A/N: We have 93 followers and 41 reviews loves. A big thanks to Counting Sinful Stars who has reviewed every chapter thus far :3
In other news, I got a new job since my other place shut down, which is why I have not been working on this as much. I love the job, but already one of the customers stalked me on Facebook, another one who was old enough to be my dad hit on me, and someone tried to give me their number. Apparently my manager calls the security a lot because of how often this happens to other girls there. Kind of freaky. We had to talk to security again too because of some creepy guy.
Any who, before I start on the story, how many of you think I should start a one shot collection as a companion to The Ripple Effect? Just something to show what happens during time skips or times like the stew incident mentioned in the previous chapter. Let me know via review and I'll set up a poll.
When Itachi woke up he felt much better. The grief he felt at losing Yukiko and the betrayal of their sensei was still raw, but now it felt more manageable. Something shifting on his side caught his attention.
Koka was snuggled into him, one hand clutching at his shirt. When Itachi looked over her shoulder, Kaede and Shisui were in a similar position. Koka shifted again and Itachi's eyes sprung back to her as blue eyes cracked open, blearily looking around before meeting his own.
"Itachi?" She whispered, an unspoken question in her eyes. He nodded and the young girl sighed before closing her eyes once again and resting her head on his chest. Itachi froze, unsure how to react to his aloof friend's unusual display of affection. Moments later her eyes opened once again, looking more awake.
"I need to go to the study room." She told him quietly. Itachi nodded once again and carefully helped her leave the futon without waking up the other two occupants. He led her out of the room and down the hall to her study room. It was not until they entered the room that Koka released the grip she still had on Itachi's shirt.
Itachi watched as his friend moved over to the side of her desk. He was curious as she knelt to the floor and began feeling around. Without warning, Koka lifted a section of the floor. It was a secret cubby that Itachi had no idea even existed, despite how often he was in the room.
Carefully Koka pulled out a scroll. Itachi could see several others in the small compartment before she sealed it off once more. Koka walked over and handed the document to him.
"It's a compilation of all the information about the sharingan that I could see and find. It's not much and there might be a lot that I could not find, but there are things in there that you won't be able to find otherwise."
Itachi took the scroll in awe. He opened it, scanning through the information. There were detailed descriptions on how the eye worked, various stages and jutsu associated with it among other things. Information that he never knew was in the scroll, some of it he doubted even the clan elders would know.
"Koka, this is amazing. How did you find all of this?" Itachi breathed out. The blue eyed girl sat at her desk, effectively hiding the blush staining her cheeks.
"Some of it I was able to find through basic research at the public library and scrolls I found here. Some things I saw and recorded the information from my vision." Here Koka paused, something Itachi only barely noticed.
"And some of it I just already knew. You and Shisui will get more use out of that than I will, so it's yours to keep." She finished telling him, picking up some documents on her desk before beginning to write, signifying the end of the conversation.
Itachi's eyes softened as he looked at the young girl. His friend, he dearest friend, had risked a lot to create this scroll. Going out to places, like the library, always ran the risk of someone seeing her have a vision. The scroll was not thin either. A lot of time and effort had been put into it.
"Thank you, Koka." The young girl stiffened as Itachi hugged her carefully. She had more than enough displays of affection for the day already.
It was in Koka's study that Shisui and Kaede found the two younger children. Koka was writing at her desk and Itachi was leaning against it, reading the scroll he had been given. The two older children had brought in snacks and drinks for the group.
Shisui and Kaede took their place at the kotatsu. The elder girl began reading a book on ceremonial dances while Shisui picked up one of the random books Koka had left on the low table for that purpose.
They stayed that way until Kakashi came to fetch the two boys.
Koka waited until she was sure the shinobi were out of sight of the shrine when she turned to Kaede. The older girl looked up and met blue eyes.
"It's time to start." The older girl nodded and stood up and the two of them made their way to Heiwa's office, where the older woman sat looking over a scroll.
The shrine maiden looked up in surprise when the two girls entered the room.
"Kaede, Koka, what is it?" The two girls exchanged a look before looking Heiwa straight in the eye.
"Will you teach us the ceremonial dances early?" Koka made her request, both her and Kaede bowing slightly in a plea.
Heiwa focus completely on the girls, silent as she thought. There had to be a reason for them to ask so suddenly, though the older woman had a feeling she had a vague idea what it was. The dances were not physically taught until girls reached the age of thirteen, due to their physical demanding routines. Kaede was almost ready, but Koka had several more years before she would be physically ready. As it was, Koka was small for her age. Heiwa thought long and hard about it.
"Very well." She finally conceded. There was no jumping for joy from the girls, but they did raise their heads, relief evident on their features. Heiwa continued speaking.
"However, it will not be easy. Nor will I go easy on you because of your ages, or your size, Koka." The older woman added the last part for the blue eyed girl, who only nodded.
"If you went easy on me then that would defeat the purpose." Heiwa rose from her seat.
"Come. We will start as soon as the two of you change." The girls nodded.
"I assume we should look into your self-defense as well?" The older woman added, as if it had been an afterthought. She received a smile from Koka, the second one the woman had ever seen from the small girl. Heiwa sighed, wondering what burden the two girls in her care had taken on to protect their friends this time.
Review's make me update faster. If I can get twenty reviews on this chapter, I'll post more before the end of the week.