7

In two days, she had lost both of her brothers. One was dead. The other told her to stay away so he could save his clan and the village all the while protecting her. In a matter of weeks, Itachi killed the Uchiha, sparing the life of his little brother, Sasuke. She had known from the previous conversations she had with Shisui and Itachi, along with Shisui's own decision to use his Mangekyo on the clan. Even Shisui's last words to Itachi that has continually been set on repeat daily for her to relive. That bloodshed was inevitable. To save the village and prevent another shinobi world war, Itachi had to kill his family. Her heart broke for her big brother. She knew the pain he had to of endured and the agony he was still in. All to avoid uncontrolled bloodshed.

The boy who had been wide-eyed and smiling in class next to her was gone for days. When he returned his eyes were consumed by pain and grief. She wanted to talk to him to let him know he is not alone. But she really did not know much about the actual Uchiha. The only ones she knew and loved were gone. One fled the village labeled a criminal and one was dead himself. Sasuke himself knew her as Tala Yuhi. If she were to come out and say she is an Uchiha too he would require proof and she could give it to him. But the pain filling him right now, she knew there would be no talking to him. The day after Shisui died she could barely get herself to speak to Itachi and then afterward... she has yet to say a word. Not even to her friend Naruto who was growing ever more worried about her with each passing day. She had begun to wonder if this is what her brother felt like when she had died. She wondered if the pain and guilt would ever subside. She wondered if she would be any different right now if Itachi was with her to share her pain, to ease her mind. She could not focus on anything around her and was barely able to complete her upcoming tests.

Tala was steadily withdrawing into herself to where no one could reach her. Tala still ate lunch with Naruto and leaned against the tree as he played on the swing during recreational time. She ran next to him on the track, but she would not utter a word and barely even looked at him anymore. After school, she would go to the training spot as she has for the last four years to train on her own. Itachi had tasked her with carrying out their wills. She could not let her skills become dull. She knew she had to be a ninja. She had to push herself further than where they had left off. She had to become as strong as she can be. She had to give it her all and protect this village.

With newfound determination weaving its way through her mind, heart, and soul. She put herself back at the top of her class. Pushed herself after school to continue her training. She would ignite her Sharingan and track birds. Keep her Sharingan activated while physically training to build her stamina. She used the cliffs a short way from the Uchiha compound to build her strength. Every day she continued. Focusing solely on one goal. To be stronger than she was the day before. Strength, power, and knowledge. These are the three things ninja need most. So, on her way home, she stopped at the library to check out books. To continue learning rather than stalemating her mental growth from staying in the academy. Before bed, she would meditate to exercise her chakra control and focus.

By the time she was nine, she finally began to talk again. Allowing an all too willing Naruto to do most of it but she was finding points in time to put in a few words here and there. The fact she was at the top of the class continually annoyed a silently brooding male Uchiha, that for some reason continued to get the same assigned seat every year. The one next to her. With age came new responsibilities. She was given chores at home, her father assessing her skills to make sure she was continuing her training since she had stopped training with him years prior. She managed to hold back a bit in her spars with him so that he would not get a true grasp of her strength. She feared he would have her promoted to genin if he did. She began balancing her newfound responsibilities on top of her training and her reading, her meditation, and school.

Passing notes to Naruto periodically throughout class without being noticed quickly became a new form of training after she had been caught a few times. Naruto on the other hand was caught every single time. Putting Iruka Sensei on guard during class. She could not complain, he made it more of a challenge to hone her skill. During battle strategy training, she made it so she was always on Naruto's team. Helping him get through the class with a passing grade. Pulling his weight along with hers until he began to grasp her strategies. Even then she had to cover his screw-ups. Naruto is her friend, her only friend. She likes him for his faults along with his strengths. His main strength, being his never-ending determination. His unwavering will. Yes, he is a scaredy-cat, jumping at every little sound. He is an idiot, failing more tests than he passes, and he is noisy even when he should be quiet. He is a complete klutz, tripping over his own feet. But that only added to make him who he is. Her best friend.

She knew that she drives him crazy. Every day at lunch he would try to watch her eat but she had learned to eat quickly, so each time his eyes moved to his own food or towards the other students she would take a bite. She kept herself at a part of the academy grounds where she could hide from the other students. From everyone except Naruto's ever-watching gaze. Every time he would ask if he could see what she looks like under her mask she would either redirect his train of thought or flat out tell him no. Only two people in the village had ever gotten to know what she really looked like. One who had only seen her for a brief time when she had first been brought into the village and the other has not seen her since she was five and a half months old. Her adopted parents always respected her wish for her mask so during meals usually, they kept their eyes away from her. So she could eat without fighting to hide. Even her sister still has yet to lay eyes on her.

