Naruto: Heavy Metal Chronicles

by UltimateSmolBrain

What would you do if you knew the future? That is a question Meiko struggles with everyday. By some strange twist of fate she had been reincarnated into the universe of Naruto. Possessing memories of her past life and thus, the future of her new world, she holds the power to completely upend the entire world. For even the smallest ripples can create the greatest waves.

17. Chapter 17: Special Delivery

Author's Note: Hey guys! First off, HOLY CRAP! Almost 100 favs and over 100 follows!? You guys seriously rock!

I really appreciate your patience with me, I know there is a long time between these updates and I'm sorry for that.

Finally, I'm planning to start moving things along. After the next couple chapters or so I'll start doing some time skips so we can get through the academy in a (halfway decent) amount of time.

---

Chapter 17

Morning, as it was often wont, came all too soon. Ushered in by the sweet song of my alarm clock screaming into my ear. With an annoyed groan, I slapped the stupid thing silent before rolling back over and shoving my face deep into the pillow. My body throbbed with the dull pain of stiff muscles. Even with the improved healing from chakra reinforcement, it would be at least another day before I could say I was back in shape. For now though, this pillow felt unnaturally comfortable and I soon drifted back off to sleep...

...Only to once again be awoken by the screams of that stupid clock! What made it worse was the fact that it felt like I had only closed my eyes again. With another groan I slapped the clock silent once more and forced myself to sit up. Yawning, I stretched my arms and back, joints cracking one after another. Ensuring the clock was silenced properly this time, I slowly slid out of bed and made my way to the bathroom to start my morning routine.

A hot shower later and I was much more aware of the world around me. My muscles thanked me too, the hot water doing wonders to help loosen them up. It was still quite early in the morning, Mom had yet to waken. Since the training had ended she no longer awoke at the crack of dawn with me, but I had not been able to shake that habit.

Back in my room, I put together my outfit for the day. T-shirt and shorts combo, can't go wrong. Instinctively, I then moved over to the weight rack and reached for the training weights that should have been there. "Oh, right." I said quietly to myself, my eyes tracking over to my desk where a rolled up scroll sat. Walking over, I picked up the small roll of paper and once more admired the weight. No more than a pound at most and yet somehow it managed to contain four extremely heavy training weights. Fuuinjutsu really was amazing and was something I was looking forward to learning one day.

With a sigh, I placed the scroll back on the desk. Recalling the promise I made to the academy nurse yesterday that I would take things easy for a bit. In other words, no training weights for the next couple days, not until my body was completely healed. Rubbing my forearm where the weight should be sitting, it just felt so naked. Like the feeling you get when you're not wearing a shirt. It felt like something should be there.

"Its just for another day or so. No big deal..." I tried to convince myself but at the same time it felt like I would be losing more than twice that in progress. I had to work so much harder than others who had real talent that taking these days to rest would only greatly hinder my progress. Yet I had little choice. "Darn it." I cursed then sighed, "It'll be okay. I already have some ideas to adjust the training schedule. Hopefully that'll make up for this delay."

There was some things I could still do though, starting with those weights in fact. Picking up the scroll again, I placed it on the floor and carefully unrolled it. Inside, intricate letters were painted and arranged in a circular pattern. I took a moment to read them but it honestly made no sense. Left, right, up down, it didn't matter what direction nor where I started from it all was just gibberish.

"How the heck is this supposed to work?" I wondered. "Maybe I could copy it down? Would this work with a pen on normal paper?" Curiosity getting the better of me, I grabbed a couple sheets and began to carefully copy down what I saw to the best of my ability. Unhappy with the first result I tried again a few more times with the last one looking as close to being a replica as I could manage. Now I just had to test it.

Crumpling up one of the older, messier copies I placed it in the centre of the better one. "The nurse said to release the seal I just need to insert chakra, so maybe its the same for activating?" Closing my eyes I focused a small amount of energy into the tips of my fingers and placed them on the paper. From there I gently let it flow out, or at least tried to. By envisioning a sort of bridge between my fingers and the paper I had hoped the chakra would flow accordingly but really, I couldn't tell. After a couple minutes of nothing I sighed and straightened my posture.

"Hmm, not working. Could be the materials, could be me. Probably both with my luck." I mused, stroking my chin. "Actually, let's see if I was even flowing my chakra right." Placing my hand on the scroll, I repeated my attempt to flow chakra into the seal. This time, it definitely felt different. Once the chakra left my body I could sense it being drawn into the scroll. It was hard to describe but the thing that came to mind was like a paper towel drawing in water. It did not need much at all either as mere moments after I began to channel the chakra there was a large blast of smoke that caused me to instinctively shield my face and start waving it away.

The smoke itself was odourless and in fact, barely reacted to my flailing arm at all. Quickly dissipating on it's own and in front of me, my training weights had materialized. "That's so cool." I couldn't help but exclaim. With the moment of wonder passed, I got back to my feet. I couldn't just leave them laying on the floor like that, they were a hazard to bare toes after all so I picked them up one at a time and returned them to the rack where they belonged. Dad had made the rack just for this sort of thing because my weights had reached the point they would start damaging normal pieces of furniture if handled carelessly.

Speaking of their weight, the sheer difference chakra reinforcement made was astonishing now that I thought about it. Right now I could pick them up with relative ease. Sure they still had some heft to them, but it wasn't something insurmountable. But without it I may as well be dragging anvils on my limbs. The fact I had lasted that entire hour for the stamina test left me wondering what the heck was wrong in my head.

Once the weights were safely put away, I turned my attention back to the scroll on the floor. To my surprise, it now sat blank. The paper a pristine white as though it just came off the shelf. "So when the seal is undone, the writing vanishes too huh?" It appeared there was a lot more to Fuuinjutsu than I had initially thought. Certainly it wasn't something I could replicate with a common pen and paper. Thinking about it actually made me even more excited to try it for real.

Rolling up the scroll, I placed it back on my desk. Making a mental note to bring it with me to school and, when I had the chance, return it to the nurse. That was when my eye caught something else, a small white rectangle sitting in the vert centre of my desk where it would certainly catch my eye.

"Oh..." The small noise accompanied the recollection of what the item was. The note I had written for Shisui. A thick lump manifested in my throat seeing that little thing. What I had to do now felt so real. Gently, I picked up the message. "This... Is way heavier than it should be..." I muttered quietly as anxiety ran rampant inside my chest. Between my two fingers, this piece of paper wrapped in tissue felt heavier than all my weights combined.

With a heavy sigh, I gingerly placed it back on the desk. "Its real now, huh? I'm doing this..." Up until last night, it was nothing more than a thought experiment. A hopeful wish but now, I had something real and tangible. Something that could change how the future of this world plays out.

It terrified me.

Once again I had to ask myself if I even had the right to do this. For the sake of one person I would try and steer the reigns of history. If I was successful, there was no telling what could happen. Same as if I failed. The only thing I could predict with any sort of accuracy is what would happen if I simply did not act. Things would go as they should, Itachi would destroy the clan, Sasuke would become consumed by revenge and Misaki would die...

Yeah. I couldn't let that happen. Not if there was something I could do to stop it. Just thinking about losing her like that made my chest squeeze so tight I couldn't even breathe. I needed to take a few deep breaths to settle down. "Risking the entire world, to save one person dear to me. Sounds like something a hero would do, or the start of a villainous downfall." I couldn't help but chuckle. Perhaps I was getting too dramatic over everything. Maybe not the entire world was at risk, but depending on how things went, it would certainly change the future of the village.

"Let's look on the bright side, what's the best outcome?" I said aloud, eyes turned up as I looked past the ceiling to the sky far above. "Shisui takes the warning to heart, doesn't lose his eyes and steers the clan away from the coup. Misaki lives and everyone lives happily ever after, right?" I laughed again, this time sadly, "If only."

Truth be told, I knew I was pretty much powerless to do anything. This little piece of paper was, at best, a tiny nudge to see if any dominoes started to fall. The best I could do at the moment was try and put it into the right hands. The main question was how.

The most obvious answer would be to ask Misaki to take me back to the compound and from there, look for Shisui. Of course, there was one big issue with that plan. That being I had no way of contacting Misaki. As she had told me on the last day of training, she was going to be swamped with work for at least the next month if not more. I couldn't even call her. Something about village security and having different lines for civilians vs shinobi and clans. Plus... I didn't have her number...

"Gah!" I groaned as I furiously scratched at my scalp in frustration. "Why couldn't I have thought of this earlier! I could have asked her yesterday morning!" My hands then clasped over and slowly slid down my face. "I'm so dumb..."

Looking to the window, sunlight was starting to spill through. Mom should be up soon if the racket I had been making hadn't awoken her already. For now, I had to put all this aside and finish getting ready for school today. My clock read ten after six, apparently I had spent a lot more time copying that scroll than I had thought. I still needed to get my morning exercises in and some jutsu/chakra practice.

Peeking out of my room, the house was still dark. Quietly I tip-toed my way to the back door and out into the crisp morning air. While sunlight temporarily bathed the yard in it's warmth, several approaching clouds threatened to cut that off. From the looks of it, rain was on the horizon. I said a silent prayer that they would hold off for at least another day.

After that, I got to work with the usual. Push ups, sit-ups and all that. Only doing half of my usual amount to keep things light. Honestly it felt more like calisthenics than the workout I was used to. Clearing it in no time flat and not even feeling slightly winded. Then of course, the reason hit me.

"Right, turn off the chakra for training." I said to myself with a light smack to the noggin. Of course training like this was going to be trivial when I was artificially boosting myself. That was a lesson my little screw up had taught me yesterday. I had gotten too used to the enhancements my chakra gave me that I thought it to be my natural strength. If I wanted to continue growing, I had to train both with and without it.

So, that's what I did. It took a few seconds but I managed to suppress my chakra, something else I needed to work on, and got back to training. My body felt like it doubled in weight almost instantly even though nothing had changed physically. The exhaustion from the previous day also returned, of course not as extreme but I was certainly feeling it a whole lot more. Suddenly that work out routine wasn't so trivial and by the end I had worked up a good sweat.

