Disclaimer: The characters are Masashi Kishimoto's property, I own the OCs.

Characters age:

Akane: 6 (39)

Itachi: 6 (22)

Shisui: 9

Naruto / Sasuke: around 1

Kakashi: 14

"You're teaching her Fuinjutsu?" Minato-san repeated, his bowl of rice in his hands. Kushina-san just grinned, puffing her chest.

"Looks like someone finally realized I was the Master here and you are only a student!" She crossed her arms and nodded to herself. "Yup, just a student dattebane!" Minato-san looked down at me, who was eating quietly.

"Are you sure Akane? I mean…" I raised a brow at him, but Kushina-san answered before I could.

"You mean what, Minato?"

"She's more available than you are." Minato-san twitched at that. "And when you're here, you should focus on Naru, or sleeping."

"I…I mean, sure but…I can make time to teach you Fuinjutsu too."

"Kushina-san suggested to teach me and I said 'yes' already." I furrowed my brows. "She is good, right?"

"Of course she is!" he stated immediately. I could feel Kushina-san's dark aura behind me. "She's awesome. It's just…I'm the Hokage and…"

"So it means you're better than me dattebane?"

"I didn't say that Kushina, just…I thought I'd teach her the Hiraishin at some point." I stopped my chopsticks in front of my opened mouth and Kushina-san leaned on the back of my chair.

"Really?" He nodded sheepishly.

"And by teaching Akane Fuinjutsu, I could…direct her in the right direction…"

"Oh plea…"

"You really want to teach it to me?" I interrupted Kushina-san. Minato-san smiled faintly and nodded.

"Of course. You have a promising future in Fuinjutsu, you could expand it in ways I haven't thought of yet." I ate the rice between my chopsticks.

"Was it before or after you asked Kakashi to question me about my life?" He widened his eyes, and I knew Kushina-san did the same.

"He sold us out, didn't he?" I shrugged.

"I don't think he wants to be a messenger." The Yondaime sighed.

"I am sorry Akane, I know we should have…talked to you immediately but…"

"I'm sorry." They looked at me. "I'm sorry if I'm not easy to live with." Kushina-san pushed her chair and knelt next to me, turning me toward her.

"It's okay Akane, take your time." She hugged me. I just stood there before patting her on the back awkwardly.

Talking with Minato-san just now had been the most we had talked in a long time. I had not actively sought physically contact with any of them since Mom died. It was weird…but didn't feel bad.

"Can you…just explain to us why you have suddenly started to call us by our names?" I tilted my head on my shoulder.

"You're not my aunt and my uncle." Kushina-san pulled me back, the expression on her face obviously one of hurt. "You're a cousin and Minato-san is your husband." Now only her hands were on my shoulders.

"Sure but…"

"I am grateful for taking me in, but we're not closely related or anything." I stood up and put my used utensils in the sink. "Thanks for the meal." I went to my room and closed the door behind me.

I didn't want to be mean, nor rude but…Oji-chan and Aunty died years ago and they…they were not them. If they were…then when Mom died he…

Minato-san would have come to comfort me, right? If I really was close family, he would have followed me before Kakashi could.

I sighed, reading through a scroll he had made for me not long ago here about Fuinjutsu. Maybe I was resenting him a little for that. Maybe I resented him for…not being my Oji-chan when I needed him. I understood though, I guess. He had almost lost his wife and newborn so…staying with them was normal.

I guess.

My first lesson with Kushina-san happened a few days later, during the weekend. It was always interesting to have another take on Fuinjutsu. The issue was…I knew everything she was saying.

I was older than both her and Minato-san after all. The Yondaime could kick my butt any day, Kushina-san too if she were to use Kurama, but as a Seal Master, I had more experience than them. And I also had more knowledge regarding…how the world came to be.

I'd go with old Sasuke sometimes to decipher things from the Otsutsuki Clan. It was close to old fuin, that I had to learn about a long time ago.

"It's…very good Akane." I looked up at her, then my seal. It was a simple Explosive Seal. She took it and inspected it with a frown. "It's not even a neutral one, you've made it so it worked with your chakra only." In my defense, I had learned how to make neutral Explosive Seal, like those you'd buy in weapon shops, after a personalized one.

Some stuff from my parents and grandmother, the Uzumaki side on my dad's side, had remained Kiri's property. Once I had learned to do that, I started to look for a way to put them on gloves and push the explosion forward instead of the seal just blowing up.

I could make Explosive Seals with my hands and feet. It was a big part of my fighting style in the Bloody Mist. It was graphic too. I could make Storage Seals out of my hands and feet too.

