Truth: Even the mighty must fall.

Team 9 headed for the arena where the Hokage's funeral was being held. It was in the shade of the monument to past Hokage's, a picture of Sarutobi resting atop an altar. All of the shinobi of Konoha stood in their black mourning clothes, many bearing bandages or casts from the fight. Even the Academy students were there, standing in amongst jonin, genin, and chunin.

When the rain began to fall, no one was surprised. There was no way it could be sunny today. There just… wasn't.

"We are gathered here today to remember not only the Third Hokage, but all those who sacrificed themselves in this battle, so that our village would survive."

Many of the kunoichi were covering their eyes, trying to hide their tears. Some of them just stood there and cried silently, proudly showing their sadness and daring anyone to judge them for their tears today.

People came forwards, laying white flowers on the altar. First the Hokage's friends and relatives, of which there were few, then the jonin, the chunin, and finally the genin. Riko, Sachiko, and Misei waited patiently in line, clutching the flowers and waiting for their chance to pay their respects, all lost in memories of the Hokage.

Unlike some other Kages, who only feigned interest in their people, or those who didn't even do that much, the Third Hokage loved every single one of the people in Konoha. He spoke with them all, didn't sniff and raise his chin when he passed them in the street and they bowed. He would stop and ask how their son or daughter was doing, if your neighbor so-and-so was doing better, and had you heard the latest new about the baker's daughter and the weapons salesmen's son getting engaged?

Kiyomi vividly remembered the day she'd been sitting in the park on a swing, crying softly to herself, clay staining her hands. She'd glared at it hatefully, trying to pry it away.

"Are you alright?" the Hokage had asked.

"Daddy wants me to be a potter, but I don't want to!" she exclaimed angrily, waving her clay-covered hands for the old man to see. "I don't like it!"

"And what do you want to do?"

Little Kiyomi had paused, blinking owlishly. "No one… ever asked that before. I think…" She'd smiled. "I wanna be a shinobi! I wanna defend my village!"

"Then I think you should do that. It's your life. You're the one who must live it, not your father."

The Hokage had been the first one to believe in her.

Miyako remembered the day she'd first discovered her ability with the technique of manipulating the blood inside a person's body. It was something all Hasekura's learned when they were young, just like the basics of healing. But she'd excelled at this while she failed dismally at healing. She'd been sitting outside the compound crying, only for the Hokage to come and sit down beside her.

"What's wrong?" he'd asked sympathetically, gesturing to the blue, sunny sky. "Surely it's too nice of a day to be so sad."

"I'm a monster!" Miyako had sobbed in fear. "I can make people do what I want them too… with their blood! But I can't fix them! Why can't I fix them?" she'd moaned, horrified at herself.

"Everyone had things they excel at," the Hokage had explained kindly. "Just because it's easier for you to manipulate than it is to heal doesn't mean you can't. You'll just have to work harder."

"So… I'm not a monster?" she'd sniffed hopefully.

"No. Just a young girl."

Sayuri remembered the many days she'd spent on the training grounds after long days at the Academy, pushing herself hard to keep up with everyone else. She cursed and strained her way through a particularly difficult maneuver before collapsing on the ground in a sweaty mess, still unable to do it.

"You look like you need a drink," the Hokage had said, stepping from the trees with a bottle of water in hand. How long he'd been there she'd never known. She'd taken the water gratefully, with a polite murmur of 'thank you.'

"Careful," the Hokage had warned as she chugged it eagerly. "You'll make yourself sick. I've seen you out here every day. You work yourself so hard. Why is that?"

"I want to do what he could not," she'd found herself saying, with no idea of why she was telling the old man the real reason.

"Who?"

"My only friend. He died before he got to live. He would have been a great shinobi. I'm going to do this for him, but he was so strong. He would have gotten this by now," she snapped in frustration.

"Don't deify him," the Hokage had warned. "The most dangerous thing we can do is put an ordinary person up on a pedestal. Then we have no hope of being on their level no matter how much we fight and claw. It's not healthy."

The truth was that even the mighty must fall.

The rain slackened as the funeral broke up, and the mood lightened slightly as people left. The reminder of the pall on the day hung everywhere though. Businesses were closed and everyone in the village was garbed in traditional black clothes, mourning for their fallen leader and the regular shinobi who had lost their lives defending the village from Suna and Oto.