Wiping my brow, I realized I would probably need another shower before leaving today... And another change of clothes. With that out of the way, the only thing left was my jutsu training. Three attempts at the Body Flicker and finish it off with the Tree Climbing technique. As always, I started by standing in front of the tree, picking a spot about five meters ahead, formed the seal and... smacked into the wall.

"Darn it!" I groaned, picking myself off the ground while checking my nose for any bleeding. "I just can't get the feeling down, I always overdo it." Grumbling, I returned to the starting spot. "Less chakra this time, LESS!" And hit the wall again.

"WHY!?" I screamed to the heavens, a dog or two barking in response somewhere in the distance. Once I had returned to the starting position, I took in a deep breath and slapped my cheeks a couple times. "Okay fine, if that's how you want to be. Absolute. Minimal. Chakra." I formed the requisite seal and as I was manipulating my chakra, I imagined pushing it through the tip of a syringe. The absolute tiniest amount I could imagine and activated the jutsu.

Or at least, I should have. Instead I only found myself running normally for a couple steps, the jutsu having simply failed to even initiate. I ended up standing in silence for a good while, "I'm glad no one saw that..." I muttered before beginning my final attempt.

Once more I took a long, deep breath. "Calm down and focus. You can do this Meiko, just don't hit the wall and we can call that progress." Opening my eyes, I focused on the target location. Formed the seal and began to channel chakra into my legs. The now familiar sensation of them swelling with power hit me and as soon as it did, I stopped the flow and activated the jutsu. The world blurred as my body rushed forward at near imperceptible speeds. Almost as soon as I had activated it I halted the jutsu, expelling the chakra from my muscles and in response, the world returned to view. Ahead of me the wall of my house was fast approaching.

"Craaaap!" I cried as I stumbled forward step by step trying desperately to kill the momentum before I bashed my face into the brickwork once more. Somehow, someway, I managed to stop a mere step away from collision. The wall was so close my nose was practically kissing it, but I had stopped.

"YEAH!" I shouted as I jumped and pumped a fist into the air. This was maybe the second(?) time I had performed the jutsu and not crashed into something. Now I just had to make a habit of it and I would be making real progress. I really, really wanted to make another attempt but a promise was a promise. Three attempts only, frustrating as it was.

That left only the Tree Climbing practice. Admittedly I was probably stretching the rules with this one but so far my chakra reserves seemed to hold out. Approaching the tree I noticed the palm-sized indent I had left last time, a result of pouring too much chakra into it. Mom and Dad had yet to notice, or if they did they hadn't said anything to me. But it was best to try and not break the tree anymore, it was the only one we had after all.

I started the training by coating my palm with a thin layer of chakra. The energy was quite unstable, part of it evaporating as soon as it left my body. I tried to imagine it fitting my hand like a glove and that helped a little. Carefully, I placed my hand on the bark, the memory of the blow back from last time playing in my head caused me to hesitate and lose control of the chakra I had prepared. The energy simply dissipating into the air. With a sigh, I placed a hand over my chest and took a deep breath to calm myself.

Starting again, I imagined the chakra forming around my hand as a thin glove. While I couldn't see the chakra, it certainly felt warm on my skin. Once more I reached out to touch the bark, keeping my mind under control so wayward memories wouldn't throw me off. Thankfully, there was no immediate blast once my palm rested on the wood. Step one complete. Now to see how well I was able to grip it. Slowly, I began to slide my hand down the bark. To my disappointment, my hand moved as I wished. Although there was some slight resistance, maybe. It was hard to tell.

"Too little chakra and you won't stick. Too much and you'll be thrown off." I told myself and imagined the glove to be a little thicker. Like something knitted from wool. My chakra, responding to my wishes, began to grow further out from my hand, the warm increasing ever so slightly. Then, without any warning, BAM! My hand was blasted away, thankfully not as violently as last time. With a small yelp I checked for any damage, beyond a little bit of stinging though everything appeared to be fine.

"Okay, so that's the limit." I muttered as chakra coated my hand once more. Trying again, I placed my hand on the bark and repeated. At first, it slid across the bark without issue so I started adding more as slowly as I could until my hand was thrown away. An idea forming in my mind as I flexed my fingers to try and calm down the mild sting left behind. If I could repeat this until I got the feeling for how much chakra is too much, then I'll eventually be able to learn when to stop. And so, that was exactly what I did. Several more times my hand was shot back from the tree, each time accompanied by the same stinging pain, like dozens of needles prickling the skin.

With each attempt, the stinging lasted longer and longer. Eventually becoming a bit too much so I decided to swap hands. Turns out, focusing chakra into my off-hand was a bit more difficult. Another problem to contend with. Still, I was eventually able to repeat the process and got a few more attempts in before the back door swung open and Mom called for me.

"Meiko! Breakfast is ready! Come on inside."

"Okay Mom!" I replied, shaking my hand to alleviate the sensation before jogging back inside.

"Ugh, look at you." Mom groaned, "As soon as you're done eating, hop in the shower and clean off. I'll fix your hair once you get out.

"Aww..." I groaned, not wanting to go through another twenty minutes of Mom fighting the countless knots my hair somehow always managed to twist itself into. I knew not to protest any further as Mom was already giving me The Eye.

Breakfast was just the two of us. Dad would not be accompanying me to school today, it was hard enough for him to wake up in time for orientation. Sengo on the other hand, had little choice in the matter. Mostly because Dad would be in no condition to tend to his needs should he wake up while Mom was out. Eating quickly, I thanked Mom, cleaned up and quickly went for my second shower of the morning.

Back in my room, I grabbed a new set of clothes and made a mental note to shower after the morning workout to avoid having to do this again. I also took out a plastic baggie I had grabbed from the kitchen after finishing breakfast and approached my desk. Carefully, as though I was handling something extremely fragile, I placed the note within the bag, wrapped that tightly and slipped it in my pocket. I had to make sure I did not lose this, no matter what.

Then, with the weight of the world in my pocket, I sighed and went to face the music. Mom was already waiting in the living room, brush and comb in hand. "You should really learn how to do this yourself you know. I won't be able to do your hair everyday." Mom said as I took a seat.

"I know..." I moaned as the torture session began. I really had tried before, to try and tame the wild jungle that was my hair, but darn it it was absolutely brutal. The slightest bit of ruffling somehow caused it to tangle itself into an utter incomprehensible mess. Even with Mom's skilled hands, it still felt like she was trying to scalp me.

"I hate my hair..." I moaned as she struggled with a particularly belligerent knot.

"Don't say that." Mom said as she finally tugged the comb free, accompanied by a loud yelp from me. "Your have your Dad's hair, and his temperament to managing it."

"I wish my hair was more like yours, then it wouldn't be so much of a hassle." I grumbled while wincing as another knot was forcefully torn open.

"Don't say that, your hair may be... difficult. But look on the bright side." Mom said gently, her kindly words contrasted by the pain her hands kept inflicting, "Your hair is a beautiful colour and, while it is the way it is, it is very soft. I'm actually jealous."

"Mrgh..." I could only continue to grumble, feeling conflicted over my distaste for how annoying my hair was to deal with while also being complimented for it. That conflict did not last long however, as yet another knot was found, this one the biggest yet. When Mom snagged it, she instinctually pulled hard as that usually did the trick. Painful but effective, except on this occasion. This particular knot must have twisted itself around a good quarter of my skull because when she pulled it felt like the skin on my head was nearly being torn out.

"AH!" I cried in pain, my hands shooting up to my head in reaction.

"Sorry Meiko, this one might be a bit challenging." Mom apologized as she placed the comb and brush down, instead going in with her fingers directly to begin untying it. Another few minutes of agony later and I was finally free. Mom sending me off to wake up Sengo and help get him ready to leave.

Finally, it was time to leave. This time we had more than enough time so there was no need to rush. Sengo was still groggy and drifted in and out of sleep during the trip, often waking when Mom was unable to avoid one of the many rough patches on the roads. He was certainly going to be grumpy for the rest of the morning. I also noticed that my hand was constantly finding it's way back into my pocket to check if the package was still there. That certainly wasn't suspicious at all.

I still had no idea how to get this note to the intended recipient. I really wished I had more time. I really wished I could talk to someone about it. I looked up at Mom, wondering how she might react if I laid everything bare. What I knew, who I was, what I planned to do, all of it. I wanted to think she'd be accepting, heck even understanding. But... The incident with Naruto yesterday made me realize I could not predict how people would react to something unexpected. Even those closest to me. And when I thought of Mom looking at me in the same way she had Naruto... I was terrified.

"Something wrong?" Mom asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, no..." I stammered, looking ahead once more and trying to pretend nothing happened.

Mom then chuckled softly, "You know, I can tell when you have something you want to say. For a while now you've had that look in your eye and keep glancing at me."

"Eh?" I replied, quickly looking up at Mom in surprise. "I do?"

Laughing even more, Mom nodded, "You do, for me at least. I'm your mother after all, of course I can read you like a book." I felt myself blushing a little at that, "So what's on your mind? You know you can tell me anything."

Anything, huh? Maybe that was the case. Mom was more than willing to lay her life on the line for me, that much she had already proven. And yet the words still caught in my throat, bound by fear could not bring myself to reveal everything. But, if it was Mom, then just maybe there was something I could ask.

"Well... There was one thing..." I started, finding it hard to speak aloud after being called out, yet Mom just waited patiently for me. It took me a while anyway to figure out what I wanted to say. Finally settling on asking for some advice regarding the task at hand. "I want... need to give someone something. But how do I go about giving it to him?" We walked along for several steps in silence before I finally looked to Mom for an answer.

Mom however, was not speaking. Instead she had one free hand touching her lips in a vain attempt to hide the smile spreading ear to ear. She appeared like a cat that just found a new toy. "Him?" She finally said as I realized in horror my mistake. "I see, you want to give a gift to your boy friend, hmm?"