I could no longer do that though. I couldn't really use my Explosive Gloves either because my chakra level and control did not match the one I had as a chuunin yet. At first I was annoyed, before remembering that despite being taken to Kiri at eleven, Mom had never stopped training me in chakra control and Fuinjutsu. My body was lacking six years of chakra control training and it sucked, but I knew exactly how to make it better and how it felt when it was getting better.

"Come." I followed her outside and she put the explosive tag on a rock before taking a few steps back. "Go on." I made the tiger seal and the tag blew up, blowing up the rock as well, sending pebbles everywhere. I caught one going to my face easily, which Kushina-san noticed.

"What?" She shook her head.

"Nothing."

Even if I did my best to act life a kid…I wasn't going to pretend I remembered what I could and couldn't do when I was six, and what I was supposed to know how to do after three months at the Academy.

I knew I had slipped a few times, so I tried to think about it the less possible. In Kiri, I was specialized in infiltration for goodness's sake, pretending to be someone else to gather information was something I had done, although not much because I left at thirteen, but still, it was disappointing.

Mei-sensei would be disappointed.

"At least we're going to have fun during your Summer vacations!" I gasped and put my hand on my mouth. "What is it?"

"I forgot to give you a paper for school!" I ran back inside and climbed to my room. I rummaged through my bad and pulled the crumbled paper from it. Kushina-san was at the doorway and read the paper when I gave it to her.

"A camping trip after the vacations?" I nodded. "Do you want to do it?" I nodded again. "Alright, give me a pen."

The next day, when we gave the papers back to the teacher, he cleared his throat.

"Alright, you guys will be with Class A for the coming trip. I have not discussed what happens once you are genin yet, but you are put in teams of three under the commands of a jounin-sensei. As it is the first year, you will be able to choose your partners in all freshmen with whom you'll work during the trip."

"My brother didn't have that!" a kid from the Yamanaka clan said.

"It is normal. This is something the Hokage has established for this year. He hopes this will improve your teamwork with whoever you are paired with for once you are a genin." Huh, good thinking Minato-san.

The ninja Academy was a joke. Their curriculum was too much theory.

"As first years, you can choose your teams. Next year as well, but it will be in winter. Then it will be a lucky draw."

"Did you know about this?" Kou asked me quietly. He didn't care about me being the Hokage's goddaughter and didn't try to use me to get things.

A few had tried to approach me to get things but…well, let's say I had gotten myself the nickname of 'Ice Queen', which was quite ironic as I lived with the Red-Hot-Blooded Habanero.

There was no way in hell people would use me to reach Minato-san.

Although, I couldn't help but chuckle sometimes. I had been the Fourth Mizukage's apprentice and people hated me for it and the favoritism I received, even if Yagura was all too happy to beat me up even when I couldn't fight anymore. Now I was the Fourth Hokage's protegee and people were sucking up to me, or at least trying to, to reach him.

"We don't talk about his job." Since we had talked last time, he seemed to be happy to…not ignore me but…

He looked sad when I was around before. Maybe I had been harsh after all, saying I didn't view him as my uncle but…it was true. Even if he saw me as the kid he had known since she was two.

When the bell rang for lunch, Kou and I went to the rooftop, as always. We filled in our papers for the team, leaving the last spot blank.

"Do you think he'll want to be with us?" the Hyuuga asked me, opening his bento.

"Who knows?"

"I do." I blinked and looked up, like Kou. Itachi was on the roof of the room the stairs were in and he jumped down to our level. "Please."

"Are you sweating?" Itachi sighed and sat down.

"Let me guess, the moment the teacher said we'd choose our teams, your popularity caused your downfall," I said idly, a small smirk at the corner of my lips. Itachi glared weakly at me.

"It's not funny."

"I'm just surprised you're not deaf," Kou commented. I chuckled and, very maturely, Itachi threw the rice between his chopsticks at me.

"Dude!" He looked away, eating as if he had not done anything. Kou was living for those kinds of exchanges though.

Itachi was too comfortable with me. He should respect his elders. Even normally, I was six weeks older than he was.

"Is there a team leader or something?" I asked the boys.

"Not on the paper, but there usually are in genin teams," Itachi informed me.

"Itachi-kun!" I blinked at the girl voice. A girl opened the door, looked around and smiled when she saw Itachi was indeed here. She had a beauty mark below her right eye, long brown hair and her purple shirt had a high collar.

Uchiha then. I didn't even need to see the crest on their back or the Sharingan. The collars were enough. They were dumb, and ugly.

