Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, only the plot. Gwen is Narufan0001's OC.

Chapter 4: Flightless Birds

"When captured birds grow wiser, they try to open the cage with their beaks. They don't give up, because they want to fly again."

~Shiranui Genma~

"Nii-san! Nii-san!"

The blonde boy looked down, startled. Peering into the boy's higher face was a brunette girl with bluish green eyes. Sighing, the boy lifted the much smaller girl into his arms. "What is it, Imouto, un?"

"Will you teach me how to make clay birds today?" loudly asked the freckled girl.

He sighed. His sister had been asking the same question for weeks on end. What could it hurt?

Quickly, he pulled some clay out of the pouch on his hip, and fed it to his hand, which soon enough burped the figurine out.

"It was that simple this whole time?" the girl asked, shocked.

The boy laughed. "It was, un. Now you try, Gwen." He then broke off a chunk of clay from the figurine and handed it to her.

Brow furrowed, the four year old fed the clay to her hand. Seconds later, it spit it out, not in the shape that she wanted though. It was just a strange mass of clay that didn't really look like anything.

Her brother laughed. "Hey, don't worry too much about it, un. I didn't get it for days, and I had Mom and Dad to help me." A sad smile appeared on his face after he said that. He was past the stage of mourning, and now tried to remember them fondly.

"So, someday I'll be as great a ninja as Mommy and Daddy?" the young girl questioned.

"Hai. Of course you'll be as great as our parents. Hell, you'll be better than them, un!" Deidara declared as he suddenly picked her up and placed her on his shoulders. The young girl shrieked with glee. This happy picture didn't happen as often as she liked.

"So, when I go to school today, you better practice, alright Gwen?" the seven year old demanded.

The little girl nodded, and when she realized that he couldn't see her, stated, "Hai. I'll practice until I can do it!"

Deidara laughed. "I doubt you'll get it that fast, so don't be disappointed, un."

x~x~x

Gwen scrunched up her face, concentrating deeply. The mouth on her hand worked quickly, until finally, it spat out a wad of clay that was in a perfect bird shape.

Her brother stared at her in shock. He had been taken out of school early on the Tsuchikage's order to watch. It seemed that she had somehow managed to do something that had taken a month for him to do.

The tiny figure of the Tsuchikage narrowed his eyes at the brunette girl. "How long have you been practicing this?" he demanded.

"Just today. I started this morning," Gwen answered.

The man looked at the ANBU that stood at his side. "Enroll her in the Academy. Put her in the advanced class with her brother."

"She's too young to start the Academy, un!" Deidara objected.

The Tsuchikage raised his eyebrow. "You are both wards of mine, which mean that whatever I say, as your legal guardian, goes. There is nothing you can do about it."

The blonde's fist clenched tightly, but he said nothing as he glared defiantly at the man. The Tsuchikage sighed.

"Don't think of doing anything. An ANBU operative will escort the both of you to school every day," the powerful man simply stated as he waved them out. "Now shoo, I have paperwork to do."

Deidara tried to calm his breathing as he and his little sister left the room. He couldn't seem to grasp the fact that they were making his four year old sister go to the Academy. The younger girl's bluish green eyes were on the ground, narrowed in thought.

Why does Nii-san not want me in the Academy? I have a feeling that I need to know this. She finally voiced her concerns. "Nii-san, why is it so bad that I'm going to the Academy early?"

Deidara ran a hand through his hair, mussing his hair and causing it to fall from his ponytail. "It's bad because you're not ready, un! No one is ready for the Academy at the age of four! Besides that, they're most likely gonna make you graduate early, un! Even if you don't, you'll graduate at ten, un!" he snapped, his tic becoming worse and worse.

"Oh," she whispered, slightly hurt, but now understanding why he was angry.

He sighed. "I'm sorry for yelling, un. I'm just really worried, Imouto."

"I know. I'm worried too," the girl whispered, feeling the need to be quiet.