My face obviously turned a burning red as I screamed, "No! Its not like that!" Vehemently denying the notion outright. Obviously she was thinking about Naruto after what happened yesterday and made no effort to hide it. In fact, she was quite enjoying watching me squirm. Her wild laughter was evident enough of that.

"I know, I know." She managed to say after settling down. "I couldn't resist. Anyway, I see what's going on. You want to give Naruto a thank you gift for yesterday, right?"

"No I-" I started to respond but then realized how brilliantly simple that was. A gift! Why didn't I think of that!? I wanted to smack myself for missing something so obvious. "Actually, yeah. Yeah!" I continued, turning to Mom with my face beaming like the sun. "That's right! I ne- want to get him something!" I could have kissed Mom in that moment and probably would have if my sudden joyous outburst hadn't caught the attention of several onlookers. Most notably an elderly lady who made me aware of the fact I was out in public with her little 'daww' as she passed by. Of course, I quickly settled down while trying to hide my face.

It really was such a simple solution. I even had a good excuse to be giving it, as Mom said it could be a thank you gift from when he came to aid Misaki and me. All I would have to do is slip the note inside of said gift and hand it over. Easy, simple and effective. Except for one small catch. "Oh but... I don't have anything to give..." I muttered as I realized that I both lacked any actual gift as well as the funds to acquire one. I didn't even get an allowance from my parents yet so my prospects for earning cash was extremely low and time was far too great of a factor.

"Darn it..." I cursed under my breath. Maybe I could try some simple arts and crafts? Did I have the time? I know we don't have the materials at home so I'd have to convince my parents to pick them up. Then I'd need to figure out what to make. Paper flowers? No, it needs to be simpler, something I can hide the note in but where it would easily and quickly be found.

"Meikoooo, earth to Meikoooo" Mom's voice softly broke me out of my musings. When I looked up, she had already pulled out her bag and was rummaging away inside. A moment later, she pulled out several bills, counted them and handed them down to me. "Here, its not much but you should be able to get him something nice with this."

My eyes shifted from the money in her hand to Mom's face and back again several times. "A-Are you sure?" I asked hesitantly, "This is way too much..." A part of me was screaming at me for denying this gift, it was exactly what I needed but for some reason I suddenly felt so bashful about it. A big part of that was likely due to the guilt I was feeling for lying. Mom had the impression that this was intended for Naruto when in reality it was all just an excuse to get a letter to a stranger.

Mom wasn't going to have any of that however, as she then grabbed my hand, pulled it forward and forced the cash into it. "Its fine." Mom said, curling my fingers over the money, "Just think of this as an apology from me. I feel absolutely horrible about what happened yesterday and while its not much, please accept it. For me."

"That's not fair..." I thought as I slowly nodded, carefully folding the bills and sliding them into my pocket next to the note. I couldn't deny her at this point. Mom's intentions were genuine which made accepting it even harder. I wanted to be sick, but this was something I had to do. A small white lie to potentially save a life. Swallowing the guilt and pulling back the tears, I gave Mom a wide, shining grin. "Thanks Mom! You're the best!"

Mom's smile hurt to look at as she placed a hand on my head and gently rubbed. Only for a few seconds though before she realized what she had done. "Oh no! Your hair!" She suddenly cried out and began desperately trying to fix it with her fingers.

"You have a good day, okay?" Mom said, crouched down so we could meet at eye level, "No pushing yourself too hard like yesterday, alright?" I nodded as she pulled me in for a hug, "Good, and don't worry about coming home too early. Take your time and find something nice okay?"

"Are you sure?" I had to ask, the idea of leaving a kid to just wander around the village like that after school was a bizarre thought for me. Mom releasing the hug, but keeping her hands on my shoulders.

Mom just nodded, "You'll be with Naruto, right? I'm sure you'll be fine. Just be home before dark." Again, more guilt was added to the stack. Convenient yes, but it still didn't sit right. Perhaps it was just some value dissonance between my old life and this one. Or maybe Mom just really wanted to try and make up for yesterday's incident. For a moment, that incident from a few years ago flashed into my mind and I was sure it was on her's as well. I could feel a slight bit of trembling from her hands.

"Okay, thanks Mom." I finally said, accepting this opportunity. "Don't worry, I'll be okay."

"I know." Mom replied, looking into my eyes for a few moments longer before planting a kiss on my forehead. "Now, you go and have a good day."

"I will, bye Mom. Bye Sengo." Sengo stirred a bit in his stroller, he definitely took after Dad in his dislike of mornings. Still, he managed to open his eyes just enough to register I was there and with a smile, held out a tiny hand. I held out my own and gave him a bit of a shake before he fell back asleep. "And he's out again." I said with a chuckle before waving Mom off.

The academy yard felt quite less crowded today. Without the parents accompanying them, there was a lot more space. Although Mom and I had made good time so it was still quite early and thus, there was still a good amount of time until first bell. With today being the first official day of classes, there were a lot more older kids loitering around. People were already organizing themselves by their age from what I could see. The older the kids, the further they congregated from the entrance.

Moving towards the area where most of the first years had congregated, I was on the look out for my friends. Considering Kiyomi hadn't already rushed me down, it was safe to assume I had arrived first. Not really knowing many others, I chose to just find an open spot and lean against the wall. Even those I knew, Naruto, Shun and Rei were nowhere in sight at the moment. Perhaps Mom and I made good time and arrived a bit too early? Regardless, it did give me some time to think on my next move.

Thanks to Mom's generosity, I had money and a simple plan. But of course, once again time was my greatest enemy here. I had to get this note to Shisui asap and Mom was under the impression I would be using the time after school today to buy Naruto a thank you gift. So whatever I was going to do had to be done this afternoon. So somehow, without Misaki's help, I had to find a way in to the Uchiha compound and hopefully locate Shisui or, failing that, at the very least his place of residence and drop off the gift and pray he finds it.

"Dammit, why didn't I realize it sooner. I'm so stupid." I cursed myself under my breath. This would have been so much simpler just a few days ago. Sure I couldn't have predicted running into the guy in the first place but if I had been more diligent in remembering important details maybe I could have managed to convey the message. Hindsight is a pain in the butt.

Speaking of hindsight, I also could have spoken with Itachi about it. He and Shisui were friends after all, maybe I could have convinced him to set up a meeting. No, that was definitely impossible. I could recall the feeling of intimidation I had just looking at the guy. Even if I knew what to ask at the getting up the nerves to do so was quite improbable.

That left two options. I could just go to the gates of the compound and hope for the best, or ask the one other Uchiha whom I had some level of connection with. Although it did feel like I was simply going to try and use Sasuke for my own ends. My hand slipped into my pocket, gently fingering both the note and the money. "Maybe I should get him something too, as thanks, if there's enough left over..."

A few more minutes passed uneventfully as I watched the gate for Sasuke or any of my friends. Fortunately, the first to arrive was the Uchiha in question. Glad I could get this bit out of the way, I pushed myself off the wall and was nearly tackled as several others charged past and towards him. In the future I knew he'd gain a little fan club but this was the second day and already there was at least seven girls swarming him. I know Ino had been quite impressed by his clone but this felt ridiculous. It was enough to feel sorry for the guy, a victim of his own success.

For his part, Sasuke was simply trying to ignore the small crowd. Continuing to walk forward without even acknowledging their existence, his fans following quickly behind. I could only wonder if the group would have been bigger were it not so early in the morning.

With a deep breath an a sigh, I resolved myself to get this over with. Quickly moving to intercept Sasuke's path I raised a hand in greeting as I called out. "Hey Sasuke, you seem popular." Trying to sound friendly enough since he already had quite the sour look. For a moment, he glared at me as though I was another gnat ready to start buzzing. Although he did soften up ever so slightly after a moment as the recognition kicked in.

"Oh, its you." He said flatly, not bothering to hide his annoyance, "You want to join in too, huh?" A fair enough question, although it did sting a bit being lumped in with the groupies.

"No, nothing like that." I said, furiously shaking my head to deny that claim. Although internally, I couldn't completely do that, since I still wanted to speak with and ask a favour of Sasuke after all.

"So what did you want?" Sasuke asked, still clearly annoyed.

"Well," I began before noticing that the groupies behind him were glaring me down.

"Who the heck is this guy?" "He must think he's some kind of hot shot." "Don't think you can just talk to Sasuke like that!"

" They do know we both can hear them, right?" I wondered for a brief moment while also biting the inside of my lip quite hard to keep myself from acknowledging certain... incorrect assumptions. Turning my attention back to Sasuke, I tried to remember what I was going to say.

"...I did want to ask you a favour." I finally managed to say. Sasuke immediately rolling his eyes while the chattering behind him only became more furious. At this point I think I was public enemy number one for them.

"Just like the rest." Sasuke muttered before turning to walk away.

"No wait, that's not what I mean!" I called after him desperately. Honestly I wasn't entirely sure what he meant but it must have related to the groupies. "Please, at least hear me out. Its very important..." Gripping my shirt tight over my heart, I could feel my chest tightening as I waited with baited breath. Thankfully, it appeared my plea did not fall on deaf ears. Sasuke stopping mid step, tilting his head just enough to glance over his shoulder back at me.

"Well?" He said after a few short moments.

"Thank you." I replied gratefully. I could feel the burning stares stabbing into me even more now. "Before that though, do you think we could speak in private?" I then asked, discreetly raising a finger and pointing to the followers who exploded into riotous fury at the mere suggestion I speak with Sasuke alone. "Its a bit noisy here."

Sasuke was quiet for a moment, I could only assume he was considering if it was even worth it to hear me out.

With a loud, exasperated sigh Sasuke turned around to face me properly. "Yeah, alright. There's some trees over there." Motioning by pointing with his thumb over his shoulder. Nodding, the two of us began to move. Behind us, the groupies continued to shout, even louder and more frantic this time. Each one drowning out the other as they voiced their discontent. I could only stare back in some bizarre state of awe at how obsessed they were over this. In just one day they had created some kind of hierarchy in their mind and were trying to enforce it with rabid fervour.