"Oh, sorry to…interrupt…" she trailed off, noticing me. I nodded at her as a form of greeting and kept eating. "Itachi-kun, do you have a team?"

"Yes. Sorry Izumi." Izumi blinked and smiled, clearly disappointed.

"It's okay." She looked at both Kou and I, taken back by Kou's eyes, and walked up to us. "My name is Uchiha Izumi, nice to meet you!" She bowed; her hands clasped in front of her.

"Hyuuga Kou."

"Uzumaki Akane." She twitched at that.

"Like Uzumaki Kushina?" I nodded without thinking and she knelt next to me. "So, you're the Ice Queen people whisper about!" I sweat dropped.

"Ice Queen?" Itachi repeated, confused.

"Ice Queen," Kou confirmed. "It started in our class; I thought it stayed in it."

"Oh no, Kanade-chan told Miyu-chan, who told Saya-chan who told Kimi-chan who told me!" I had no idea who these people were. "So, how is she?"

"Who?"

"Kushina-sama! I'm growing my hair long to be like her! How is she in real life?" I was taken back.

"Izumi, you're overwhelming her." She blinked and glanced at Itachi, then at me and she realized how I was trying to put distance between us.

"Oh sorry!" She stayed with us for the entire lunch. I wasn't…necessarily pleased by it. Like I had said, I liked my peace and quiet and Izumi talked a lot.

The thing was, Itachi did not seem pleased either, even embarrassed when she would call him 'Itachi-kun'.

Weird. She was his cousin, right? Even with…the obvious, creepy crush but…oh wait, it was normal to marry among your clan in most places. Never mind then.

When I was eating ramen at Ichiraku with Shisui later, he nodded.

"Izumi does have a crush on Itachi and it is creepy to marry within your clan," he said, putting his bowl down. "I was raised being told I'd marry a cousin one day, and it's weird. I mean, the girl can't take my last name if we have the same already, right?" I slurped my noodles.

"Sure."

"Heh, are you jealous that there is another girl in Itachi's life?" I deadpanned at him.

"Do you know how many fans he has at school? I don't want one of them to hang out with us at lunch."

"Does he have that many?" I nodded and he leaned his cheek in his palm. "I never had fans at school."

"Tough luck buddy."

"Does it mean the Hyuuga boy has a crush on you?"

"Kou? No, I don't think so. When he says he wants to beat me, I can hear the sincerity of his words." He laughed.

"You guys seem to be having fun, I'm almost jealous! And you even have a camping trip, I didn't have that."

"Three days of pure fun," I droned.

"Come on, show some enthusiasm."

"I'm at my best right now." He got his second bowl and quickly ate it.

"Is it better at home?" I twirled my noodles.

"It's going. Not better or worse."

"Do you really want to move out when you're a genin?" I nodded. He sighed. "Alright, I'll go get this information for you. If my mom hears I'm looking at apartments though, she'll kill me, and I'll blame you entirely."

"Deal." We shook hands. "Teuchi-san! Put this on Uzumaki Kushina's tab!" I grabbed Shisui's hand and ran off.

"No money?"

"No money!" I replied with a grin as I could hear Teuchi complaining Kushina-san was coming a lot less now.

The summer was quiet. Akane had come once with Kushina-san and Naruto to visit them. She had been looking all around her, asking his mother if there was another room behind the one they were in. She was shocked at the size of their house. Itachi had always thought it was too big for four people anyway. Sure, they could have their space easily, but a lot of it was empty or just with a few pieces of furniture in them when they were never used.

It had been weird to see her there, just like it was weird so see her with his mom or interacting with his brother. After so many playdates with Naruto and Sasuke, his brother ended up squealing when he'd see both Uzumakis, crawling so that Akane would pick him up. She would always do, grinning at him.

They would grow up to be close. Not just Sasuke and Akane, but the four of them, which made it even harder to picture another possible coup. His mother and Kushina-san were friends, to think one would betray the other…it made him sick.

He had not been noticed as a prodigy yet, he was just top of his classes. He was not sure if he wanted to graduate in a year this time. If he did not, would Tenma die as well by Madara's hand though? Or would Shinko be alright? If he could, he wanted to prevent Tenma from dying but…

The thought of Akane being on missions was terrifying. He knew she had potential and could fight back, but anything could go wrong on a mission, she could have a moment of weakness, have bad teammates…It was selfish of him, but he wanted to be on her team to protect her if needed.

Not that he would tell her that. The few times he admitted that his insistence on training with her before was to be sure she would be safe on her own ended up in her accusing him to think she was a damsel in distress. She was not.

He still found her almost dead bleeding out in her bathroom though.

