A subtle breeze drifted through the Land of Fire on a beautiful, sunny day. Stray leaves danced in the air and white fluffy clouds drifted slowly through the sky. In the village hidden in the leaves, a small gathering lingered around the entrance gates. Unfamiliar faces stood exchanging information and paperwork with gate guards.

Itachi Uchiha, almost age nine, stopped in his tracks when he noticed the crowd in the distance. His younger brother looked up at him curiously wondering why he had stopped. "Big brother?" he yanked on his hand, "Why did yo-" he paused when he spotted the large crowd himself, "What's going on?"

He briefly glanced down at his younger brother, "I'm not sure, Sasuke." The sea of people blocked his view of the strangers.

A curious little boy yanked his brother through the crowd, bobbing and weaving between the bodies, "I wanna see!"

Itachi couldn't stop his chuckling. Sasuke's innocence and inquisitiveness showed no bounds when his big brother stood by his side. Eventually, the brothers made it to the front of the crowd. A rather large family nodded and laughed while completing their paperwork. How could Itachi tell they were all family? Well, the adults' features matched the children's features all too similar. They either had hair white as snow or steel gray. Their skin tones ranged from pale to sun-kissed. Perhaps a family who either does work inside or outside of the house.

The family finished their exchange at the gate, giving a grateful bow before walking through. A mother adjusted the straps that swaddled a baby, following closely behind her husband. Following behind them two older teenagers walked boldly. A younger brother walked behind the two older siblings with his body hunched forward and eyes anxiously glancing at the crowd that parted ways for them. A girl caught his gaze. She held onto her brothers' shirt and her head turned the moment he did. Her white hair framed her face just beneath her hair. White lashes fluttered as amethyst eyes caught his. Where were they from? Certainly not from the Land of Fire.

The young girl who had caught Itachi's gaze clutched tighter onto her brother's back. That boy-he had such deeply colored eyes and hair. She herself had never seen such before- she quickly forced herself to watch her feet. "Do you think this is going to be our last move, Yuu?" She whispered under her breath.

"Probably not, Tsukiko." He peered over his shoulder

She sighed, "I'm tired of being the unfamiliar faces- feels like we're a part of some freakshow or something."

A small conversation among the siblings remained unheard by the crowd around them. Sasuke had tugged on his big brother's hand to get his attention. "Hey, brother," he spoke.

Konoha has not seen new faces in quite some time. Partly due to war. Partly because immigrating between nations never appeared to be a common occurrence anyways. Itachi wondered what could have brought these new faces in or the kind of troubles they had to go through to become citizens here. "Iiiitachiiiii!" Sasuke rocked back and forth yanking on his hand more.

"Yes?" He finally looked down.

Sasuke pouted, "What's goin onnn?"

"Based on assumptions," he knelt and offered Sasuke to get on his back, "They're probably a family who moved here from another nation. Certainly not a common appearance here . . ." Internal thoughts reiterated out loud.

With a big smile on his face, Sasuke hopped onto his brother's back. He wrapped his little arms around Itachi tightly. "I suppose that makes sense. You're so smart, big brother."

Itachi grinned, "Basic deduction skills, Sasuke. Something you're still developing. You're still so young."

While the Uchiha brothers head back home to have a warm meal made by their mother, not too far from the Uchiha compound did Tsukiko's family find where they were staying at. "Did you see all those homes just before?" Tsukiko asked loud enough for her parents to hear.

"Yes, of course, honey." Her mom replied

"You mean the one with the big fan symbol out in front?" Her brother Yuu turned to look at his sister.

She nodded her head, having finally let go of Yuu's shirt, "It almost looked like an entire cline probably lives there?"

"You're probably right. Seems like they'll be neighbors of the sorts." The father answered.

Their home had a decent area of land for their backyard for plenty of planting activity. However, it was located in a corner of the village, away from much of everything else.

All of Tsukiko's siblings and other family members began to inspect and settle into their new home. The little number of things they brought with them such as clothes, were put away. The house was lightly furnished with things that were necessities. So once they all sat down to eat together the parents began a conversation about things that would need to be purchased for their home.

"I don't know why you guys want to bother buying new things. We'll just be moving again in a couple of years or so anyways." Yuu muttered under his breath.

Yuu was the youngest son of the family around the age of 11, almost turning 12. "I have to agree . . . this is our third move." Tsukiko pushed her food around on her plate, "I feel like I can't even make friends anymore." What was the point of it anyways? She could only imagine how many more moves her oldest siblings have experienced.

"That's why you have us, Tsukiko," The oldest brother grinned while pointing to himself and gesturing to the rest of the family.

"Yup, you could be AAAALLL alone."

Tsukiko sighed heavily. She opened her mouth to say one thing but . . . decided perhaps it was not the best thing to say out loud. "Kazue, your relationship with Kazuo is very different from Yuu and I, or even Ayaka and I." She then pushed her plate away. Her parents looked between their siblings with troubled looks on their faces. "Your twins," Tsukiko mumbled under her breath.

The twins looked at each other. What could they even possibly say to that? Their sister had a point. Finally, their mother spoke up "I know it's hard right now but I think we have finally found a place to call home."

Yuu slammed his fists on the table, "You guys ALWAYS say that. I'm not hungry. I'm going to my room."

And just like that, he stomped to his room leaving the rest of the family sitting there in awkward silence. Tsukiko got up just a couple of seconds later, "I'm tired," she whispered, "I'm going to bed."