"Shut up." Sasuke finally called back to them, "You're all so annoying."

Silence at last. I had never seen anyone, much less an entire group of people, freeze up so fast. With just a couple words Sasuke had practically petrified them. "Come on," He then continued without missing a beat, "Let's get this over with."

"Uh, yeah." I replied, kicking up my pace to keep up. Honestly, I was still quite surprised Sasuke was being so accommodating. Perhaps the short time we trained together had earned me at least a little bit of goodwill. I could only hope it would carry me just a bit further. As we drifted further away, I couldn't help but to spare a glance back behind me and truly I regretted it. Each and every one of them were

Sasuke led me to a small enclosure of trees, choosing one to lean up against. "Alright, so what do you want?"

Straight to the point, but that was probably for the best. "Well alright, are you familiar with a person named Shisui Uchiha?" I could feel my pulse quickening as I asked the question. A lot was riding on whether or not I could convince Sasuke to work with me.

"Shisui?" Sasuke said, perking up at the name yet confused I would mention him, "Yeah, he's a friend of Itachi. I've met him a few times but that's about it. Why?"

The next minute was spent recounting my brief encounter with the Uchiha in question. Of course, I left out a couple details. Namely how the aggressors in that situation were also members of his clan.

"Okay," Sasuke said as I finished telling the story, "But what does that have to do with me?"

"Basically, I need your help to try and meet up with Shisui. I..." Taking in a deep breath, I said a silent prayer that my reasoning would be enough to convince Sasuke, "I just want to thank him for his help." I was never one who was able to keep a straight face well after lying. Sometimes I could hold it better than others but only for a short period. Today was not one of those times. I could feel the corners of my lips twitching and had to fight hard to keep them from curling upwards. Because of that, I also couldn't keep eye contact. So in the end I just ended up awkwardly shifting around on the spot.

After a few very tense and overly long moments, Sasuke finally made a noise. Not words, but some weird choking sound. Looking back up, for a moment I thought he was about to be sick. Sasuke was doubled over, one arm over his stomach while his other hand covering his mouth. "A-Are you alright?" I asked, starting to reach out to him.

Tensing up for a moment, Sasuke then coughed into his fist a couple times before regaining his composure. "Uh yeah, I'm just fine." He quickly said, although his lip quivered slightly as he did so. Before I could press further, he continued, "So you're crushing on Shisui, but why do you need my help?"

"Wh-" I stammered as my eyes went wide and face began burning with the might of the sun, "WHAT!?" A crush on Shisui!? How did he get that idea!? "No! No no no no no no! Its not like that! I just want to thank him for helping us out!"

Then, the unexpected happened. Sasuke burst out in a fit of laughter. I could only stand slack jawed for a few moments as I processed this. Sasuke, practically the poster boy of stoicism in my mind was now laughing so hard I thought he might double over. The shock of such a bizarre sight was soon broken as I recalled his misunderstanding and thus, embarrassment took over again.

"Stop it!" I moaned, stopping the ground petulantly. Sasuke was able to quickly calm down but was still gasping for air. "Mrrgh..." Groaning was about the only thing I could do at the moment. My face was burning so hot it almost hurt and my heart was racing.

"Yeah, yeah," Sasuke said coolly, reasserting his usual demeanour. "So anyway, you didn't say why you need my help for that. Just go find him yourself."

"I would if I could..." I replied curtly, still embarrassed and annoyed, "But I don't know how exactly." Taking a deep breath, I loudly exhaled to help settle down to the point I could at least look at Sasuke again. "I can't exactly just walk into the Uchiha compound by myself. I would ask Misaki but she's extremely busy and I can't contact her. So, I figured I'd at least try asking you first. See if you could help me get in and show me around. That way, if I was allowed in, I wouldn't have to wander around blind and maybe get lost." And I need an escort to help keep people like Inaba at bay, but I left that bit out.

"So in other words, you want me to hold your hand while you meet your crush?" Sasuke snickered again. He really wasn't going to drop that, huh?

"Grrr... I told you its not like that!" I growled through gritted teeth, my hands clenching tight as I forced down the embarrassment once more. "Hah... But yes, that's why I need your help." After so thoroughly embarrassing me, he had better agree to this. Thankfully, we were alone right now. I don't know what I might have done if we had any onlookers.

Sasuke's lips pursed as he pondered my request before finally throwing his hands behind his head and leaning back onto the tree. "It really doesn't sound like my problem though. Just go do it yourself."

"Oh come on..." I quietly bemoaned, I guess his charity only extended this far. Still, I wasn't out of cards just yet. If there was one thing I certainly learned from having a little brother, is that when you want a kid to do what you want, try bribery! "I'm not asking for your help for free..." I began, from his reaction I could say I peaked his attention, "I have some money to buy a gift, I can spare some of it to get you something too, if you help me out of course."

"...What kind of gift?" Sasuke eventually asked, arms dropping to his side as he leaned in.

"Gotcha." I thought, fighting to keep the smirk off my face. "I... hadn't figured that out yet." While Mom had given me a good amount of money, it still amounted to pocket change at the end of the day. More than enough for a few snacks at least. "Oh," I suddenly said as a bit of realization hit me. There was one place I could go to grab a gift, one that could possibly even tailor it for Shisui's, and Sasuke's, tastes. Plus, it was easily accessible and on route.

"What about that senbei shop? Misaki bought me a bag when I visited last time." I said, rubbing my chin as I tried to recall the name. Uchiha Senbei sounded right but also so generic I was questioning my own memories.

"Aunt Urushi's shop?" Sasuke asked, a hint of anticipation on the tip of his tongue. That name quickly rang a bell, recalling that was the name Misaki had called the old woman running the shop.

"Yeah! That's the one!" I said, tapping a fist into my palm. "I'll get you a pack of senbei from there if you help me out. I can also grab one for Shisui while we're at it."

"Now that I think of it, if I have enough, I could even grab Naruto a bag too." This way, I wouldn't have lied to Mom about getting him something. And it wasn't like I didn't want to thank him either. I certainly owed him both a thank you and apology after all. Now, would Sasuke take the bait?

That twinkle in his eye suggested that to be so. For a very brief moment, I could see the hunger in those dark orbs. He was quick to suppress it, coughing loudly as though he had something in his throat. "W-well, that doesn't really matter. But if its so important to you, I guess I could help you with your crush..."

"I TOLD YOU ITS NOT LIKE TH-wait, really!?" I was already screaming while my brain was still comprehending what he had said.

"Yeah, I mean. If you're that desperate and all." Sasuke replied, turning his head away so he wouldn't have to look me in the eyes. "And its definitely not because you're buying me a large bag of sugar crusted senbei." Well, he certainly was taking my bribery and reversing it into extortion. Not bad.

"Hehe, I'll see what I can do." I chuckled back. "And," I added, hands clasped behind my back as I smiled, "Thanks a lot Sasuke, I really appreciate it."

"Y-Yeah," Sasuke stuttered, for some reason looking a little flustered, "Its whatever."

"Whatever then." I repeated, chuckling some more. "So we'll meet up at the gate after class then?"

"...Sure." Sasuke agreed. At this point he seemed to be a bit uncomfortable so I figured it was time to go.

"See you then!" I said cheerfully and with a wave, turned and lightly jogged back out into the open field. A stupid grin plastered on my face as I could barely suppress the urge to cheer aloud. I don't know what I did but today seemed to be my lucky day. All the cards were coming up Meiko and in less than an hour I had somehow managed to overcome all the most difficult hurdles. All that remained was to get through the day, find Shisui and hand over the note. It was almost too easy.

"No, no. Do not think like that. That's how you invite disaster!" I cautioned myself, shaking my head and slapping my cheeks a couple times. Its not over until its over after all. Best save the celebrations until everything was done.

While we were only gone a few minutes, the yard had filled up considerably with students. Thankfully, I did not see the little Sasuke fan club so hopefully I could avoid them until the bell ushered us to class. For now, I figured it would be best to try and find some familiar faces to help pass whatever time was left.

It wasn't that difficult either as I was able to quickly spot Naruto in the crowds. Well, more accurately, where the crowds parted. Kiyomi and Mana had yet to arrive so I made my way over to him. From the looks of things, he was trying to talk with people, perhaps to try and make new friends but was only getting the cold shoulder. Considering how things went yesterday, that was perhaps a small mercy.

"Hey Naruto!" I called out cheerfully, still running on my earlier high. Upon recognizing a friendly face, his face lit up and a gigantic, toothy grin crossed his face.

"Oh, Meiko! Morning!" He called out and started running towards me. Instinctively, I braced myself thanks to the many times Kiyomi had thrown herself at me. Thankfully, Naruto knew how to put on the brakes and stopped himself well before entering tackle range. "What's up? You feeling better?"

I nodded, "Yup. Just need to take it easy today but otherwise I'm fine. Thanks again for yesterday." Flexing an arm to show off a little. It hurt slightly.

"Hehehe, don't worry about it. You helped me out too, yeah?" Naruto replied. The two of us just proceeded with simple small talk as we walked, although I did notice the stares and whispers behind our backs. Something Naruto seemed either oblivious to, or simply so used to it that they barely registered. Unfortunately for me, who had no such defences, it was uncomfortable to say the least. First Sasuke's groupies and now this, I was certainly making myself quite popular.

"Hey, by the way," Naruto asked, pulling my attention away from the judgmental gazes, "Did you... maybe wanna hang out after classes are done?" I could tell it was a question that took a lot out of him to ask. Add in those unintentional puppy dog eyes and he had the perfect grip on my heart strings.

"Sorry Naruto," I replied painfully, "I've got something very important to do today." I could already see the dejection starting to form on his face, so before he could get too down I quickly added in a bit more details, "But, tomorrow I'll be free for the next few days."

"Oh, okay." Naruto said somewhat hopefully, but still disappointed. If at all possible, I really should try and grab him something too. Hopefully those senbei weren't too expensive. Three packs was certainly pushing the limits of my budget.