A part of him wanted to keep her sheltered and safe in Konoha, but the other was curious about how far she could go. Fuinjutsu was interesting and powerful if used right, and she had the potential to awaken an Ice Release. Knowing her, he wouldn't be surprised if she were to mix the two.

"Is it weird?" she asked him suddenly as Naruto and Sasuke were playing with toys.

"What?"

"Your cousin crushing on you." He blinked.

"Izumi?" She nodded.

"I talked about it with Shisui. Even him is creeped out by the marriage thing in clans." Itachi sighed.

If there was one thing he had been…kind of happy to avoid, was the topic of marriage and marital obligations as the heir. Unless things changed, if he was not married by twenty-five, in times of peace, he would be thrown in an arranged marriage to have an heir.

The Uchihas loved deeply, very deeply, but were not what he would call romantic.

"I'm sure she will grow out of it."

"Who knows, maybe she's your future wife." He shook his head.

"I don't think so." He shot her a quick look. "Would you marry another Uzumaki?"

"I never had to think about it." Naruto crawled on her. She gazed at him for a few seconds then had a disgusted face. "Gross. He's like my baby brother but I guess blood-wise, he's distant enough to…Eurk!" He chuckled.

The end of the vacations arrived and the first day of their camping trip arrived. It was an unexpected change, but not unwelcomed. Not that he thought he would get things out of this trip, but it was good to put kids in more real situations from a young age.

Itachi finished his bag in the early morning, his mother checking it one last time before adding another bandage roll. He said goodbye to Sasuke and his parents, and he was off. The heat had cooled down in the early September, which from what his father had said, would predict a cold winter. It felt better than the heat of the summer. He wasn't sweating and sticky, his child body defeated by the hot temperature.

There were already teachers and a few kids when he arrived. He spotted Kou and hesitated to join him. They never were alone without Akane, even if he had nothing against the Hyuuga. He never had interacted with him before and wouldn't have if it was not for his friendship with Akane.

He enjoyed keeping her feet on the ground and it was funny to see. He respected Kou, and he liked to think Kou respected him back. They greeted each other, the other kids surprised to see them with each other. The Hyuuga and Uchiha clans were known for their rivalry after all.

"Big mood you two." They looked at Akane, her bag on her shoulders. She was wearing the same thing as usual, blue sandals, black pants, and a dark green tank top. She had her hair in a high ponytail though. "What, am I the cement in this friendship or something?" She put a dramatic hand on Kou's shoulder. "I knew you couldn't live without m…"

"If you fall in a ravine, I will pretend I haven't seen anything," Kou cut her off, making him smirk behind his collar. Akane slowly put her hand away.

"Mean." She glared weakly at him. "Even meaner." He shook his head at their antics.

Having friends in the Academy was making it easier to go through it.

They left for the forest on the outskirts of Konoha.

"Alright kids! For three days, you will be left in teams of three in a thirty-kilometer radius!" his sensei explained to them. "The other teachers and I will make sure you don't leave the perimeter. You are all going to be given enough rations to last three days, but we recommend you hunt for your own food, and emergency distress flare if you can't go on, a map and a compass. You're going to have a list of clues for things you have to pick up during these three days. The team who has the most of them will have a prize."

There were cheers when he mentioned a prize. Once they had everything, the teachers let them go. Kou was staring at the list of clues.

"Looks like you can use your Byakugan Kou," Akane stated.

"Nobody wants to train me to use it before I'm seven," he muttered under his breath.

"Just don't use it for nothing, I'm not dragging you behind if you are out of chakra."

"I will push you down a cliff." Akane stuck her tongue at him.

Being on a team with them wouldn't be bad.

The clues were easy, and the map was made easier for kids. They were all connected to the Hokages.

"Told you," Akane told Kou when they were around the campfire. The boy was laying down, a wet cloth on his eyes.

"I don't want to hear you!"

"You're talking to the tree trunk I'm sitting on." He was busy skinning and cutting the rabbit he had caught. Once this was done, they were cooking over the campfire. "I brought instant ramen in case."

"Where?"

"In a scroll Kou. I overpacked. If it snows out of sudden, I got you guys covered."

"It's September," Itachi pointed out with a raised brow. She looked at him dead in the eyes.

"Always expect the unexpected. I wanted to bring my bed, but Minato-san said it was not the goal of the trip." Kou laughed at that, and he smiled.

"I can picture you on missions later on just unsealing your bed at night!" She shrugged.

"I like my comfort."

"Are you going to bring toilets too?" he asked her with a teasing smile.

"Don't try me Uchiha."

