis. Their dislike for each other was still great, but at least they didn't try to purposely kill each other when they sparred, unless he had said one word too many about destiny, or she said one word too many about his clan.

He smirked at her comment. "No, I guess you can't. And stop calling me –chan, flea!"

And on it went.

"Alright! Get into pairs everyone; girls with girls, boys with boys."

I was quickly sought out by Desumari, who still held a grudge over that accident two years ago. Apparently she had to clean the tables of the bubble gum the older students stuck under the desks.

"Pinky." She sneered. I barely managed to stifle a scoff. Instead of sounding intimidating like I assumed her intention was, she looked more like a wet poodle.

I schooled my features into absolute calm, which was quite hard considering how badly I wanted to burst out laughing, and replied. "Desumari."

"Right!" Kaimei-sensei clapped his hands to get the students' attention. "We'd been practicing basic offensive and defensive moves, and you'll expand on them in your future years at the Academy. However, there's a great difference between practicing on dummies and real people. All you're going to do is a combination of four attacks, then switch to the defensive and let the other person attack. Remember, you're not trying to hurt or injure the person. This is just a drill. Ready? Start!"

My eyes met Desumari's, and I realised that this wouldn't be 'just another drill' to the brunette. She would do her best to injure or humiliate me.

Absentmindedly, I realised I could hear Konohamaru bragging about how he was going to thrash his opponent. I spared a pitiful glance at the cocky boy. His opponent was a Hyuuga.

He's lost already.

I almost felt sorry for him until I realised I'd have a similar 'problem' at hand. I knew that for a few seconds at least I'd have to use the Academy style and pretend she is a worthy opponent, until I could beat her.

With 'as little violence as possible'.

Che. You wish.

From the second the sensei gave the command 'start' she pounced on me, hoping to use my surprise to her advantage. Of course, little did she know that I was more than used to random creepy things jumping out at me.

I easily batted away or ducked under her attacks, not even one of them touching me. This was like a vacation compared to my usual training. I decided to push her one step further and lazily yawned while I pirouetted out of the way of her (badly aimed) kick.

Snarling angrily, she stopped her attacks. Out of curiosity, I stopped as well. She must've noticed what was happening, that she wasn't getting anywhere, and I was curious as to what she was going to do about it.

Whatever I was expecting, it definitely wasn't what she did do.

"So," she started conversationally, "how's that whore you call a mother?"

I stifled the urge to gasp.

"Oh, wait, I forgot; you don't know! And your daddy isn't any better either, is he, huh, Pinky?"

Relax, she's bluffing, she doesn't know.

But even with that knowledge, I couldn't stop myself. I was already jumping towards her, chakra drawn into my fingertips, waiting to come in contact with her body, ready to obliterate her pretty little face and watch the blood splatter on the grass. I was mere inches from her, taking sick satisfaction in the scared look on her face.

She knew me as the girl who sat in the shadows, not a taijutsu master.

It was just a few more inches and my strike would've connected but I was instantly frozen on the spot by an inhumane wave of Killing Intent.

Dad had shown me what Killing Intent was and what it was capable of, but his Killing Intent was like a needle point – sharp but focused, it pricked you so casually like it was an everyday thing and I quickly learned to break its' hold on me without the need of self-harm.

However, this one… this was Killing Intent on a whole different level. It was all over the place, it was wild, it was chaotic, it was blood-thirsty. I could see the monochrome vision of my death and I inwardly berated myself for not noticing the five ANBU who stood on the Academy walls.

Of course, I thought. ANBU. No surprise their intent is so intense.

I quickly realised I had to break its' hold on me. Although I knew it was fake, watching my death over and over again was not my favourite past-time. Forcing my arm to move while still in the vision was no easy feat, and having finally grabbed hold of my kunai – a weapon I theoretically wasn't even supposed to own yet – I had no hesitation and quickly stabbed it into my thigh.

The fresh wave of pain which hit me successfully dispelled the illusion. As my consciousness returned to me I realised that three of the ANBU were taking the kids who'd fainted under the effects of the illusion back into the class, while Kaimei-sensei was talking with the leader. I briefly wondered where the fifth one was before I spotted him a few meters from where I stood, his masked face turned towards me.

Guarding me.

I gave an experimental spike of my chakra then quickly realised it was a bad idea when sensei and the ANBU turned in my direction. I gulped out of instinct as both approached me.

"Sakura, how did you break the illusion?" was the first thing Kaimei-sensei asked. I wordlessly motioned towards my leg and the kunai still stuck in it. Sensei was about to open his mouth, probably to rebuke me for harming myself, but the ANBU cut in.

"That's unimportant. Or rather, it only proves my point. How good is she in class?" he questioned rather rudely.

"W-Well, she's the top kunoichi when it comes to written tests. Always gets 100% regardless of the fact that she never listens." He sent a playful glare my way, "But her class participation is appalling. And, don't get offended, but you always sit by yourself, yet you seem to be doing just fine."

The ANBU nodded. "And her physical?"

"Fit as a fiddle, even gives the boys a run for their money once we can actually get her on the track."

The ANBU nodded again. "That's all I need to know. Come on now, kid, you're coming with me. Time to pay the Hokage a little visit."

I looked up at him, startled beyond belief. "Hokage?" I asked, "But why?"

"To get permission to let you graduate with this year's Gennin."

Ta-Da!

It's inhumanly long, this chapter is. Probably longest I've ever written. Geez. That took a while. Just a warning though, if you see any mistakes, it's because I never Beta-Read my chapters. I always release them straight after I finish writing.

DiamondForest: I hope you'll like what you see…

angelwolf123: I considered your ide, and twisted it slightly… what do you think?

As always, if you have any suggestions or comments, please do send them with your REVIEW!

See ya'll next chapter!

Love~