The bell finally rang soon after, I said my goodbyes to Naruto and made my way to class, reuniting with my friends along the way.

Today we started our lessons proper and thus, we began the day with a collective groan and math. To be fair, it was nothing difficult. Just the basics of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to ensure everyone was on the same base level. I was able to breeze through them easily enough, although Mana did struggle with some questions so I offered her a few tips here and there.

After that came history. This class was more of a lecture as Mizuki-sensei gave a very abridged overview of the past. Truth be told, I had been looking forward to this class. I knew very little of the past of this world and the opportunity to learn more was intriguing. Of course, this lecture was focused on the history of the village rather than the world as a whole. As visual aids, Mizuki also had several maps displayed. Starting with the Warring States period, before any of the ninja villages had been founded, shinobi were little more than mercenaries. Fighting for a multitude of small nations at the behest of the highest bidder. This period covered quite a long time, over two hundred years. Nations would grow and collapse over and over in unending combat. I couldn't even imagine what it must have been like to live in an era like that.

What was actually terrifying was the fact that it only came to an end less than a century ago. Thanks to the union of Uchiha and Senju and the founding of the first ninja village, Konoha, the ceaseless conflict finally came to an end. Power became more centralized and other villages were formed, larger nations were born and we finally came to the world as we recognized it today for the most part. It was actually hard to believe that I was only four generations removed from such a time. Of course, peace never lasts forever.

With a new world came a new type of war, Within the span of less than fifty years this world suffered through no less than three world wars. The last of which ending only seven or eight years ago. This world could easily be defined by war. The information was quite heavy to take in for someone like me who had known only peace in both lives. Even now, the world could be described as being in a sort of cold war state. Basically, the major nations were locked in a standoff, waiting for the first to blink.

The afternoon saw us heading back outside. Starting off with more exercises such as running and stretches. Fitness was the name of the game for the first class and something I was more than happy to get behind. Of course, as per the nurse's order, I made sure not to overexert myself and I could tell Mizuki's eye was on me the entire time. He had even threatened to throw me out of class should he even suspect I was pushing myself too hard. It was embarrassing but I brought that on myself. Eventually, I would show off what I could really do.

Midway through the afternoon we started our first Taijutsu session. The class was a simple one, there was no sparring or anything like that, instead we were taught a few basic forms of the Strong Fist style, something Misaki had already shown me before but hadn't named it. Those of us who demonstrated decent enough form were allowed to take turns striking the posts to help build up endurance in our fists and feet. That was something I actually had not done and it hurt a lot more than I had thought. Turns out punching a log, even one wrapped in rope, freaking sucks. Kiyomi got a good laugh out me yelping the first time I hit that thing with all my might. Apparently you're not supposed to go all out until you've built up some tolerance.

For our last class, we had to return to the classroom as Class 1C came out to use the field. Chakra Control was the final subject for the day, although the class was mainly a lecture. Mizuki-sensei explaining the basics of forming and moulding chakra reminded me of Misaki's lesson way back when I was first learning how to even grasp my chakra. Of course, he went into far more detail than she had. Behind me, I could hear Kiyomi yawning from boredom. For a prodigy like her, this must certainly be quite the dull class. Mana too was zoning out, although that was more from lack of stimuli combined with physical exhaustion. More than once I had to prod her in the side to keep her awake.

A little past the midway point of the class the lecture finally ended and we moved on to the practical aspect. Which was, of course, the Leaf Concentration Practice. We were all lined up in front of the desks and given a leaf, well all but a few people. Kiyomi, Mana, Rei, Shun and two others were exempt from this exercise. The reason being that they all knew how to use Chakra Reinforcement to some level or another. As such, they were instructed to practice that instead. I objected to not being included since I could do the same, but since I 'failed to demonstrate' my skills yesterday, I had to join the rest of the class with the fundamentals.

Well it wasn't all bad. If concentration helped me improve my chakra control then all the better. Lord knows I needed all the help I could get on the matter. Plus I was technically practising my Chakra Reinforcement at the same time. The rest of the class passed by in relative silence, notably broken by a near deafening crack that caused darn near everyone to jump. Mizuki had decided to smack a wooden ruler on the podium, the high pitched noise reverberating something fierce in the small classroom. His reason being that we should be able to maintain our concentration regardless of outside distractions.

Finally, the bell rang and class wrapped up. "Alright that's it for today." Mizuki-sensei said from behind the podium. "Make sure you throw those leaves outside, I don't want to have to pick up any from the floor. Have a good day." He then began gathering up a few papers and tapped them into a uniform pile. The class began chatting as they got up to leave. Behind me, Kiyomi sighed with relief as the day was finally over.

"Freedom!" She said happily, "Hey guys, let's go to the park. I gotta do something after all that sitting around." Shun and Rei responded in an affirmative. I could feel the Yamanaka's eyes on me, waiting for my own response.

Stretching, my joints popped loudly as I let out an involuntary moan of relief. "Sorry Kiyomi," I said, swivelling on my seat, "I have some stuff to take care of today."

"Liar!" Kiyomi accused me, pointing a finger aimed right at my nose. "You never have anything to do!"

My face scrunched up with a pout, "That's not true!" Before I could protest further, Mizuki called out to the class once more, just as the first group of people were about to leave.

"Oh right, almost forgot. For the girls, tomorrow will be the first Kunoichi class with Suzume-sensei. You'll meet up with her in the gymnasium for final period."

Kunoichi class, I had to admit I was curious as to what that involved but there was no time to ponder it over or ask questions. I had to get going if I didn't want to keep Sasuke waiting. Quickly gathering up my things and making the millionth check on the goods in my pocket before practically hopping over the desk. "See you guys tomorrow!" I called back with a wave as I quickly made my way out of the room. Kiyomi shouting after me but I couldn't stay any longer.

The hallway was packed as students filed out, their chatter echoing incomprehensibly in the narrow space. Still, there was enough space for me to try and weave though. Passing by class 1A, I happened to peer inside to see Naruto and a couple others lined up against the board, Iruka lecturing them on something I couldn't quite make out. I couldn't linger long as the line was pushing along and students from the classroom wanted to get out as well. I spared a final moment to give Naruto a quick wave before continuing, unsure if he noticed or not.

The sunlight was pleasant and warm as I stepped outside. Quickly moving away from the door, I took a look around in search of Sasuke. I hadn't seen him in the classroom so he was likely already out here. It took a minute but I finally spotted the boy leaning against the front gate. "Oh good, he did wait." I said quietly before lightly jogging over.

"There you are, about time." Sasuke said once he noticed my approach.

"Sorry about that, were you waiting long?" I replied, scratching the back of my head.

Pushing off the wall, Sasuke simply shrugged, "Whatever." He took a quick scan of me and the surroundings before turning towards the gate and motioning with his head. "Come on then, let's get it over with." I had to bite the inside of my lip to keep from chuckling, he was trying to keep up the cool act but I could see the eagerness in his eyes. I couldn't blame him, the allure of free snacks was a difficult one to deny.

"Yeah, thanks again." I replied as we left the academy grounds. A shiver shooting up my spine as I crossed the threshold as I felt like I was being watched. Not looking back, I instead increased my pace to get out of there asap.

The walk through the village was quiet to say the least. Sasuke leading the way but neither of us really talking. I knew from experience that the Uchiha compound was a long walk from here and the silence was quickly getting awkward. "So," I finally said, trying to start a conversation, "How was your first day?" Not the most original ice breaker, but it was all I had.

"Hmm..." Sasuke hummed, eyes turning skyward in thought, "Honestly, I was disappointed. Everything is so easy, I thought the academy would be more of a challenge." Chuckling, I was reminded of Kiyomi and how she was likely feeling the same thing in the latter half of the day.

"Well, it is the only the first day after all." I reasoned, "You can't expect everyone to be on the same level as you." Snickering louder this time, I turned to him with a mischievous grin. "I mean, you got a fan club on the first day. I think that's a world record."

Sasuke flinched, face scrunching up in annoyance, "What? You mean those girls that keep following me around?"

"Of course." My smile grew wider, "Saaasukeeee~" I said in a taunting, faux fangirl tone while wriggling on the spot for added emphasis, "You're so coooool! Show us more jutsu!" Followed by my horrible attempt at that weird squeeing noise I assumed they made.

"Oh no, don't you dare start!" Sasuke replied in horror, causing me to completely break down in laughter. "Hey! Its not funny!" He started to shout, cheeks flushing pink, "I don't have to help you, you know!"

"The price of popularity!" I replied while gasping for air, "Best get used to it."

"If they have time for that they should be training or something." Sasuke groaned with more annoyance. "You're supposed to be a girl, right? Why are they like that?"

Shrugging, I could only shake my head, "I couldn't tell you. Maybe they're crushing on you." I snickered, taking a jab back for his misunderstanding with the Shisui situation. Although that didn't last long as my mind finally registered the first question he had asked. "Hey, wait a second..." The anger quickly boiling over, "What do you mean supposed to be!?"

This time, it was Sasuke's turn to laugh. "Best get used to it." He echoed my words back at me before taking off in a sprint.

"Cheeky brat." I thought to myself as I chased him down.

"So..." Sasuke finally said after finally slowing down, wiping the sweat from his brow, "How about you?" He seemed a little shy in asking, but I just assumed he wasn't used to really conversing with people he wasn't that familiar with. Always trying to act the cool guy basically meant you never really initiated conversation after all.

"Well," I began, needing a moment to catch my breath. "Can't say my first days have been going as well as yours." I recounted what happened yesterday with the tests, embarrassing as it was.

"Wow, you're an idiot." Sasuke said at the conclusion of my tale, brow furrowed like he was looking at some bizarre creature.

"Heh, I've been getting that a lot lately." I replied with a shrug, unable to deny the insult. "Today was better at least." I added, as a sort of consolatory prize.

