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Itachi sat with Shisui as they waited for the third member of their team and their sensei to show up. Kaede had dragged along Koka, and the girls waited along with the boys. Their sensei was a man by the name of Kumokin, and the third member was a girl name Yukiko.
Shisui sighed as leaned back against a tree. Even Kaede was bored as they waited. Koka glanced at them with an annoyed looked. Her plans for that morning had been put on hold because of Kaede's insistence of going with the two boys.
"I told you they would be late." The younger girl snipped. Itachi looked at Koka. No, she was not happy at all. He debated if he should side with her or defend the others. Either way, undoubtedly, Koka would turn her wrath on him. Itachi decided to remain silent.
"It's too important of a day to be late though!" Kaede defended her reasons. Koka only sighed and gave up in order to appease Koka. Itachi always found it interesting that Kaede was the only one Koka would give into.
"Sorry I'm late; I was talking with the Hokage." A large man appeared. Itachi assumed that this was their sensei. The man observed the group.
"Awfully young to be genin, aren't you? Why's there four?"
Kaede smiled at the man. "Koka and I are just here to wait with Shisui and Itachi. Yukiko hasn't shown up yet."
"Eh? Think bringing your girlfriends will make you look cool?" There was nothing nice or fun about the man's teasing. But before anyone could speak up, Koka turned to the man.
"Itachi could kill you within minutes." The Uchiha prodigy stared at the blue eyed girl. Her face was dead serious. Kumokin's face turned red at the insult but before he could reply, a new voice sounded out.
"I'm here!" A girl of about twelve ran up to the group. Itachi fought to keep his face impassive. He now beginning to understad why Koka did not want to see the other two team members.
Yukiko was dressing in a very short battle kimono with its sleeves cut of and the front only barely covering her chest. Heavy make-up covered her face.
"Eh? What's up with the brats?"
Itachi repressed a sigh. His sensei was an ass, their third member was of the promiscuous type and Shisui and Itachi were small kids. Their team was doomed.
The first training session had been a disaster. Upon finding out that her other two team members were seven and ten, Yukiko had dismissed them, claiming little boys were a waste of her effort. Kumokin had likewise ignored his team, deeming them unworthy of his attention. Shisui and Itachi were left on their own to train.
"We really will die with a team like this." Shisui moaned as he flopped to the ground beside Itachi.
The two Uchiha's had been left to their own devices and had trained with each other to compensate for the lack of work. Itachi agreed with his cousin.
"There's nothing we can do about it. We'll have to work with what we have." The two of them sat in silence for a little while before Shisui spoke up.
"I've never seen Koka dismiss anyone so quickly. Or so harshly." Itachi looked at his cousin before thinking back to the morning's events.
Koka had completely ignored Yukiko's existence and had pricked at Kumokin with vicious barbed comments before hauling Kaede off back to the shrine.. Itachi wondered what he had missed.
"You're right."
"You think they'll feed us out of pity if we show up?" Shisui was referring to the shrine girls.
"Who knows."
Kaede and Koka did, in fact have food ready for the two boys. Shisui ate away his misery, asking for refills while Itachi ate at a more sedate pace.
"Shisui, you'll upset your stomach." Kaede was scolding the boy as he stuffed his mouth. Koka ignored them as she ate her own food while Itachi took it all in.
He wished that things could always be this peaceful. The shrine and the ones who lived there had become such a big part of his life that Itachi was no longer able to imagine living without them. He would become stronger, he resolved. He would become a shinobi strong enough to protect this part of his life. A life where the four of them could live happily together.
A clatter brought Itachi from his thoughts. The Uchiha prodigy looked at Koka in surprise. The young girl had dropped her chopsticks and had her eyes squeezed close, a hand over them. Shisui and Itachi were momentarily frozen. It was only when Kaede jumped from her seat, knocking it over, that the two of them were able to move.
"Koka!" Kaede's shout was filled with worry as she hurried to the younger girl's side. Koka cracked open one eye and Itachi was at her side. A vision.
"It hurts…" Koka's voice was cracked and tears fell from her eyes. Itachi was frozen. Her visions were hurting her. The Uchiha had never seen her like this before. They were always small and hardly did anything. But this… Itachi had never felt so helpless. He could not do anything to protect his friend from this pain.
"Shisui, pick her up." Kaede took charge. The larger boy lifted Koka into his arms and hurried as Kaede led them all to Koka's room.
Itachi helped to set out the futon, glad to be able to something for his friend. After she was laid down and covered with a blanket, Kaede set the boys to getting a thing of cold water and a clean cloth. Both hurried to do their tasks. Even the normally energetic Shisui was subdued by the fear of what was happening to their friend.
Itachi remained at Koka's side. At some point the girl had passed out, though the vision was still going on. Kaede dutifully continued to wipe the sweat from the young girl's brow and keep a cool rag on it. Shisui periodically changed out the water for fresh, cold water.
"The first time this happened, we were all so scared." Kaede's voice was quiet as she worked, but both Uchiha heard her.
"She couldn't stop screaming and crying. Most of her visions had been small, no one noticed them. When she was hit by that first big one, all Heiwa and I could do was hold her. There was nothing we could do."
"Kaede…" Shisui looked at the older girl as she began to cry. Without hesitating, he pulled her into a hug.
"She doesn't get them often, and she doesn't scream anymore, but each time it's just as scary as the first one." Kaede sobbed into Shisui's chest.
"You know what they'll do to her if anyone finds out, don't you?" Kaede cried. Itachi and Shisui were silent. They were prodigies of their clan. They knew what would happen to an orphaned girl with the power Koka had. Kaede continued anyway. Now that the dam holding everything back broke, everything flooded out.
"They'll take her and use her. She will die. Koka's first vision was of her dying because someone found her. She wouldn't make it past the first year. I don't want to lose her too. I've already lost my family, I can't lose Koka too."
Itachi and Shisui were grim as Kaede cried. Their friends were not shinobi. It was not fair for them to have already gone through so much.
"Kaede." The older girl looked at Itachi with tear filled eyes. He met them with his own clear ones, burning with determination.
"Shisui and I will protect Koka and you. We will not fail."
Shisui squeezed Kaede in his arms. "We'll keep you safe forever. We'll get even stronger and take care of you. I promise." Itachi nodded in agreement.
Fresh tears began to well up in Kaede's eyes. Sigh pierced the room and all eyes darted to Koka.
The girl had finally been released from her vision. Blue eyes cracked open, fuzzy and confused from exhaustion.
"Kaede?" The older girl was at Koka's side in and instant, already knowing what she wanted. Kaede laid beside Koka and the young girl clung to her, falling into a peaceful sleep.
Eventually Kaede fell asleep too, worn out from crying. Shisui and Itachi continued to watch over them until Heiwa returned. The older woman had been out taking care of business with some of the shrine customers. When she walked in to find the girls, Heiwa had been momentarily surprised but guessed what had happened upon spying the water bin and the way Koka and Kaede clung to eachother.
She spoke quietly to the young genin, who were sitting back to back beside the two girls.
"I'll get out the spare futons."
They two boys were too worn out to protest staying the night, not that they would, as they helped put the futons on either side of the girls. Itachi and Shisui were never comfortable unless the two girls were between them safely.
Night fell as Koka and Kaede slumbered, guarded by their friends on either side.
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