The whole thing was easy. He used his time to try to talk to Akane more and tease her. Teasing her had been one of his best and only hobbies before, he loved getting reactions out of her and it would not change here, lovers or friends.

"Oh piss off Itachi!" she yelled to him as he made fun of her missing the bird with her kunai. They needed a feather. She yanked the map from his hand and stomped away.

"Where are you going?" he asked her with a frown.

"I'm dirty, I'm going to the river to try to wash off!" She disappeared in a bush.

They didn't move for fifteen minutes until Itachi stood up.

"You like Akane." He looked at Kou with a blank look.

"What?"

"You like her. You tease her, you smile, you look at her a lot. You have a big crush on her." The Hyuuga pointed at his eyes. "My eyes see all." He turned around and left as a response. "I'll take that as a 'yes'."

"Don't move until we're back." Kou just sent him a taunting smirk.

He found Akane easily but stayed hidden. She was standing still on the river, her eyes closed. She took a deep breath and stepped forward, the water freezing beneath her foot. She did the same with the other, and again, the ice melting when her foot would leave. Then she made a pillar of ice in front of her and punched it, blowing it up. Itachi frowned when he saw the palm of her gloves, that she did not have before, glowing red before fading back to black.

"That's one thing finally back to normal," she told herself, her fists on her hips. "Stupid child body and adult skills…"

"I knew it," he said without thinking. Akane immediately melted her ice and looked at him with wide, alarmed eyes.

"I…Itachi? What…what are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you, you took time and…" He moved forward, trying to approach her but she kept moving to keep the distance between them. "Akane, it's okay."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't say anything."

"Calm down."

"You calm down!"

"The Edo Tensei in the Fourth Shinobi War." She stopped moving, her eyes now as wide as saucers. "You're willing to listen to me now."

"That's…no, no, no…" She shook her head, her hands on her ears. "I'm not listening, it's not happening, it can't…" Itachi went to her and tried to pry her hands off her ears, but she shook her head and ultimately fell on her butt, making him fall too. He finally removed her hands.

"Akane it's me." She closed her eyes.

"No, no it can't be…you can't know that, no…"

"I undid it with Sasuke," he continued in a whisper. "I broke out of his control with Shisui's eye, I helped Naruto and Killer B fight off Nagato, it's…"

"You're dead," she croaked out, tears at the corners of her eyes and along her lashes. "You've been dead for…years, it can't be…"

He had hoped that whatever had happened to her, it had happened when she was much older than him, hopefully as an old woman who had lived long. But to hear her say he had been dead for years to her broke his heart. In his mind, when he got here, he had seen her a month prior. Yet, she had just said it had been years to her.

If anything, he was a ghost, but so were most people in Konoha.

"Akane please, look at me," he whispered gently to him. He closed his hands around hers and slowly, she opened her eyes. He smiled gently and wiped away the tears about to fall. "I don't…know how, or why it happened but…I woke up around the time you were supposed to leave after a bad fever." She looked in his eyes, unsure of what she was seeing. Slowly, she reached her fingers to his pulse. She gulped when she felt it beating. "Did your hair turn white like I asked of you?"

"It really is you," she mumbled before a hiccup. "I…Itachi, it really is…"

"Hi," he whispered before sniffing. Without having to spy on the Akatsuki, constantly having to hide his emotions, and being in a child's body, his emotions were bubbling in him.

He was good at keeping them under control when he was a child, yet now…

She put her hands on his cheeks and her forehead against his. He took a deep breath, regretting they were children and not the adults they actually were.

"Itachi…" she whispered against him. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out of it.

He was too much caught in the moment he failed to see Akane's face going from confusion to anger. He was thrown on the ground a second later, his hands on his bloody nose as she was standing, her right fist shaking in anger. Her whole body was shaking in anger.

"Akane?" he called her in a muffled voice. She shot him a tearful glare before running away. "Akane don't…" He put his nose back in place, wiped it and ran after her.

She was quick, he would give her that. He caught up to her, at least in the distance.

"Akane stop running!" Seeing him must have had disturbed her a lot, which was understandable. She didn't see the broken branch and put her foot on it, the branch breaking and Akane meeting the ground before he could catch her. He hurried to her side and turned her head. "Akane, can you hear me?" Her brows moved, so she was alive.

Itachi looked at her body, looking for a wound. Seeing her right ankle being weird, he touched it and got a wince in response. Her ankle was broken from the fall.

Kou used the flare the second he saw Akane unconscious in his arms.

Thanks for reading. I hope you have liked it, please do let me know in reviews! Thanks to Amaterasu53 for their review!

Bye!