He would often ask her to meet up with him after school and she would turn him down every time. Explaining to him that she has chores, and her father was training her to further her sword skills. Each time it would make him sad, but he tried to understand that she had responsibilities. What she never told him was she always went out training on her own afterward. A part of her began to wish that she could find someone to train with again. To spar against them without holding back so she could see if she is actually becoming stronger, but she could not. To do so would be for her to search out actual ninja and evaluate their skills before inviting them to join her training. No, she was stuck alone.

During her last year in the academy, she did actually reach out to Naruto, to help him grow rather than herself. He was in the same year as her and he still has problems with the most basic of skills they have been honing since their first year. One of them being the transformation Jutsu. Tala could not understand why he was so good at turning himself into a naked girl, but he could not make himself look like anyone else. That logic had her baffled. He excelled in stamina even if he is far from the fastest kid she has met. Which that title goes to Sasuke who is still behind her in speed, but it was someone other than herself to go on.

With it being their last year Tala noticed a change in the curriculum. The girls had since finished kunoichi training which is why they started other classes like battle simulation. No, the change she noticed others seen too but they could not get themselves to look deeper into it. Increasingly when the students had to be split into teams, they were being placed on the same one more often than not. A lot of kids complained or would openly hope that when they graduate, they will be rid of the students they were being forced to pair up with. Seating was also following this same structure. In one row there was Sasuke in his usual outside seat, then Tala, then Naruto, then on the inside seat was Sakura. Periodically Iruka Sensei would switch up the seating and place different students together, but it was mostly like this. Tala always knew who she would be paired with for group activities due to the day's seating arrangements. She has known it since she noticed the pattern which did not take her long.

Just as in one-on-one combat training she was always pitted against Sasuke Uchiha. Which at first seemed odd to her. Every year before this one the girls were always set against other girls and vice versa with the boys. In fact, most of the class was still like that except for her and Sasuke. Every time they stood to face each other Naruto would constantly shout. Cheering her on from the sidelines. Which to Tala, it was nice. No one in their class except for Naruto likes her. The girls were jealous of her, constantly throwing attitude her way, and she funnily annoyed them further because she would not react to their childish ploys. Funny enough when Sasuke would try to rile himself up to fight her. She would not utter a single word back to him. Which really ruffled his feathers.

One day, Iruka left the classroom. More like stormed out of the classroom, leaving everyone in their seats waiting for him to return. Tala began drawing in her notebook boredly, even as the entire class slowly began talking amongst themselves. Some of the boys going so far as to sit on their desks with their legs hanging over the back of them, so that they could talk more closely with their friends. The only reason this bothered Tala, was the simple fact the one next to her was popular. So, the boys were surrounding their desk to talk to him. Or more like around him, he never said much other than snide comments meant to sound more playful than what they actually were. She was forced to listen to a multitude of conversations. Some are mildly more interesting than others. The interesting ones were from some of the guys. The girls as usual were talking about Sasuke, their hair, different conditioners, and perfumes. Calories and diets. Just a lot of nonsense that does not actually require brain cells to keep up with.

When Iruka Sensei walks back into the room the students make mad dashes for their seats again. A few of them are stunned as they watch the teacher drag Naruto into the classroom tied from his shoulders to his hips in rope. Tala found herself sighing as she sets her pencil on the desk and leans back in her seat to watch the scene unfold before her. She knew it had to be because graduation was coming up. Usually, their teacher would not go so far as to track him down, tie him up, then drag him into the classroom. "Naruto! You failed the graduation test last time and the time before that! Tomorrow you've got another chance and you're messing up again!" He yells down at the blond with his hands on his hips. Seething with both anger and disappointment.

"Hn!" Naruto made his annoyed I'm better than your lecture sound as he closes his eyes and jerks his head away from the teacher. "Fine! Since you missed it, Naruto! Everyone will review the transformation Jutsu!" Iruka Sensei yells as he points down at Naruto. Anger is more than apparent in his entire form as his body becomes stiff and his gaze hardens matching his tone. "Awe!" The class sound in unison causing Tala to sigh. Getting up she walks down the steps to the bottom floor of the classroom to take her place in line as Iruka Sensei unties Naruto, before guiding him to the front of the line. Closing her eyes, she ignores the usual scene when it comes to this Jutsu.