Surprisingly, we soon found ourselves standing at the gate to the Uchiha compound shortly after. A lot faster than I had anticipated, I could only assume Sasuke knew a few shortcuts. Suddenly, I felt quite nervous. The gate doors felt extremely imposing as I swallowed hard, fighting against my own body to keep from trembling. This was the final hurdle, the hardest part. Not finding Shisui and handing over a gift, that should be simple enough. It was the Uchiha clan members themselves that would be the most trouble. Especially if I encountered that man, Inaba again. Hopefully, Sasuke's presence would be enough to keep them at bay.

Unperturbed as I was, Sasuke stepped forward and pushed open the gate. "You coming?" He asked, confused at my hesitation. Shaking my head quickly, I nodded and stepped forth through the portal. Once more I was greeted with an entirely different landscape. It was just as striking the second time around, seeing how the architecture here differed so much from the majority of the village.

"Hurry up!" Sasuke called to me, blinking I noticed he was running off ahead. "Come on! We're almost there!" I found myself blinking hard several times seeing him so energetic. Almost at the same level I had seen during training when Itachi arrived. He must have really wanted those senbei and, now that he was home, no longer had to put up a front.

"Alright alright!" I called back, lightly jogging behind. Glancing around, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief as the entrance at least appeared to be deserted at the moment. No judging eyes to fall upon me yet.

We didn't have far to go to reach the senbei shop, it was practically right there at the entrance after all. The familiar and mouthwatering scent reached me before I saw the sign, floating in on a passing breeze. Sasuke reached the storefront first, like many small shops in the village it simply opened up to the street so passerby's could simply walk up and order. I could see movement behind the glass counter, although it was still obscured because of the angle. Out front, an older man was relaxing on a wooden chair. A newspaper obscuring most of his body.

"Hi Uncle Teyaki!" Sasuke said excitedly. The man lowering his paper revealing a giant smile on his slightly gruff face.

"Sasuke! Welcome home! How was your day?" He asked, rolling up the paper and setting it aside.

"It was okay, the academy is way too easy!" Sasuke boasted, puffing out his chest with a surprising amount of pride.

The man, Teyaki, laughed heartily. "Happy to hear it!"

From behind the counter, a portly woman leaned over and into view, she too wore a brilliant smile upon seeing the young boy. "Well if it isn't little Sasuke!" She said cheerfully.

"Auntie Urushi!" Sasuke replied just as happily.

The three engaged in some small talk, asking how he was doing, about school and all that. I stood quietly off to the side, not wanting to intrude on this little moment. Although while waiting it did make me realize something. I started this little quest solely to try and save Misaki from the coming destruction of the clan, I hadn't put any real thought into the others who's lives might be saved. If my note was enough to save Shisui, then maybe he could alter the course of fate for the rest of the clan. Not only would Misaki survive, but these two would as well. And Sasuke could have many, many more precious memories like this one.

"By the way Sasuke, would you like some senbei?" Urushi offered, immediately moving to grab a bag and begin loading it up.

"Yeah! I'd love some!" Sasuke almost shouted, eyes sparkling eagerly. Although he quickly snapped out of it, "Oh right, hold on Auntie. Can I get an extra large bag?"

"Oho?" Urushi replied, intrigued, "Is it a special occasion?"

"Kind of," Sasuke said before turning to me, "Hey Meiko, get over here already!"

The old couple's attention then fell to me and almost immediately, their good mood soured.

"Oh..." Teyaki said darkly.

"My my..." Went Urushi. While they had been kind enough last time, they certainly had not expected to see me again. It was evident enough that they were quite worried.

"Ah, hello again." I said, trying to sound cheerful. Quickly prancing over and stopping at Sasuke's side before bowing politely, "Its nice to meet you again."

"Ah.. yes." Urushi replied warily, her gaze falling to her husband. "You were the one with Misaki the other day, right?" She asked, I could tell she recognized my face. Her brow furrowed, wary of my presence.

"Yes, my name is Meiko." I replied, wondering if I was overdoing it with the politeness. Once again the couple exchanged glances, a mixture of emotion flashing over their faces as we all stood in silence for a moment. It was certainly awkward as I shifted on the spot, trying to figure out what to say to try and soothe some of the tension.

Of course, the silent conversation going on didn't go over Sasuke's head. Looking to me, then the shop owners he was the first to finally speak. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh! No no, not at all." She quickly replied, waving her hand in front of her face, "We just... weren't expecting you to bring a friend along." Urushi said as she quickly motioned for her husband to follow up.

It took Teyaki a moment to get the hint, nearly jumping out of his seat when it finally clicked, "Ah right! We were just surprised!"

Sasuke's cheeks flared a gentle pink, "Friend?" Glancing to me, his cheeks burned a bit brighter and turned away abruptly, "I-Its not like that! Meiko just asked for some help and promised to buy me some senbei in exchange!"

"Is that so?" Urushi said, her eyes darkening and her voice becoming a lot more intimidating.

"Well, yes..." I admitted, "There's someone I wanted to meet, his name is Shisui. Misaki and I ran into some trouble the other day and he helped us out. I just wanted to thank him. I asked Sasuke for some help to find him here. That's all." Swallowing a lump that had been developing in my throat, I could only hope that the truth would be enough to convince them.

"She's got a crush on him!" Sasuke quickly added in, his sing-song tone clearly taunting me.

"Wh-" I started, stumbling over my own tongue as I felt my face instantly rising several degrees. "I told you its not like that! I swear I just wanted to thank him! I don't have a crush!" Groaning loudly and stomping on the spot, Sasuke laughed at my face.

After a moment, two more laughing voices joined in. For a moment the embarrassment subsided as I looked to the adults in surprise. Only for a moment though, "Nooo!" Was all I could cry before covering my face with my hands and crouching on the spot. Trying to make myself as small as possible. The laughing continued for what felt like a solid minute before finally calming alongside the sounds of sniffling and a few coughs.

Exhaling loudly, Urushi finally calmed down enough to speak normally again, "I haven't laughed like that in a good while." Peeking between my fingers, I was able to see the older woman wiping away some tears from her small eyes, "I'm sorry about all that." Urushi apologized, clearing her throat with a light cough. "We'd be happy to help you on your little quest for romance."

A very loud groan was muffled in my palms as I was forced to accept that I wasn't changing anyone's mind. Still, it was better than nothing. Slowly, I forced myself back up and dragged my hands off my still radiant face, "I told you that's not it..." I tried to protest, then just gave up, "...Thanks." Finishing with an only slightly forced smile.

"I think that's enough teasing the poor girl," Teyaki chimed in, looking to his wife with a gentle, loving smile. "I tecall a certain someone was also quite shy back in the day."

"DEAR!" Urushi shouted back, now it was her turn to have her cheeks turn a healthy pink, "I can't believe you remember that, it was so long ago."

"I could never forget," Teyaki replied with a sly smile, "I thought you hated me for the longest time since you always ran away whenever I came close."

Urushi's cheeks darkened from a light pink to a near crimson, "Dear..." She muttered, squirming on the spot like she was a young school girl again. It was actually quite adorable watching these two flirt away. Keeping the romance alive after so many years was something quite difficult to do. Especially once kids came into the picture and demanded your attention all the time. I couldn't help but remember my own parents when they got all lovey dovey and immediately cringed. There was just some natural, visceral reaction to seeing your parents getting intimate.

Said reaction was evident on Sasuke's face, scrunched up with childish disgust. "Bleh." He scoffed, turning to me with his tongue hanging out like he just ate something bitter. It took a moment for him to realize how much he let his defence down and quickly turned away. "Hey Auntie!" He called out, removing the old couple from their own little world.

"O-Oh! Sorry Sasuke." Urushi apologized, sparing one last longing glance at her husband. One he returned. "So, what can I get for you two?"

Not wasting another moment, Sasuke immediately leaped forward to get a good look beyond the display glass. "There! That one!" Sasuke said pointing to one of the piles.

"Zarame? Alright. An extra large bag, right?" Urushi said, already getting to work. "And what can I get for you, Meiko?" At her question, I too approached the counter and took a look over the selection. The Zarame Sasuke had ordered were simply sugar coated, I could feel my mouth watering on the sight. I was a sugar fiend after all. Still, I wasn't ordering for me, I had to take Shisui's taste into account.

Uchiha Senbei certainly did not lack for variety. Shoyu, nori, kuro goma, I quietly read out the names under my breath. My mouth continued to water as the temptation to get my own portion continued to grow and my stomach began to awaken. I had to make a decision fast before it overtook me.

"Um, do you know what kind Shisui's favourite is?" I asked, turning my gaze up.

"Hmm," Urushi hummed as she finished filling Sasuke's bag, tying it with a small red ribbon. She then leaned down, looking over her inventory before pointing at a batch with large, black spots. "I believe he is a fan of kuromame." Black soybeans, not my first choice but I was certainly biased in the matter.

"No no, it was the kuro goma." Teyaki interjected, pointing to a different set of senbei. Rather than black soybeans, the kuro goma was made with black sesame seeds.

"I'm certain it was the kuromame!" Urushi insisted but her husband wouldn't let up. The two were quickly heating up, their voices growing in volume with each exchange. Not wanting this to escalate into a full on spat, I quickly cut in.

"How about both?" I said, trying to take the middle ground. The two adults going quiet before looking at me, then back at each other and chuckling.

"Are you sure?" Urushi asked.

"Yeah. This way I'll at least get half of the pack right." I replied with a nod.

Smiling, Urushi picked up a pair of tongs. "Alright then, how many would you like?"

Looking behind the woman, a small board hung from the ceiling displaying their prices and bundles. I could order individual portions as well as in batches of four, six and a dozen. With Sasuke's order being a full dozen, I could possibly afford a bag of six with change left over, or just barely afford two bags of four.