The process of rebuilding the village began almost immediately. There was no time to waste. Shinobi were being pulled off of active duty to help the reconstruction. They needed to get their defenses back up, and fast, before another enemy like the ever-ominous Kumogakure decided to take advantage of their weakness. Funding was a major problem. Chunin and jonin were being sent out on one high-paying mission after another to try and keep up with the cost of rebuilding and show that Konoha was still functioning while the genin were kept in the village to do the heavy lifting.

Sayuri, Miyako, and Kiyomi were no exception. They were working on a roof in the blazing hot sun, slamming nails home into the wooden slats viciously. They'd all stripped down the bare essentials. They'd been on roof duty for the past two days and knew well how hot it got. They were wearing sports bras, sandals, and shorts, and were still sweating.

"That's the last of it," Sayuri said with a grunt as she passed Miyako the last of the boards. She'd quickly been taken off of hammering duty. She usually functioned very well despite her blindness, but for some reason hammering seemed beyond her. She couldn't seem to line up the hammer quite right and kept smashing her fingers and cursing. Finally she'd been reduced to simply handing Sayuri and Miyako boards and nails.

"Are you making a wood run?" called one of the genin from across the street. He and a girl from his team were painting in the shade. The three girls watched enviously.

"Yes," Sayuri admitted.

"Could you bring us back some more blue paint?" the girl called.

"Sure," Sayuri nodded.

"I'll come with you then," Miyako offered. She looked around at the handy work. There was only a small section left. "Kiyomi, Sayuri and I can finish this little bit up. Why don't you go help at that house over there?" she suggested, pointing to a house down the road a bit where a lone figure was pounding in nails.

"Okay," Kiyomi nodded, standing up with a grunt as her back protested. They'd been bent over for the better part of two hours.

The group separated, Miyako and Sayuri towards the storehouse where all the building supplies were being held, and Kiyomi towards the other roof. Kiyomi winced when she landed and saw the red and white fan on the back of the mysterious worker's shirt.

"You want some help?" she offered, fully expecting him to tell her to go take a long walk off a short pier. Sasuke looked up at her, dark eyes boring into her. His hair was even messier than usual, sweat spiking it in odd places. His pale face was slightly red from the heat.

"Start over there," Sasuke said, nodding to the other side of the roof where the board had yet to be laid. "We'll work towards the middle."

Kiyomi was mildly surprised he was allowing her to help, but she supposed that he knew she wasn't going to jump him or something. She took her place on the opposite side of the roof and started hammering.

"Saaaasukeeee!" called a saccharine voice. Kiyomi looked up in time to see Sasuke wince. He glanced at her and Kiyomi ducked her head, but not fast enough to conceal her smirk as Sakura bounded up to the roof, holding a package of nails in her hands. Sakura gave Kiyomi a withering look for daring to be so close to her Sasuke. "I brought the nails you wanted," she said, bending down unnecessarily close to him and thrusting them at him. "See?"

Kiyomi rolled her eyes. Okay, she wasn't going to lie and say Sasuke wasn't attractive. He was. Very. But that didn't mean that everyone needed to lose their heads over him. Sakura was one of the smartest genin in the village, yet here she was, acting like a brainless little civilian going goo-goo over a man in uniform.

"Here you go, Sasuke," Sakura said, handing him a nail. He pounded it in and extended his hand silently for another one. "Here you go Sasuke." He hammered it in and reached for another one. "Here you go Sasuke. Here you go Sasuke. Here you go Sasuke."

Kiyomi glanced up, seeing the growing tick mark above Sasuke's eye. Sakura prattled on obliviously.

"Here you go Sasuke. Here you go Sasuke. Here you go Sasuke. "

Kiyomi finished with her first few boards and by then she was close to snapping. So was Sasuke. He was pounding in nails with unnecessarily vicious swings and she had a feeling he was picturing the nail heads adorned with pink hair.

Kiyomi rose to get another few boards from the pile beside Sasuke. She paused behind Sakura and raised her hands, fingers curled into claws, smiling manically. Sasuke glanced up at her, smirking slightly as he saw her towering behind the oblivious Sakura, hands outstretched as if to strangle her. Sakura saw the look and whirled around to find Kiyomi piling wood into her arms.