Naruto has gotten a little better with his transformation, but he always seems to surprise Iruka Sensei with his sexy Jutsu first. Probably because with this Jutsu the teacher always scolds Naruto beforehand which sets off the kid's temper. When it finally came to her turn Tala steps up in front of Iruka Sensei and slips her hands into the pockets of her shorts. Working her chakra through the simple Jutsu she sighs. A puff of white smoke appears around her blocking the teacher momentarily from her view. When it clears, she stood eye level with him and waited for him to jot the results down on his clipboard. "Turned into me, good." He speaks up quietly, so she releases her chakra successfully ending the Jutsu before returning to her seat.

When she sets down, she found her head tilting. The drawing she was making of the cliffside, just on the other side of the trees of the Uchiha compound where she has been training, had a message scribbled in the corner of it. Sighing she shakes her head and closes her notebook. It was the first time Sasuke has tried to reach out to her and she was not sure what she should do. If she listens to the message, she knew he would either ask her questions or want to fight her. Probably both. She also knew that she has waited almost five full years to give him his answers. The longer she waits the worse his reaction is going to be. Deciding on what to do since she does not feel like going out of her way to meet him where he wrote, she gets up after the last bell and sets her drawing in front of him. "I'll be there after I'm done at home." She utters quietly just before kids begin to congregate around him again, especially girls.

With graduation around the corner after she was done with her chores, she addressed her mother. Told her that the graduation exam was tomorrow and suggested to her that she probably will not be home after school so she could celebrate with her friends. She had even discussed how she was looking at becoming a genin. So, she wanted to make certain that if she were busy and did not get her chores done that it would be all right. She had agreed with a smile as if she had been waiting for this talk. Tala nodded her head and before she left, she requested her mom to inform her father that she will be missing her training with him again. Tonight, she had a friend to meet up with to review last-minute information from the teacher. With that, she left. Tala knew that if they really had any idea about her, they would know that she had just lied to them. But with the smile, her mother had given her and her sister's practically relieved expression, she knew they did not catch on.

She made her way quickly to her training area to find Sasuke already setting upon one of the small boulders staring at the trees with a faraway look to his gaze. "So, which one's stronger?" She questions as she slips her hands into her pockets and closes the distance between them. His eyes widen a moment, showing Tala that was the memory he had just been thinking about. So, she was not surprised when his eyes narrow upon her. "How would you know that? It's not like you were there." He snaps at her, his teeth clenching as she reaches up and curls her hand around the hilt of her tanto ready to defend herself if necessary. "I was there. You just did not notice me. I was standing behind one of them at first then when Shisui pulled you in and crouched down I went to the cliff and hid." Tala speaks quietly and found her eyes moving past the cliff's edge toward the waterfalls. "Liar. You're lying!" He snaps as he stands his hands curling into fists, when he turns to fully face her. Ready to attack until he noticed the look in her dark eyes. As if she were about to cry from her own thoughts. "I don't need you to believe me." She speaks quietly as she slowly moves her gaze back to him. "I've kept a good chunk of my life a secret from everyone until now. I don't have to tell you anything." She sighs dropping her hand from her tanto and letting her arm hang at her side. "Continue holding your tone with me and I'll walk away right now."

"Let's say I believe you, that you were here with them that day. Why?" He questions with his voice more than laced with his anger and hatred for one of the ones he just spoke about. Tala pockets her hand and slowly walks towards the edge of the cliff. Stopping when her toes were less than an inch from the side. "To explain that in a way you can understand, I would have to go to the beginning." She finally speaks watching the waters as she hears him step up behind her. "I was four years old and had taken to my own training at night so I could push myself further than my father was doing in the mornings. I had just begun learning Kenjutsu a few months prior. Apparently, my excursions had been noticed by ninja passing over Sarutobi land. So, I had a visitor stop by my training area from his curiosity."

