The idea came to Hitomi as she was explaining mathematics concepts to Naruto. It really wasn't her strongest subject, and she had a hard time finding the correct words to explain the steps to solve the exercise Iruka had given them. She would have liked to have Shino on hand: he absolutely loved maths and was patient enough to explain again and again to the blonde boy until he got it right.
Her thoughts drifted to other students from her class and their specialty. Hinata knew all the subtleties of the Land of Fire's traditions. Shino was the master of all fauna and flora, and really good at mathematics. Shikamaru was the king of strategy, and Ino never missed a hidden code in any situation. Before graduating, they would all have to master all those subjects, and not only their specialty.
The study group emerged from a conversation during the lunch break. As always, Hitomi, Hinata, Naruto and Shino sat on the roots of their tree but, for once, Shikamaru, Ino and Chōji were there too. Usually, they ate lunch away from the rest of the group and they came back together in class – they were all sitting in the last row now.
"You should include Sakura in that group," Ino said. "She's very smart and she works a lot, even if she doesn't have a preferred subject. She's good at everything theoretical."
Hitomi nodded, a smile on her lips. She hadn't forgotten that Sakura would become Tsunade's apprentice one day – and if it didn't happen exactly like in the canon, she'd force the events in another way. She would have her place in the world, Hitomi would make sure of it. "I'd like Sasuke and Kiba too, but I don't see them agreeing to work with a group. Too proud, the both of them."
"Yeah but Sasuke is so cool," Ino sighed.
That made Hinata and Hitomi exchange an amused look. Ino wasn't a fangirl – she had dignity, she was clan-born, a heiress, after all – but she clearly had a little crush on the Uchiha boy, like a lot of girls from their class. And the other classes. And the other years. Still, it was funny to see them chase him. They didn't have the slightest chance with him, now or ever.
"We could also get a head start on the program, maybe even free some time to learn things that don't even come up at the Academy."
"Like the katas you show me when we're at your place?" Naruto asked.
"Exactly. Ensui-shishou taught me things we're supposed to learn during the next few years. Are you in?"
The other exchanged glances before Shikamaru answered. "More work? What a drag… But I guess we have to do it if we want to be the best of our year." This line released the slight tension in the group. Even Hinata laughed, a quiet, light sound muffled by her hand. She was, without a doubt, the most emotionally fragile person in their group and, since no one could do anything about her family being assholes, it had become a habit for Hitomi and Ino to invite her to spend the weekend at their place.
Hitomi stiffened when her communication notebook turned cold against her thighs, where she had put it so she could eat. She never allowed herself to stop paying attention to it, hiding it as best she could during tests so she would still know when a new message arrived from Sunagakure. Her friends, whom she had explained the situation to, helped her in that complicated undertaking.
Ensui had arrived at Sunagakure and found Temari, who had led him to the place where she and Kankurō were hiding Gaara. Since then, the man taught them, just like he had done with Hitomi. He was more than able to cover the Academy program for the youngest, and to teach new tricks to his older siblings. The siblings had started taking missions again but visited as often as possible, be it to bring provisions or simply keep Gaara and Ensui company.
Shikaku had let out a loud sigh when he learned that his newly found right-hand man was to spend four – or more likely six – years in the Sunajin Desert, since no other solution could be found. Then Gaara would become a Genin and would be able to fend for himself. Hitomi had felt a bit of selfish sadness but had quickly buried the feeling far beneath the surface of her mind. Gaara was safe. It was exactly what she had wanted. She'd miss Ensui, but she could cope with his absence.
And it wasn't like she couldn't talk to him: he sent her a message every night, after the one Gaara always sent her. She didn't even feel that lonely, not with all the friends surrounding her. The boy had a far more urgent need than her for friends and adults. She could share, even if she wanted to see her mentor.
A few days later, she went to the first kunoichi class. It wasn't exactly mandatory, but only a small part of all female students could graduate without following those lessons. Hitomi didn't think it was very fair: she lost two hours twice per week, while the boys were free to go cloud watching – Shikamaru – or train even more – Naruto.