When she closed the door to her room, she turned to the side. For some reason, she began to recall those first few moments passing through those gates. That boy . . . the one with the dark hair and dark eyes . . . why was his face popping in her mind?

A couple of days have passed since the foreigners arrived at the village. Itachi sat quietly at the breakfast table. Fugaku, his father, already rushed off to do his morning errands leaving him home with his mother Mikoto, and little brother. Mikoto was preparing a rather large meal . . . way more servings that would go to waste if it was for her family alone. "What are you making, mom?" Itachi asked.

She mixed dry ingredients in a bowl, "Did you know that we have new neighbors?" She said, "Well, you know. They're not too far from the Uchiha compound."

"Yeah, Sasuke and I happened to see them when they arrived."

Mikoto started folding the wet ingredients in with the dry ones, "I want to welcome them to the village. It wouldn't be a bad way to make new friends."

She baked with a kind smile on her face. Itachi finished the rest of his breakfast, "What are you making them?"

"Taiyaki." She said now looking through the cabinets, for something. "Hm . . . seems like I'm out of Adzuki beans. Itachi, could you be a dear and go fetch some for me?"

Itachi nodded his head, "Okay," he then held his hand out for some money. "I won't be gone too long."

Itachi stuffed his 'mother's money into his pocket and put his shoes on. "See you later." He waved his mother off.

Just a little up ahead, someone else had been sent off to the grocery store. Tsukiko looked back bitterly at her home before shrinking into herself. Her mother needed food for tonight and sent Tsukiko on her way to go pick up some items. Yet she did not know where she was heading. It seemed like her mother had faith she would somehow figure out where she needed to go.

The Uchiha boy saw a head of white hair walking down the street. She was definitely the new girl. He decided to follow quietly behind her out of curiosity. Where was she heading? It did not take long for Itachi to notice that she had a hard time deciding when she should make a turn. She even stopped and looked around frantically at her surroundings. "Are you lost . . .?" Itachi finally decided to approach.

Tsukiko practically jumped out of her skin. Yet, she took a deep breath and calmly turned to face the voice. The last thing she wanted was to appear fearful, "Uh-" her purple eyes landed on the boy she had seen days ago. "Uh-a-"

She gulped, "Just a little."

Itachi watched this girl who had to be about the same age as him do her best to collect herself. The young Uchiha couldn't help but feel a little bit of a smile creep on the corner of his lips. "I can show you where it is."

Tsukiko bowed, "I would really appreciate it if you could show me."

"It's no problem," he waved his hand, "I was on my way there myself on an errand for my mom."

"Same, my mom just kinda- kicked me out without telling me where I should go." Tsukiko laughed slightly.

He signaled her to follow him and she gladly did so. She tightly held her handbag within her small grasp. He slowed down enough to walk side by side with her, "So you're new around here, aren't you? What's your name?"

If it had not been for the fact she did not know where she was going she would have wondered how he guessed that. "Tsukiko Takashima, yours?"

"Itachi Uchiha, it's nice to meet you Takashima-san."

She furiously shook her head, "please just call me by my first name. Formalities make me a little uncomfortable as is." Tsukiko watched fencing and some buildings pass by from the corner of her gaze.

"Okay, Tsukiko. Then you don't need to be formal with me as well."

"I think I remember seeing your face when my family first arrived in the village," She said. How could she forget a face and eyes like his? He appeared kind and gentle, if not a little tormented. Something that had stood out amongst the other faces in the large crowd. She wanted to look into them again, just to ensure that what she had seen had not been a mere fantasy. After a little bit of bravery, she sought his gaze. They happened to catch and she found herself shocked by how deeply colored his eyes were. Especially when comparing them to her own.

"Yes, I was there with my little brother Sasuke."

Tsukiko did not recall a younger boy with him. The crowd was overstimulating, however, so it made sense that her mind could not recall that moment well. "How old is your brother?"

"Three, almost four years old."

"My younger sister is about the same age as well, maybe they could play together sometime."

Itachi grinned, "They'll probably be meeting soon."

"Huh-?" Tsukiko canted her head to the side. She went to speak but Itachi continued.

"I'm buying some Adzuki beans for my mom because she wants to introduce herself later this evening."

"O-oh." Tsukiko felt her cheeks get hot. She fidgeted with the bags straps wondering why she felt so embarrassed all of a sudden. "I guess perhaps it's a good thing we bumped into each other- I- didn't realize we were neighbors, heh."

Soon the grocery store appeared on the horizon. It took only a few more minutes before they reached their destination. Itachi wondered what would have happened if he did not reveal he would be seeing her later so soon. There were many questions he wanted to ask her. The opportunity to speak with someone from outside the gates, in such a friendly manner, did not arise very often. What were her experiences? "Wow-" her voice brought his attention back to the present.

"There's so much to buy here . . . did my mom give me a list?"

She began patting down her pockets, and shirt, and peering her head into the bag. Gravity pulled her hands down roughly while she scrunched her face, "Of course not. I don't know what I'm even shopping for now- ugh."

He chuckled, "Guess your mom can't get mad at you for not buying enough then, huh?"

"She probably would anyways . . ." she sighed heavily, "Well- I think I'm going to be here longer. I don't want to hold you up. I'll see you . . . later?"

Itachi nodded his head, "Yes, later."