Silent, he picked her up and sat her on his shoulders, cherishing the moment, knowing better than most that these peaceful times could end all too soon.

x~x~x

Gwen stared blankly at the school. Fearfully, she asked, "Do I really have to go, un?" She gained her brother's way of speech whenever she was nervous.

The ANBU smiled beneath his mask and nodded at the pouting girl. She was just standing in front of the school, and seemed to have no intentions of going inside. Her brother had already went to the training grounds attached to the school for extra practice.

"Yes, you have to go. We have over an hour for you to get used to the idea. If worse comes to worse, I can escort you the whole day during school," Ittan answered with a tiny smile tugging at his lips. She reminded him quite a bit of his own daughter, who would be joining the Academy next fall.

The brunette scowled fiercely at the school, but after ten minutes, straightened her back and stiffly walked in. Ittan followed her silently. His mission was to protect her, since she was not only a genius, but was one of the last of her clan. It was important to safeguard her. Most likely, she would never be able to complete missions outside of the village because of this.

"I'm really early, aren't I?" Gwen asked as she frowned at the empty seats surrounding her.

The ANBU silently sat down in the miniature desk, and nodded instead of answering. Puffing her cheeks and then letting out a breath, the young girl sat down beside him, already bored to tears. Her legs, too short to reach the floor, swung back and forth as she hummed a random melody under her breath, her fingers idly tapping out the beat on the shabby desk.

A glance outside the window revealed a single green eye that stared at her, but disappeared just as she was about to tell Ittan.

"ANBU-sempai, I think there was someone at the window," Gwen said.

"Most likely another officer. There's not going to be a break through this far into the village," he replied, attempting to relieve the girl, but not succeeding.

She scowled, but said nothing. Rarely did anyone have such green eyes in Iwa, and besides that, she wasn't wearing any sort of hunter-nin mask that she recognized. She could have already attacked them though if she were a threat. She already proved that she had capabilities far beyond most ANBU to be able to have sneaked into a hidden village and not get caught.

Gwen decided not to worry about the mysterious watcher as more and more kids filed into the classroom, her brother among them. The ANBU operative beside her received many strange and suspicious looks. Sitting beside him, she also gained many stares that she ignored easily. She had always been the freak.

The class went by quickly considering she already knew most of the stuff from being a bookworm. One of the strangest things was that her brother was in the exact same class as her. Though, she had also never been to school before, so the whole experience was weird to her.

Walking out, the ANBU waved as Deidara grabbed her hand and tugged her towards the training grounds. "Come on, un. We need to train," he muttered.

Gwen followed, and then asked, "Do you know of any blonde and green eyed ANBU members?"

The blonde boy shook his head, frowning. "Where did you see her, un?" he asked.

"She was at the school, looking through the window at me and ANBU-sempai. He didn't notice, and told me that it was nothing."

Deidara shrugged. "Not much we can do, un."

"I know, I know, but still," Gwen complained. "It just gets me so angry that nobody pays any attention to my warnings."

Deidara sighed and picked her up, carrying her on his shoulders. "Don't worry too much about it. Nobody outside our village knows that we're alive. And it's gonna stay that way, un."

x~x~x

Gwen stretched towards her toes, her eyes glazed with thought. She was trying to take everything she imagined about the mysterious woman and imprint it in her memory, when suddenly Deidara attacked her, pinning her to the ground.

Her brother sighed as he stood. "You need to work on your reflexes, and always be on alert. Considering who we are, you're gonna need to learn it quick, un. "

Gwen stood up also, and glared at her older brother. Then, she exploded. "You butthole! Don't scare me like that! I thought that you had gone psycho on me!"

The seven year old slowly began backing up, raising his hands defensively. "H-hey, I didn't think that it would scare you! I just wanted to prove that someone could attack you when you're lost in thought like that…"

Gwen sighed, letting go of her anger quickly. "Just don't do it again," she muttered.

Deidara rolled his eyes, sensing that the danger was over. "Sheesh, you're worse than Kaa-chan, un."

"Shut up."