Wooh, stayed up late again working on this! Only got 4 hours of sleep because I had to work at 8am.

Haha I seem to write better at night.

Enjoy! thank for the reviews!

Romeo and Juliet

Chapter 6

"You're late." Just two words—well two and a half if you count a conjunction as one and a half—could pierce so deep. Sure, he was just Fugaku to me now. But deep down inside I knew I had a connection and my seven year-old self just couldn't be emotionless. Emotions ruled everything I did.

"I'm sorry," I said as I worked harder than usual to push myself up onto the chair. Training with Hebi-sensei was pushing my body to the extremes every day. It was the way he taught. If someone tells you you're doing something wrong, you'll forget. But if someone shows you you're doing something wrong, you're body will remember. Oh, it remembered alright. I have bruises to prove it. Granted, he was careful to not hit me in the face. Bruises on my body I could easily hide, but face bruises I could not.

"If you were sorry you would not continue to do it," Fugaku said and I looked up to meet his gaze. His eyes were sharp as daggers and as hard as ice, but they were nothing to Hebi-sensei's dark and almost evil eyes. I held his gaze, surprising the both of us. He didn't break away but even as a child I could tell it through him for a bit of a loop.

"I am sorry for inconveniencing you but I am not sorry for my actions," I said, breaking from his glare and focusing on my dinner. I did not like to eat. I didn't enjoy it anymore, but I did it because I needed to. I would feint if I didn't. So I forced the food down my throat, hardly tasting it and washing it down with water. I finished quickly and placed my dish in the sink. When I was walking back to Itachi's room I was stopped by Sasuke.

"Look, Tsukiko. I'm sorry." I turned to him and scrunched up my face.

"What for?"

"I haven't been being mean to you, necessarily. But I haven't been nice to you either. I just want to say that if you need me, I'm still your older brother." I smiled a goofy grin.

"Thanks Sasuke," I said and then added, "Only three minutes, remember?" We laughed and separated. It was no longer awkward around him. That was good. Itachi, Neji, Hebi-sensei, Akako, and Sasuke. Five people I would trust my life with. Five people that meant the world to me. I fell asleep with a smile on my face even as my body ached. It was a good kind of ache, though. Not the ache of loneliness but an ache of achievement. I was going out there and training all day, everyday—and I was working for something. I was working for Fugaku's respect.

I snuck out of the house at dawn, grabbing something from the fridge and running to the training grounds. I stopped in my tracks when I saw that old man again. Why was he here? I raced forward to them and stopped in front of Hebi-sensei and…Sarutobi.

"Ah, Tsukiko," Sarutobi greeted.

"Mister Sarutobi," I said and bowed in greeting.

"Ah, just Sarutobi. Nothing formal." I smiled. Good, I hate formalities.

"We are going on a mission, Kiko," Hebi-sensei informed me.

"Mission?" I inquired.

"You will be delivering an important package for me," Sarutobi answered. My eye brows knotted. How was I supposed to just disappear for a few days without Fugaku and Mikoto questioning?

"I can't…" I said hesitantly. "My guardians don't know I'm doing this." Sarutobi's eye brow raised. Hebi-sensei didn't seem affected. He probably already figured it out.

"Your parents don't know of your training with Orochimaru?"

"No…they don't know where I run off to all day."

"They don't ask?"

"They don't care," I responded coldly. It was true. I could be anywhere and they wouldn't care. Well, except with Neji. They hated Hyuuga's for some reason. Hmm.

"Well, Tsukiko. It seems you haven't even become a ninja have you?"

"Um, no. I haven't." Sarutobi looked over at Hebi-sensei with an accusing face. It was saying You knew this the whole time? What would people think?

"I take full responsibility for my pupil," Hebi-sensei spoke. "But before jumping to conclusions like you so like to do, I suggest you have her tested. She's genin level, at least."

"What's a genin?" I asked, completely and utterly lost.

"You've really done it this time, Orochimaru," Sarutobi sighed.

"Just try. It won't…" He was going to say hurt but then thought better of it. "…kill anyone. And it's not like there's a surplus of able ninja waiting in line." What's a surplus? Agh!