"Hmm, I could get myself a pack of four and get Shisui six. That would make hiding the note inside easy enough." I mused to myself as I looked over the prices again, then down to the senbei on display. My stomach began to churn, thankfully silent for the moment. I already had enough embarrassment for one day thank you very much. Pulling out the money mom had given me, I counted it over to make sure there was enough. "Yeah. Sasuke's dozen plus Shisui's four leaves me just enough for a pack of four for myself. Perfect." I was about to place the order when my tongue caught in my throat. At the very last second the reason Mom gave me this money surfaced.

"I see what's going on. You want to give Naruto a thank you gift for yesterday, right?" Mom's voice echoed in my mind.

"Right. I do owe him one."

"Is something the matter?" Urushi asked, looking concerned.

"Hurry up Meiko!" Sasuke urged beside me, having finally broken his silence.

Shaking my head quickly, I smiled at the both of them apologetically, "Sorry about that." I said, looking over the selection again quickly, "I don't know what kind Naruto would like though. I guess the Zarame would be the safe bet. No kid could resist a healthy dose of sugar."

"Okay, I'll get two kuro goma and two kuromame." I said, then glancing down at the sugar crusted crackers enviously, "And a small bag of zarame."

"Coming right up." Urushi said and quickly got to work.

"You're getting some zarame too? They're the best." Sasuke asked, somehow happy I was ordering the same thing as him.

"Yeah, but they're not for me." I responded, much to his confusion.

"They're not?" He asked.

"Another gift, for someone else." I said, flashing a toothy smile.

"Well, aren't you nice." Urushi said as she finished tying the small bows on my order. "Here you are." Passing them down, I took all three packages. Handing the largest to Sasuke, I turned over the money. "Thank you for your business."

Looking at the two bags in my hand, my stomach once again churned with greedy desire. A light growl that I prayed no one heard accompanied it. "No, settle down." I thought to myself, "These aren't for me." No matter how much I wanted them, they were gifts. With a light sigh, I smiled up at Urushi. "Thank you so much!"

"You're very welcome." She replied with a heartwarming smile.

Now, all that was left was to find Shisui and hand it over. Although first I had to somehow slip the note inside the pack without being detected. Sasuke would be at my side the entire time so I couldn't just open it here. I'd have to go somewhere private.

"Oh wait, that's actually simple." I thought to myself as the most obvious answer came to mind. "Um, Mrs. Urushi?" I said, stepping a bit closer to the counter. I was about to ask when my words caught in my throat once more, eyes darting in Sasuke's direction. Weirdly, I was suddenly feeling self conscious. It wasn't like I was planning to ask anything weird but the thought of Sasuke hearing it left me feeling quite uneasy. Instead, I waved for Urushi to come in closer.

Nodding, the woman made her way around the counter and knelt down as low as her knees would allow. Glancing back once more to make sure my companion wasn't listening in, I raised myself onto my toes and spoke softly into Urushi's ear. "Could I use your bathroom, please?"

My question was met with a look of understanding and a gently nod, "Of course. Straight down the hall and second door on the right." Urushi said back just as quietly, motioning with her hand behind her while also granting permission to enter the premises. With a quick 'thank you' I darted past her, hurrying inside the dark building.

"Oh wait, do you want-" Urushi started to say but I was already long gone.

Once I found the bathroom, I closed and locked the door behind me. Thankfully, they had a large counter I could place the packages on. "Well, that was easy enough." I said to myself as I looked at the bag designated for Shisui. Specifically the thin ribbon tying it shut. It was too tight to simply force the paper through the top and I didn't want to damage the bag itself. Thankfully, the knot itself wasn't too fancy and something I could replicate. Carefully I tried to untie it but it proved to be a lot more difficult than initially expected. I just couldn't get my nail in under the knot to start prying it free.

"Darn it, I don't have time for this..." I muttered in frustration. If I took much longer they'd start to pry and ask if I was okay. "Come on... come on..." I continued to scratch away and finally, my fingernail found purchase and the knot finally loosened. "Yes!" I said a little bit too loud. Silently, I waited but there was no response outside so I was able to sigh in relief. I didn't completely untie the ribbon, instead, I loosened it just enough to be able to get a couple fingers in. Then, I pulled out the small baggie from my pocket, opened it and let the contents slide into the snack pouch. To be safe, I then reached in and shifted one of the crackers around so it would cover the folded up note.

"Okay." I said softly before retying the knot, doing my best to return it to it's original shape. Comparing it to Naruto's package the ribbon was certianly roughed up a bit but hopefully that could be passed off as some crumpling from being carried. I was about to leave when I realized I should take care of some business to make it seem like I was actually using the bathroom. So I flushed the toilet and washed my hands for good measure before returning to the storefront.

"Thanks again, Mrs. Urushi." I said cheerfully as I passed by. Outside, Sasuke was still waiting while snacking away on one of his senbei crackers. "Sorry for the wait." I apologized to him.

Sasuke gave me a look of minor annoyance before swallowing what he had in his mouth. "Whatever, you ready to go then?" He asked and I nodded in response.

"Yeah, I think so." I replied before turning back to the old couple. "Thanks again for the senbei!"

"You're very welcome dear." Urushi said, her husband simply nodding alongside. "Good luck with your confession, we're rooting for you!" She added with a cheeky smile.

"Its not like that!" I shouted back, cheeks flaring once more as all three of them began laughing again. With a low, annoyed growl I grabbed Sasuke by the arm and began to pull him towards the road. "Come on Sasuke, let's go." I grumbled while Sasuke protested, saying something about almost dropping his senbei but I wasn't listening.

"You're going the wrong way!" Teyaki called out, causing me to freeze up momentarily. Turning back, the old man was smiling while pointing down a different road. "Shisui's house is that way I believe."

"O-Oh..." I said, releasing Sasuke's arm so I could turn and bow. "Thank you... Would you happen to know where his house is?" I asked.

Teyaki looked to his wife as the two pondered on it a moment. Sasuke simply shrugged when I looked to him for an answer. Finally an answer came, "Its been a while but I think if you follow that street and take a right at the third intersection it should be around the end of that street. Can't say for sure though."

"Thank you!" I replied gratefully, since Sasuke did not seem to know where Shisui lived, any bit of direction was a big help. And with that, the two of us were off down the road. The short journey was relatively uneventful, punctuated only by the loud crunching of senbei crackers that made my stomach twist in envy.

Worse, unlike the area around the senbei shop, the foot traffic here was significantly higher. And thus the hateful and judgmental stares assaulted me once more. Unlike when I was with Misaki however, once they noticed I was with Sasuke they quickly diverted their gazes, at least momentarily. It appeared my choice in companion was the correct one.

At the third intersection indicated by Teyaki, we took a right. The street was a lot more narrow here and lined with housing. In the distance, a couple hundred meters or so, the street ended in a wall. Teyaki has said his house should be near the end so we continued on, a bit slower this time. As we walked, I was keeping my eyes pried for some sort of identifier or name plate. Sadly there was no luck there.

"Hmm... Maybe we should try asking one of the neighbours?" I suggested as we neared the wall. Luckily, just as I said that, the door of a nearby house opened and out stepped an elderly woman. She was much older than Urushi, her once black hair now nearly white and deep lines were carved into her face. Standing with a bit of a hunch, the woman required a wooden cane to aid her in her balance.

"Well, that works." I said, pointing her out to Sasuke. If possible I'd prefer him to be the one asking.

"Well, go on then." Sasuke replied, looking at me as if to say 'you're the one who wants to find him.'

Sighing, I could only shrug in defeat. "Okay, wait here please." I said and began to approach the old woman. My chest tightened slightly, she hadn't noticed our presence yet but I could only pray she would be as understanding as Urushi and Teyaki. I took in a deep breath, put on my best smile and called out as I reached the property line.

"Excuse me," I said as kindly as I could, the woman was about halfway across her lawn when she stopped and raised her head to look at me. I think her sight was impaired as her black eyes had that glossy look when one's vision was starting to wane.

"Oh hello there," She replied, straining her eyes to try and get a good look at me. "How can I help you?"

I wanted to sigh with relief, she appeared to be friendly enough, "I'm looking for Shisui's home, I heard it was around this area but I'm not sure where exactly."

"Young Shisui, eh?" The woman said as she started to hobble closer, "Yes he lives nearby, may I ask why?"

I lifted the bag of senbei crackers before me, "I just have something I want to give him, a gift as thanks for helping me out the other day."

"Well isn't that sweet." She replied as she reached the property line. Despite being hunched over, the woman still towered over me. "You're not the first to fall for that boy's charms, but you seem to be quite young." I could hear Sasuke snickering behind me.

Grin and bare it Meiko, grin and bare it... I thought to myself, feeling the side of my mouth twitch.

Once more, the woman was straining her fading eyes to get a good look at me, "That boy lives just over..." She started to raise her free hand as her words trailed off. Those glossy eyes seeming to finally gain a proper focus. The moment they did though, something in them changed. At first her eyes went wide then her brow quickly converged into a nasty scowl. The age lines in her face becoming deep trenches as her entire face scrunched up.

"You don't look like you're from around here." She said, the kindness in her voice replaced with gravelly mistrust. I wanted to pull away but with surprising speed, the woman's hand snapped forth and grabbed me under the chin. Pulling my face closer to her own, I could smell her breath as she spoke again. "Who are you? What do you really want?" She hissed, squeezing tighter with strength that did not fit her bony fingers.

"Ah... Ah..." Unable to find any words, I could only make a couple pathetic sounds as the woman tightened her grip further, fingernails digging into my cheek. For the briefest of moments, staring back into those faded obsidian eyes, a different face appeared to me. One that had terrified my nightmares for months. The face of that witch from four years ago masked itself over the old Uchiha.

"N-No..." My voice cracking as my body trembled involuntarily. In the back of my mind a single voice spoke reason, that this was a different person but my body refused to listen. The comparison only lasted a single second, a simple blink returned the woman's face to her own yet the effects still lingered.

"Speak up!" She demanded, shaking my head as she did so.

With a shaky hand, I lifted the package of senbei meant for Shisui once more, "Its... a gift... Senbei for Shisui..." I managed to say as I slowly got my body back under control.