"What were you doing?" Sakura asked suspiciously.

"Getting more wood," Kiyomi replied, eyes wide and innocent. Sakura narrowed her eyes as she turned back to Sasuke, whose hand was outstretched impatiently for another nail.

"Oh, sorry. Here you go Sasuke!" she said happily, handing him another one.

"Sakura, can you go get me a bottle of water?" Sasuke asked.

"Sure Sasuke!" Sakura said happily, standing up and bounding off the roof. Sasuke detected something flying towards him. He reached up and caught a water bottle. He looked between it and Kiyomi suspiciously.

"Thirsty, weren't you?" Kiyomi asked, grinning slightly. She blinked innocently. "Or were you just trying to get rid of Sakura? That would be so mean," she pouted, voice just as saccharine as Sakura's had been. Sasuke restrained a shudder as he took a few cool gulps, closing the bottle and tossing it back to her.

"Thanks," he grunted before returning to his work. The bottle came flying back at him and he caught it, now looking at her in irritation.

"I've got another, you can keep that," Kiyomi offered, holding up yet another water bottle. Sasuke grunted in response but didn't pass the bottle back. To be honest, he was pretty hot and the water was nice. For a moment, they were peacefully pounding nails. Kiyomi took it upon herself to break the silence, smiling mischievously.

"You know, it's considered pretty stupid wear black in the sun," Kiyomi pointed out casually.

"What's your point?" Sasuke replied, eyes narrowed at her. She shrugged.

"Take your shirt off?" she suggested. Sasuke glared and she snorted. "Relax Uchiha, I'm not going to molest you or anything. I'm just trying to save you from heat stroke." Sasuke sent her a skeptical look. In response, she placed a hand over her heart and raised her other in the air. "I, Kiyomi Arita, promise to restrain myself from molesting Sasuke Uchiha, no matter how sexy he may be," she said, wrinkling her nose.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at her. It wasn't bad advice, and if any girl wasn't going to lose her mind, it was Kiyomi. There were times he thought she'd already lost it, but at least, she'd probably be just as snarky as always.

"I reserve the right to swoon dramatically though," Kiyomi added, and he scoffed, actively restraining a small sound of amusement. Kiyomi may be member of that irritating subclass of human known as females, but at least she was entertaining. Sasuke stripped off his shirt and tossed it aside casually, sending her a pointed look, watching for any signs of untoward behavior. Kiyomi placed the back of her hand to her forehead and pretended to swoon, laughing as she did so.

"Sasuke! Sasuke, I got-!" Sakura jumped up onto the roof. She promptly dropped the bottle of water and toppled off the roof, scrambling away to stop her sudden nosebleed and gossip with the nearest cluster of interested girls.

"Well that takes care of her for a while," Kiyomi snorted, shaking her head as she pounded a nail home.

"Kiyomi Arita! Are you up there?" demanded a man's voice. Sasuke raised his head in surprise at the angry tone of voice. His eyes flicked to Kiyomi to find her wincing. She crawled over to the edge of the roof to peer down. Sasuke leaned slightly to see the man. He wore the same symbol on his clothes as Kiyomi did, but his hair was more silver than white. He looked enough like her to probably be her father.

"What do you want, dad?" Kiyomi huffed.

"You were told to stay home and help in the shop today!" the man shouted up to her angrily. "Do you think you can just disobey your parents and get away with it?"

"I was ordered to come work on the repairs," Kiyomi shrugged carelessly.

"Oh, and that just trumps anything I say, does it?"

Kiyomi looked the man dead in the eyes and replied calmly, "Yes."

The man turned purple with rage. "You are grounded!" he shouted at her. "You will do nothing but help in the shop for the next week, or until you learn some respect for your parents!"

"I respect mom just fine," Kiyomi replied, narrowing her eyes. "It's just you I don't listen to. I'm a shinobi. Orders from the village trump anything you tell me. I've told you before, I'm done helping you in the shop. I. Am. A Shinobi," she announced proudly. "So you can take your pottery and leap off a cliff for all I care!"