"Speak Japanese," I complained. "I can't understand a word you're saying." Orochimaru looked down at me as if he forgot I was seven sometimes. Hello, not hard to tell!

"Fine," he sighed and then thought of something, "does she even know how to make a shadow clone?" A shadow clone? Like a clone of yourself? I thought as I remembered Akako talking about learning how to make them.

"No," Hebi-sensei said but smirked, "but she has awakened her sharingan." Sarutobi's eyes fell on me and I bit my lip. Don't squirm under his glance. It's nothing. Don't move. Don't move.

"Then she will fight a genin," Sarutobi concluded. Fight!

"Challenge accepted. They will fight here tomorrow at ten."

"Yes. I will pick a genin and bring him or her to fight. I suggest you start practicing, Orochimaru. If she doesn't pass—"

"Oh, she'll pass," Hebi-sensei said giving me the look. I shivered. And like that, Sarutobi disappeared into thin air. So. Awesome! But what a weird old man. Sensei turned to me, an evil grin on his face. "It seems it is time to start training, hmm?"

"Shouldn't I like, rest before having a test?"

"No."

"But—"

"Keep talking and I'll cut off your tongue."

"B…" I bit my lip and sighed. I didn't doubt he would cut of my tongue. Ah! Scary sensei look!

"I'm going to show you how to do a substitution jutsu. Watch with your sharingan. If you don't do it perfectly the first time, I'll make you run two laps around Konoha." I was about to whine when I remember his previous warning. I like my tongue. I like my tongue. So I nodded and felt my senses become more acute. This was going to be a long day.

I was right, it was a long day. But I was happy to run into Neji on my way home. "Neji!" I called. He looked over at me and smiled. "Tsukiko!" I ran up and hugged him. I winced as he put his arms around me and brushed against very tender bruises.

"How have you been?" I asked but Neji's eyes narrowed. He let go of me and studied me.

"Tsukiko," he said warningly and I took a step backward automatically. "How have you been? Why are you hurt?"

"Hurt?" I said with a laugh. "Neji, I'm not hur—" He lifted my shirt just enough to show a large bruise on the right side of my stomach. I sighed, biting my lip and letting my hands drop to my sides.

"It's nothing, Neji…just—"

"It's not nothing, Tsukiko!" He hissed. I took another step back and my shirt fell out of his hand. I had never seen him be so scary before. I'd never been scared of Neji. "You're badly bruised! How many more are you hiding?"

"Let me finish a sentence!" I yelled back, stepping closer to him. "I may be a year younger than you but you can't order me around!"

"Tsukiko!" He yelled dangerously again.

"Fight me," I said through clenched teeth. Neji's anger wavered and took a step back, his eye brows knotting in confusion. "Fight me, damn it!" I took a step back and slid into a stance. His mouth opened slightly, the sound of a quick intake of air emanating for his lips. I was so blinded by rage. I was young, I knew. But that didn't mean I was stupid. I didn't need Fugaku looking down at me. Even when I was staring into those ghostly white, pupil-less eyes, all I could see were Fugaku's dark and disapproving ones. Neji took another step back.

"No, I won't fight you." I nearly hissed like a snake and punched blindly forward. He scooted out of the way easily.

"Why?" I asked, trying to think of something that would upset him. "Too scared without mommy and daddy to protect you?" Neji's eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened. I'd hit it right on the target.

"You did not—"

"Oh yes I did." And with that a punch went flying to my chakra core. It hit dead on and I coughed, tasting blood in my mouth. Twice as painful was an understatement. I looked up into his eyes, my vision intensifying. When our eyes met, thick veins appeared at the corners of his eyes. His white eyes intensified and I could only guess it was his clan's technique. I was too angry to care. I grabbed his hand that was still on my stomach and I swept it away, sending a right snap kick to his stomach. It hit his stomach and he grunted.

I took a step back and he came sprinting at me. A punch landed on my face and then on my shoulder. I didn't even care that my face would bruise and I wouldn't be able to hide it from my guardians. Nothing was clear then except my vision.