"You expect me to believe your father had you training when you were four?" She shakes her head. "Actually, he had me training before that, but that is neither here nor there." She shrugs silently. "The one who had come to satisfy his curiosity had talked to me when I noticed him. That was the first night I had ever met, Itachi Uchiha." She pauses after saying his name listening to the hesitation of his breathing before the low growl of anger that came from him. His fists tighten until his knuckles turn white. "He would come by every night he wasn't out on a mission with his genin team. We would talk and we would train. He was assessing my skills from the beginning. After weeks of this, he brought a friend with him so that he could watch and ascertain my skills from a distance. He asked me again why I train, and I answered him truthfully. After which he stopped fighting and his friend came out of the trees. Shisui explained his opinions of my fighting and what he could see in my heart. He then offered that I could join them in their training."

Tala stops talking as she closes her eyes remembering the times, she had spent with them. Both pain and happiness mix together inside of her. She turns around to look upon Sasuke whose eyes were now downcast to the ground. Confusion fills his gaze as he tries to understand what she is telling him. "From four years old until a few months into our first year of the academy I spent every day with one or the other. Sometimes both if they were not on missions at the same time. So yes, I was here when you came looking for Itachi to tell him dinner was done, just so you had an excuse to be with your older brother."

"Why? What reason could they have to train you? You aren't even a.." Sasuke speaks quietly his voice filled with venom as his eyes raise and narrow upon Tala. "Uchiha?" She finishes his sentence for him, a small smile wrinkling her mask.

"They saw my potential and the fact I was never just some ordinary wide-eyed innocent child. They didn't feel the need to protect me from the path I had chosen in order to preserve my innocence as they did with you." She then steps forward and stops right next to him to the point her shoulder brushes against his. "To be honest with you, I never understood why they wouldn't train with you too or why they would keep my relationship with them a secret. At least until I saw you that day. The way you spoke, and your actions were completely different than at the academy. You were not trying to hold yourself above everyone else around you, so you let your persona slip. You were full of innocence and energy. The way you acted was actually rather cute." She closes her eyes as he looks at her from the corner of his.

"You were everything I never was. I could have revealed myself at any time that day, but I had found, that I too wanted to preserve the innocence brimming your every action. So, I waited in my hiding place until Shisui came to me and told me I should too go home for dinner." With that, she walks away from him back towards the village. In her opinion, she told him enough for now. His mind is already reeling with the amount she laid on his shoulders.

"Was everything in the academy a lie?" Sasuke growls out quietly watching her receding back. "No, this is the lie." He decides as he thinks back to that night five years ago. His brother admitted he only killed the Uchiha to test his own strength and spared him because he was too weak. If someone like HIM had spent that much time training someone, that person would have been the first to die, just like Shisui.

(For some reason it keeps removing my spacer *~*)

"To pass you need to create at least three successful replications." Iruka Sensei informs Tala from his place at the table next to Mizuki Sensei, sets of forehead protectors already lined up between them. Only three huh? At least he gave her a number. She can figure that everyone in the class, maybe except for Naruto. Was able to do three replicas. Sasuke on the other hand would show off a bit hoping to get the top score. Knowing his way of thinking the moment Iruka Sensei told him three clones he probably weighed the probabilities of students managing four and decided a safe number would have been five clones. Raising her hands needlessly into the hand sign for the clone Jutsu she closes her eyes. Tugging on her chakra and forming it into the amount she wished to see ever before allowing the Jutsu to finish.

Hearing the popping sounds next to her she opens her eyes with a raise of her brow and, counts her clones if only to make sure she has kept up on her chakra control. Six clones were standing at her sides. Good, she thought before canceling her Jutsu and slipping her hands into her pockets. "Well done, as expected Tala. You may take a headband, congratulations you are officially a genin." Iruka Sensei smiles as she gives him a nod. Stepping up to the table she looks at the blue headbands and gives them a tilt of her head. "Got any black or white?" She questions causing the teachers to laugh. "Told you Iruka." Mizuki smirks looking at his colleague from the corner of his eye. "Pay up after this."

Iruka sighs and looks down. "I know, I know. You won." He almost pouts as he reaches down to a box beside his chair and digs out two headbands. When he holds them up Tala tilts her head looking at them. So, they knew she would not want a blue one so they made a bet that she would ask for a different color. The fact they brought both a black one and a white one she could already figure there is another part of the bet. Which one will she choose? Thinking about the color schemes of her genin outfit along with her raven black hair and onyx eyes she could not help but sigh and take the white one. "Hah! balance negated!" Iruka Sensei suddenly shouts as he laughs while Mizuki Sensei bows his head with a groan. "Orientation is one week from today at ten." Iruka Sensei informs Tala once he calms down. She then gives him a nod and pockets her headband before leaving the room.