"Our deal is over!" the man yelled at her, drawing a few eyes over to the scene. "In exchange for real effort and some respect I allowed you to become a shinobi, but you didn't become a chunin and you sure as hell aren't any more respectful."

"I'm not going to quit being what I am because you're desperate for me to help you make vases!" Kiyomi roared back. She grabbed a handful of nails and hurled them like senbon. Her father shouted in surprise and leapt out of the way, fleeing as Kiyomi threw more nails.

"I hate him," Kiyomi snarled as she slunk back from the edge of the roof, returning to the board she was just working on, swinging her hammer viciously as rage boiled away in side of him. There was a time when she was younger, when some love still remained in her heart. He was her father, after all. That was gone now, and she could find nothing but loathing inside of her. Making a scene like that, embarrassing her in front of the village?

She was so sick of him talking down to her. Maybe this most recent lesson would teach him, show him that she was no longer under his control. If fear was what it took to keep him off her back, fine, she didn't care. She'd tear someone apart in front of him if it meant he'd quit trying to punish her and rule her life. He thought he knew what was best for her and could just dictate her every movement to her.

Kiyomi realized that there was no other hammer sounding along with her own. She looked up and saw Sasuke looking at her with raised eyebrows.

"I'm guessing you want an explanation," Kiyomi grunted, sitting back on her heels and wiping her sweaty forehead on one arm.

"Considering you just attacked your own father, yeah," Sasuke said, narrowing his eyes at her. There was something in his eyes, something more than just curiosity. He looked angry, oddly angry. She knew his brother had killed the rest of his family, and she supposed she had made quite the impression of the next little Itachi Uchiha.

"I'm the first Arita ever to become a shinobi," Kiyomi explained with a sigh. "We've always been potters. Always have been, and if my dad has his way, always will be. That would have been fine, except for the fact that I'm my parent's only child at home. My aunt and uncle can't have kids and my mom's too old now. The family business will end with me and my dad can't handle the idea that it was his kid that ended centuries of tradition. He's been trying to force me to help out since I was five, hoping I'd enjoy it and want to keep it going. Small problem with that is that I hate it. I got him to make a deal. If I could become a successful shinobi in five years, I was free. If not, I came back to the kiln and didn't complain again."

"You can't just quit," Sasuke realized. "You serve the village."

"Yep," she smirked. "By the time those five years were up, I was free to do what I want, and I'd have already sworn myself to the service of Konoha. The minute I graduated and became a genin, I was home free," she grinned.

"My dad's a bit dumb when he's angry. He made that deal without knowing the facts in the heat of an argument. I tricked him into making it. He found out that I can't quit and he's been so pissed that I fooled him he's been screaming at me to come back ever since graduation, telling me to do better or I'll bring shame to the family." She clenched her hands into fists. "He can't understand why I didn't make chunin this time, no matter how many times I, and even my mom, tell him plenty of people don't make chunin their first go around. I mean, you didn't, and you're the biggest badass this village has ever seen," she smirked wider and shook her head. "So that's my pitiful little back story. My dad and I hate each other and he yells at me in public purely to embarrass me, big freaking whoop. You can go on about your day now." Kiyomi turned back to her hammering.

It wasn't just her father though. It was Sayuri as well. Kiyomi had always been freaked out by her and her weird bone kekkei genkai, even when they were Academy. She thought when they got put on the team she'd get over it, and for a while, once she got to know Sayuri, it seemed like that was true. Sayuri was nice, and she was pretty subdued. The problem was, she was powerful.

No matter how hard Kiyomi tried, she could never best Sayuri in anything. Taijustu had always been her thing, and she was proud of it. Then Sayuri came along with her kekkei genkai and kicked her butt. Kiyomi had been so sure she'd be better at ninjutsu then, surely. But no, Sayuri always got things faster and with better results. When they learned Summoning, Sayuri had bested her, calling out strong summons before Kiyomi herself could more than a bear cub or baby alligator. Even Ayano! Kiyomi had hoped her whole like to meet the legendary kunoichi, and when she learned Ayano was her teacher, she was overjoyed. But Sayuri already knew and was friends with her.