I formed hand signs and pushed into the ground beneath me. It began to crack and fall, swooshing around like water. Neji's feet started to sink in but he bolted upward into the trees. I followed pursuit. He went to hit me but I used my newly learned substitution technique and appeared behind him, landing a hard kick to his spine. I heard a crack and he quickly spun around, pain eminent on his face, but anger much stronger.

He punched me on the color bone and I flew back into the trunk of the tree. Then his fingers poked my arm, a spot where I had a blue dot. My right arm immediately went numb at my side. My eyes narrowed. How did he? He attacked again, this time touching further up that arm. Numbness. I felt like I had slept on my side all night. I couldn't move.

All the sudden his hand came flying at me again. I noticed that if it hit its intended target—my throat—that I would die. I couldn't die. No, I couldn't die. Time seemed to slow and I grabbed his wrist. A fuzzy version of him was suddenly meshed with the solid, real him. It moved its right hand to poke my left arm numb. I pulled his left arm behind his back, twisting his wrist at an odd angle, before his solid form even moved. Then I pressed a blue spot on his arm and it went numb. He gasped. So there we were, both with numb arms. He stepped back and I advanced. A blurry kick came flying at my face, but I ducked before the solid one got there.

This all so weird, I thought. It's almost as if I know what's he's going to do before he does it. I gasped and he landed a punch to my stomach, sending me flying off the tree and to the ground. My back it hard and I hissed out in pain. Something in my back had cracked. I looked up to see Neji in the tree. Revenge, his eyes read. I moaned and pushed myself off of the ground. His eyes no longer said "revenge" but said "you're a disgrace."

No, I'm not! I put my left hand to my right arm and suddenly felt pricks like little tiny needles poking into my arm. I crunched my fingers into a fist and then out of a fist. I could move it! I did the hand signs for katon no jutsu and—surprisingly—more than just a whisk of fire came out. No, a fire ball bigger than my kitchen appeared and rushed toward Neji. He ducked and flipped off of the tree branch. This time he came running at me.

He did many punches and I dodged most, but another flat hand rammed into my core and I coughed out blood onto him. He didn't seem to notice, though, because he went to hit me again. It hit me in the right side of my chest. I choked out a gasp, blood clogging my throat. This…this is wrong. We shouldn't be doing this. I…I'm going to die. Another hand hit my chakra core and I flew backwards into a nearby tree.

Blood was now pouring out of my mouth like a current and pouring out of my chest like a river. Neji came sprinting closer to me but stopped just in front of me, stopping himself from doing the finishing blow. It took a moment for my brain to register that I wasn't dead yet. I could've sworn…

"Oh, Kami!" Neji said as he seemed to break out of his angry trance. I didn't bother to try to say anything as I knew it would come out as a gurgle. Neji bent down to me, pulling my shirt up to inspect my chakra core. Normally I would have blushed and pushed away at the lack of privacy. He was lifting my shirt up and I was a girl, after all. Even if only seven. I didn't have anything there but I had a right. But at that moment, well let's just say that wasn't one of my worries. "I hurt your chakra core—badly!" I groaned and felt myself teeter to the side. He grabbed me before I could fall and gently put me down.

"I-I don't know what to do!" I motioned for him to roll me over and he did. I puked up the blood in my throat. I don't know how long I puked but I was sure I had puked up all the food I had eaten that month. When I was finally done puking I could talk, but it was raspy.

"It's okay…" I said, wincing at the sound of my own voice. "I would of done the same to you if I were able."

"I-I know. I'm just so sorry. You could have died!" he ranted on to himself. "I didn't even see you…I just saw…I just saw…"

"I saw Fugaku—my legal father," I told him. His eyes met mine and I noticed that his were back to normal without the weird veins. I no longer saw his fuzzy other self, so mine had obviously deactivated too.

"I saw my uncle…my uncle that is the reason for my father's death."

"Your uncle killed your dad?" I gasped, the feeling burning my throat and making me cough. Neji was crouched over me and lifted my head as I coughed so it wouldn't be as bad on my lungs. "That's just messed up."

"He didn't kill him…but if it weren't for him my father would not be dead…" he trailed off, not wishing to tell me his story.

"Will you tell me, Neji? Just this once?" Neji looked at me.