Fortunately, she wasn't alone. Ino and Sakura were there too, but not Hinata, who probably had access to far better tutors at home. Hitomi hadn't found a way to approach the Haruno girl yet about the study group but a perfect occasion presented itself while Ino was explaining how to choose the best flowers to go with her lily. The blonde girl elbowed her lightly to make her look up and nodded to another part of the Academy's garden, where Aimi and her goons were surrounding Sakura. That couldn't be a nice chat. Leaving her bouquet behind, Hitomi stood up and went to them, Ino on her heels.
"What do you know about beauty, Aimi?" she drawled, as cold and cruel as she could be. "Leave more intelligent people alone and work on your own skills, if you even have some, you'll make everyone happy."
The girl couldn't stand the fact that Hitomi had taken first place in the girls' ranking and always tried to start arguments with her. Usually, one mean comment was enough to make her lose her barely existing wits, and the young Nara exploited that time to get away. But this time Aimi reacted, balling her hands into fists and taking an opening fighting stance. Hitomi adapted immediately, falling in a defensive position between Sakura and the girl.
However, Aimi didn't have time to attack before Ino moved, throwing flowers in the other girls' mouths, not only Aimi's. As her friend explained about the poisonous properties of the flowers in question, Hitomi focused on Sakura. "Are you okay?" she asked gently. "I'm so sorry about Aimi, she's insufferable. She can't stand it when someone is better than her, and you definitely are better than her in class. She's just a pathetic bully who prefers pulling people down rather than fighting to the top."
And just like that, it was settled. Sakura joined her meetings in the courtyard, and the study group supervised by Kurenai, two hours a day after school and four hours on Saturdays and Sundays. Often, those sessions continued until dinner, especially when Hitomi tried to explain notions that were a bit too complicated to her friends. Slowly but surely, their little group progressed, each of them receiving Iruka's compliments regularly – except for Shikamaru, perfectly satisfied with feigning mediocrity. Even Naruto had his fair share of encouragement from the teacher, which made him incredibly proud.
One of Sakura's hidden talents was calligraphy. Her parents, rich kimono merchants who had left the Land of Tea to settle in Konoha a few years before having children, had taken care of teaching her all about it when they saw she had a talent for it. As Hitomi studied a treatise about storage seals borrowed from the Hokage Tower's Library – it was only available for Chūnin and up, but, eh, it wasn't her fault if they couldn't protect their documents – her pink-haired friend looked over her shoulder to see what she was working on. "Oh, those are complicated strokes. You can do that?"
"Not quite yet," Hitomi sighed. "The seals I created until now are mostly transfer seals, the strokes are easier. Ensui-shishou told me he was gonna help me learn those ones, but since he's in Sunagakure now…"
"D'you wanna try with me? In exchange, you could tell me how all this fūinjutsu thing works in general."
Hitomi thought about it for a second then nodded. Fūinjutsu was a disappearing art, despite its usefulness and potential. The girl understood she couldn't give the precious knowledge to just about anyone but, even in Konoha, the village known for the Seal Masters it had brought into the world, the people able to do more than copying store-bought seals were rare.
That afternoon, after class, the two girls went to the Haruno household. Sakura had to pick up some of her calligraphy books to guide her friend through complicated exercises. As she went to fetch them, Hitomi talked about the Academy with her parents, describing the teachers and lessons. Apparently, communication was complicated in the family: the adults didn't understand why, of all possible careers, their precious little girl had decided to become a kunoichi.
A bit later, they walked back to the Academy but had to stop in the middle of an alley, far away from the busy streets. A man, mid-twenties perhaps, his brown hair cut short, stood firmly in their way, his big arms crossed over his muscular chest. Everything, from his posture to his stare, darkly satisfied, screamed trouble to Hitomi. This was a trap. She was certain of it when, turning her head to the left just far enough to see, she spotted the silhouette of another man in her peripheral vision. "Sakura," she warned in a low voice.
The girl hummed in understanding then pressed her back against Hitomi's, covering the angle she couldn't see. Ensui had taught her how to react to an ambush of that sort and to hell if she wasn't going to fight back. She fell in a defensive position, one of her hands finding the kunai strapped to her forearm, inside her sleeve. Her master had shown her how to hide a weapon on her body at all times. Her lips pressed into a thin line, her red eyes analysing the situation. Sakura had just started on katas a week ago and couldn't send chakra in her muscles. She was a civilian, for now.