And then Sayuri had the audacity to try and tell her what she was doing wrong. She knew that Sayuri was supposedly trying to help her, but every time she was 'helping' Kiyomi only heard disdain and sneered tips. Sayuri looked down on her, she was sure, and everyone was oh, so proud of the poor blind girl with a rough past who made something of herself.

Even her father liked Sayuri better his own daughter! He was always comparing her to Sayuri, asking why she couldn't do such-and-such he'd heard about Sayuri doing, had she beaten Sayuri yet, could she do something Sayuri couldn't, why couldn't she be more like that Sayuri girl?

There were times when she could put aside her growing dislike for Sayuri; when they were on a mission or training, when Miyako was there. Sayuri was handy in a fight, there was no denying it. But then Sayuri or her father would say or do something and bring that dislike up stronger than ever, adding fuel to the fire.

Kiyomi realized once again that she was the only one hammering. She glanced up at Sasuke, who was watching her with the strangest expression on his face. "What?" she snapped irritably, knocking a strand of white hair out of her face. "You want to listen to me angst a little more? I didn't think you'd give a crap," she scoffed.

"You're an angry little thing, aren't you?" Sasuke said, smirking slightly.

He'd watched her from the minute she started working again. She'd been taking her anger out on the roof. He recognized many things flutter across her face that he saw on his own on occasion, and that was surprising. Pure rage, hatred, hurt, and above all, the desire for revenge. It came across plain as day in her eyes and he was surprised he'd never heard anyone mention something about this before. Kiyomi was always described as happy. Were the people of Konoha really blind enough to miss this?

Maybe she wasn't just a pretty face, as he'd thought. Maybe there was actually something interesting to her.

Kiyomi looked him dead in the eye and narrowed her own in response. "Hark who's talking, Uchiha." She stood up and threw down her hammer. "The really sad part is, if my sister Aika hadn't run off to god knows where, I wouldn't have this problem right now. She knew what this meant to me, but she still ran," Kiyomi lowered her eyes, betrayal lingering in her eyes. She shook her head, the hard expression returning.

"Screw this, I'm out of here." With that, she leapt over the side of the building, out of his sight.

Sasuke turned back to his work on the roof, chuckling slightly. Maybe Kiyomi really was more interesting than the other girls here in Konoha.

Kiyomi pressed her back against a building not far away, panting. Her teeth were gritted and her eyes were shut, tears leaking down. It had been a while since she'd lost control like this, everything welling up at once and consuming her. Father… Sayuri… Aika…

She couldn't fathom why she told Sasuke about Aika. She hadn't even told the rest of her team about Aika, her older sister. She remembered Aika when they were children, the kindest woman you'd ever met. Aika sitting at the potter's wheel, spinning calmly in the light from the window, silver hair glinting. Aika climbing the cherry tree in the backyard and lounging on that branch just too high for Kiyomi to reach, encouraging her try harder. Aika sitting on the back porch, singing softly as she toyed with the flowers from the garden, weaving them into crowns.

It was Aika who taught her how to sing, how to mold the clay, how to climb to trees and weave flower crowns. All things she hadn't done since Aika left years ago, all except singing. She couldn't quite give that up, the last connection to the beloved sister who left her to her hated fate.

Oddly enough, it was Aika who first taught Kiyomi about shinobi, although she wasn't one. She could manipulate her chakra at basic level, enough for a few weak tricks, and could throw a decent punch and kick. Kiyomi never knew where she learned, and never cared to know. All she knew was that this was the one thing she was better at than the perfect sister her parents had doted on. At the time, Kiyomi hadn't minded; she'd doted on Aika too. Now, every moment Aika was favored over her stung like a senbon to heart.

Kiyomi remembered the morning they all woke up and Aika was simply gone. No note, no warning, no nothing. Just a room with an empty closet and a bed that hadn't been slept in. No hint of where she'd been gone or if she'd ever be back. She knew very well this was why her father was so keen to tie her to family business and for her to not be a shinobi. That she wouldn't leave and never come back, or worse, be reduced to nothing but a name on a KIA stone.

She couldn't care though. His emotional hang-ups were not her problem. They were just obstacles she needed to overcome to follow her dream, to be the best at something her sister couldn't even come close to touching her in. That was why she was so desperate to be the best.