"Someone kidnapped my uncle's daughter…my cousin…and he found him and killed the man. The other people, they were upset that he had killed the man and wanted my uncle dead instead. But my uncle and dad were twins. So because my uncle was a branch member he...he was killed in his stead." So that's what it's called. Not a tree member, a branch member, I mused. At least I was close. Tree, branch. Same thing.

"What's a branch member?"

"Someone who is not born of the main house, not a first born. A…a servant to the branch family."

"But your father was his twin! Just because he was a little older…?" Neji nodded sadly."That means that I would be a branch member even if Itachi were not here."

"What is your story, Tsukiko?" he asked. "Why did you see your father?" I looked at Neji and bit my lip. If there was one thing I learned during my training with Hebi-sensei thus far it was that I should keep my mouth shut no matter what.

Better to keep your mouth shut and have people guess you are a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt.

"He…he doesn't like me," I said and sighed. "I dishonor him. He's always wanted me to be a boy. Girls aren't worth much in the Uchiha clan. The fact that I dislike killing also doesn't help. He hates me. I…I just want to prove to him that I'm not worthless. That I'm not just some little girl that he should hide away because he doesn't want to be embarrassed."

"You certainly proved him wrong tonight," Neji said and I laughed, causing a sharp pain to occur in my stomach.

"Yeah, if only he saw it," I said.

"Then show him."

"What?" I nearly yelled. Kami, I sounded like a dying cat.

"Spar with him, show him what you can do."

"No Neji, I would never…I mean that's crazy…it's just—"

"Why not?" I looked up to meet his eyes.

"I'm scared," I admitted. Just like how I was afraid of snakes. I was afraid of Fugaku. "I'm frightened by him. Fighting you was easy—well not easy, but you know what I mean—because I'm close to you. You're like a brother to me." Much more so than Sasuke most of the time, though I would never say that.

"Then fight your fear," he said and paused. "How about a deal? A game of sorts. You work on fighting your fear and I'll work on fighting mine, okay?"

"You have a fear?" I gasped and he laughed.

"Yeah…I'm afraid of showing my curse mark."

"Curse mark?"

"A mark that proves that I'm a branch member…and main members can hurt me with. I'm afraid of letting people see. That's why I cover it." He showed it to me, unwrapping the bandages. It glowed a dull green and my mouth opened wide.

"It…it looks beautiful," I breathed out. I reached my hand up to touch it and Neji didn't move. I brushed my hands against his forehead, then traced the curves with my finger tips. "It's like you're an angel." His face scrunched.

"I'm not sure if I like being compared to an angel," he said and I laughed.

"Probably not, though you do have the long hair!" I said and laughed again, ignoring the pain in my stomach and chest.

"Tsukiko," he groaned.

"And the big porcelain eyes!"

"Tsukiko."

"And full lips!"

"Tsu—" I had put my fingers to my lips and then pressed them to his. It was sort of a first kiss. I couldn't get up and kiss him in the lips but it was the closest thing I could do.

"There, I just had my first kiss," I said and giggled contently.

"Th-that…"

"It'll have to count because I can't move," I explained. But then he leaned down and touched his lips to mine.

"There, now you have a real first kiss." I brought my hand to my lips.

"Hmm, I suppose."

"You suppose?" he laughed.

"Do you have a change of clothes and bandages? I doubt my guardians and brother would appreciate me coming home like this."

"Sure," he said and carefully helped me up. "Sorry again, by the way."

"Nah, it's okay. Oh, and Neji," I said and we paused in our odd walk. "Would you like to be adopted into my family?"

"Your family?" I nodded.

"Itachi is the mommy and daddy, and Sasuke is the brother. You can be the other brother." Neji smiled.

"Really?"

"Of course!"

"I…I would like that, Tsukiko."

"Good, because you'll have to like it a lot to put up with Sasuke. He's a bit of a downer sometimes." We laughed and went on our way. It was mostly a good night. I had tried to kill Neji, but had gained my second stage of sharingan. I learned how to unblock a chakra point. Neji and I had our first kiss and it was together! He was now my brother, a part of my family! The next day I would find out I couldn't use any ninjutsu or genjutsu, or even my sharingan due to the injury. But at the time all that mattered was me and Neji…and my family. My real family.