And herself… She was good, yes, for a student, around the strength and skills expected of a Genin. She had a weapon and could fight. She stared at the man in front of her; she had chakra to enhance her skills, but she had never beaten an adult, let alone two of them. They were just civilians, but even then… Her focus came back to the threat as the man in front of her pulled out a knife.
"You're gonna come with us like nice little girls, the both of you. If your parents are clever, we ain't gonna do nothing to you."
Hitomi answered by stepping toward him, all her muscles buzzing with chakra, then hit his knee with a side kick. Behind, she heard Sakura getting to work too. Her own opponent groaned and fell to his knees, swearing through clenched teeth. She didn't allow him to react before punching him in the temple. If she had been stronger, she would have stunned him or even knocked him out cold, but he just groaned again and retaliated. With his knife.
Hitomi yelped in pain when the blade drove in her right thigh. For a dreadful second, she froze, then she overcame the shock and, strengthening her hand with all the chakra she could muster, she backhanded him so hard he fell backward, his head hitting the ground hard enough that he didn't get up again. She hadn't even used her kunai. Stupid.
When Hitomi turned to Sakura, her eyes went wide with horror: the other man had a knife too and was slowly getting the upper hand over her friend, whose arms were covered in bleeding slashes. Hitomi hurled herself in that direction but her brain screamed she didn't have time, she'd be too late, her lips opened on an anguished sob as the knife initiated its descent toward Sakura's chest. Her chakra went from her hand to her legs so fast it was visible for a second, enhancing her muscles. Still not enough.
And then he was there, his hand stopping the knife easily. His eyes turned from Uchiha black to Sharingan red. Hitomi froze again, shocked to the core, when she understood who, exactly, had saved her friend. She recognised the necklace around his neck, the stress lines on his face that would slowly spread under his eyes, year after year, until he was consumed.
And disappeared.
Except if she could prevent it.
Before she could react, he moved, speed and elegance embedded in a deadly, sharpened body. His other hand hit the thug's throat and, as he fell to the ground choking, Itachi disarmed him, knocking him out with a fast hit to the head. Then he went to check if Hitomi's opponent was unconscious too, his arm brushing against hers for a second.
He only relaxed then, his tall silhouette losing a bit of presence as the Sharingan dissolved in the black of his eyes. Using it against two civilian thugs was probably overkill, but Hitomi had heard that the Uchiha activated it on reflex when they were angry. He studied the girls with a long, inquisitive stare, his eyes stopping on each of their wounds. "Come here." His voice was unbelievably soft and made a shiver run down Hitomi's spine as she obeyed, limping hard. Sakura looked terribly shaken, pupils contracted to little dots in her green eyes and tremors running through her body.
"I'm going to make sure those two are taken to the police station to be interrogated, then take you both to the hospital. Everything is going to be okay, now. You've been so brave, the both of you." His tone was calm, quiet, comforting. He was obviously used to talking to children – one in particular. Her lips a thin line, Hitomi watched as he used a kunai to nick his index and summoned a raven, ordering him to fetch the policeman patrolling a few streets from there.
Adrenaline was dissipating in Hitomi's body, its disappearance awakening all the small and large aches of the fight. The worst was, without a doubt, the one burning her leg, where she had been stabbed. She felt blood running down her skin from thigh to ankle, a sickening sensation. Her dizziness became stronger with each passing second, especially when she started going through chakra exhaustion. Her muscles ached, her hand throbbed. She had probably broken a few bones there by hitting the man so hard.
"Easy," Itachi whispered as he caught her before she fell on the ground. "I'm sorry I didn't step in faster."
Hitomi's eyes met the young boy's. They were still sharp despite the strain the Sharingan had put on him – she could feel his chakra levels, after all. Quick maths made her realise he was just twelve years old. In a few months, he would kill his entire clan, because no one could stop that chain of events. Hitomi was only seven. There was nothing she could do, not without revealing her deepest secret to the world, and she couldn't do that. Not even for him.
"Thank you for stepping in at all, Uchiha-san," she mumbled. "You saved Sakura."
He gently shook his head, a smile on his lips, and signed Sakura to come closer so he could examine her wounds. "It was my duty. Here's the patrol. Just hang in there for a few more minutes and you'll be at the hospital, okay?"
Hitomi hummed in approval and closed her eyes, all her aches fading in a blissful wave of darkness.