"Eh?" The woman replied, turning her attention to the small bag. Once more straining her failing eyes to focus as I waited with baited breath. Finally, she released her grip on my chin. "You got this from Urushi?" She questioned, her tone having softened slightly.

"Y-Yes." I replied quickly. "Once I deliver them, I'll leave. I just want to thank Shisui, that's all. Really." I added in, speaking a bit too fast and stumbling a bit over my own words. For a few more seconds, she continued to eye me before sighing loudly.

"That woman was always too soft." She grumbled. "Fine," Pointing with her free hand, my eyes tracked the direction to a house second from the end across the street. "That's Shisui's house there. I don't know if he's home but I think I saw some movement outside earlier in the morning. Can't say for sure with these eyes." For a moment there, as she was talking, the woman's voice turned gentle. As though she forgot for a moment I was some trespasser. Of course, that only lasted a few brief moments.

"Once you're done, leave. This place isn't meant for people like you." She finished, her gruff tone returning.

Politely, I bowed. "Thank you very much. I shall leave as soon as my business is done, it was not my intention to bring any offence." The only response I got was a quick scoff. Not wanting to overstay my welcome I quickly retreated back to Sasuke's side. "Whew," I sighed with relief, glancing back as the woman slowly made her way onto the road and in the opposite direction. Sparing a moment to fire off one last glare in my direction.

"About time." Sasuke said, my high strung nerves causing me to jump slightly. "So, did she know where Shisui lives?"

"Y-Yeah." I replied, steadying myself before pointing at the same building she had indicated moments before. "That's the one, although the lady wasn't sure if he was home or not. Come on, let's get this over with quick." Not wanting to go through another incident like that, or worse, I started to quickly move towards the building. I only got a few steps however when something grabbed my left arm and held me tight. My heart skipped a beat, worrying that another angry Uchiha was about to let me have it. To my surprise it was just Sasuke with concern in his eyes.

"Hey, are you alright?" He asked.

Confused, I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. What's up?"

"You're shaking." He stated simply, causing me to look down at my arm he held. Indeed, my hand was trembling, albeit lightly. As soon as he released his grip, I quickly hid my arms behind my back as if on instinct.

"Ah, that..." I began desperately trying to think up an excuse. I figured Sasuke would not be too thrilled of me accusing one of his kin as the cause. "I just..." My words cut off again as nothing was coming to mind. On top of that, now that I was conscious of the fact, I could feel the light tremors reverberating through my body.

Suddenly, I had a sugar encrusted cracker shoved in my face. Blinking in confusion I looked to Sasuke who couldn't meet my gaze, his cheeks slightly flushed. "Here." He said as I cautiously took the offering. "You're hungry right? I know someone who has low blood sugar, they tend to get shaky too."

Well, that was convenient I thought as I took another look at the snack. My stomach grumbled as I held the object of it's desire and my mouth started to water again. Although on reflex I found myself denying the gift. "Oh, thank you but that's okay. These are yours after all."

"Take it. it's fine." Sasuke insisted, refusing to take it back. "It would be bad if you collapsed or something."

With a light sigh and a smile I gave in. "Alright, thank you." I said before gently placing the packs under my arm so both hands were free. Then I snapped the cracker in half, passing one back to Sasuke. "Here, this much is fine for me." I offered. Although to be fair it took a lot more effort to return that half than I thought. I might really have a sugar problem.

Begrudgingly, Sasuke accepted and we started walking once more. Taking a bite, the sweetness flowing over my tongue and sending shivers through my body. "Mmmm" I moaned, wishing I had a little bit extra cash to grab my own portion before leaving. Well, I'd just have to settle for this and savour it while I could.

Stepping up to the door of Shisui's home, the door was a traditional paper sliding door. The wood painted a deep blue causing the white of the paper and walls to pop out more. There was no doorbell or knocker I could see so I simply tapped firmly on the frame.

"Excuse me," I called out, "Is Shisui Uchiha home?" The house itself, like many here, was not very large so if anyone was home they should be able to hear me. I took another bite as the two of us waited in silence, the crunching of senbei being the only noise on the street. Knocking again, a bit louder this time, I called out again. "Hello?"

A few more silent seconds later, I turned to Sasuke with a shrug. "I guess he isn't home..." I almost wanted to shout in frustration. To have gotten this far, only to be thwarted by the simple fact that he wasn't home. There was a chance he was just out for whatever reason, the old woman did say she saw some movement this morning. If he was out on a mission though I was crap out of luck. And searching the compound wasn't exactly the best idea, I'd certainly draw unwanted attention in doing so and inevitably have another incident.

Crossing my arms, I muddled over my options. There had to be a good answer somewhere. My luck had held out this long, just a little bit more was all I needed. Even if I had to use up my next ten years worth to meet Shisui it would be worth it.

"Hey!" Sasuke practically shouted in my ear, a startled yelp escaping me as I nearly dropped the bags. "Finally got your attention." He said, clearly annoyed and impatient.

"Sorry, I can get lost in my own head sometimes. Kiyomi gives me crap for it all the time..." I chuckled awkwardly.

"Whatever," Sasuke replied before looking back to the door. "So what do you want to do now?"

Crossing my arm again, my face scrunched up as though I just bit down into an extra sour lemon. "I... Don't know. I need to be home for dinner so I can't exactly run around the compound looking for him." The time limit was just an excuse, I couldn't exactly tell Sasuke that it was dangerous for me to be running around his home. Still, I couldn't think of any other option. Should I test my luck then? Another option would be to try again another day, but the senbei would certainly go stale before I could return. I'd have to figure out some other gift in that time.

A loud, annoyed sigh broke me out of my mind before I could get too deep in my thoughts again. Sasuke stepped ahead of me and stood before the door, "Look, let's just leave it inside for him then. He can get it whenever he gets home."

I could only blink in surprise a couple times before finding my voice again, "But, isn't that trespassing?" It felt stupid stating something so blatantly obvious but I was more concerned with how nonchalant Sasuke was about just walking into someone's home. Even if it was an acquaintance of his that was quite a bold move.

"Yeah, and? Do you have a better idea?" He retorted and well, I didn't. My defeated look said more than words could as Sasuke stepped forward and before the door. "Just think about it like infiltration training. Just go in, drop it somewhere obvious and get out."

As much as I was uncomfortable with the idea, Sasuke had a good point. Rather than running around the compound I could just quickly run the package inside. Of course it wasn't perfect, I had no idea if he lived alone or not. Should someone else assume it was for them things could get bad. If I could write something down to indicate it was for Shisui, that could possibly solve that issue...

"Besides..." Sasuke said, his voice softer as he placed his hand on the door, ready to open it. "This is the quickest way, since you said you had to be home for dinner. Maybe, once we're done we could get some training in."

That was quite the surprise, I hadn't expected Sasuke to invite me to training, before I could answer, he quickly began coming up with an excuse. "I mean, my brother said he wouldn't be able to teach me anything today so I could use a training partner, that's all. And, uh, I guess I owe you for the senbei."

"Heh," Seeing Sasuke like that helped to lighten my anxiety about this little bit of B . While I wasn't entirely sure about overstaying my welcome, if he was personally inviting me I figured that was a good excuse. Plus, I couldn't deny the prospect of training with the guy who would be top of the year was a tempting one. "Sure. I need to tune up my shuriken jutsu after all."

"Alright!" Sasuke said happily as he slid the door open and stepped inside. I followed him after taking a quick look around to check if anyone was watching. Not spotting anyone, I stepped inside and quickly closed the door behind me. Before me stretched a short hallway. The floor a polished hardwood and illuminated by the rays of sunlight entering through the windows lining the wall. Ending with a single wooden door, on which a small sign reading W.C. hang. On the left were more sliding doors, decorated with vines and flowers that sat open revealing the living area.

I wanted to leave the package right here in the entrance but there was no counter or cabinet nearby. Even the hallway itself was rather barren, a couple pictures hung on the walls but little else. Sasuke was already moving on ahead, having removed his sandals and checking the living area. Pressed against the wall and peeking around cautiously. He really was treating this like a training session.

I took off my own sandals, it would be rude to track dirt into the house after all. Trespassing was one thing, dirty shoes on the polished floor was an unforgivable sin. Mom made sure to drill that into me. Stepping lightly, I slid in behind Sasuke. Humouring him with his little training exercise. I had some decent practice in moving quietly and hiding from my many games with Kiyomi... Not that it helped much since she was always able to find me. "Clear?" I whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

He nodded before spinning around the corner and into the room and I followed close behind. The living area was set with soft tatami mats, a small table sat in the centre with a seat pillow on each side. The far wall had a cabinet on which sat several pictures and beside it, a small shrine often used to pay respect to the departed. A faint hint of incense still emanated from it. To my right more sliding doors opened into the kitchen area and a closet.

The table looked to be the perfect place to put the package, out in the open and instantly noticeable. The table itself was clean, a small vase holding a single flour and a piece of paper were the only things on top of it. Sasuke however, crossed over to the cabinet and was taking a look at the pictures.

"Oh hey, its Itachi!" He remarked with an undeniable tone of pride in his voice. With a smile, I turned back to my task. We couldn't stay long after all. I double-checked it was the proper bag and gently placed it on the table next to the paper. "Mission complete!" I whispered happily. All that was left was to make our daring escape. As I turned to tell Sasuke it was time to leave, my eyes were drawn to the paper on the table. Curiosity getting the better of me, I started to read it. The handwriting was neat but a little shaky.

As I glanced over the contents however, my blood quickly grew cold. Slowly, I gripped it with a trembling hand and brought it closer to my face to make sure I hadn't misread it. I reread the note twice, three times, four and more. With each pass the world around me grew quieter until the only thing I could hear was the deafening beat of my own heart. There was no mistake. No matter how many times I read it the words would not change.

In my hands I held Shisui's suicide letter.

I was too late. Mere days ago I had met him. If only I had spoken with him then, if only I had remembered. How long ago was it? Three days at most? Heck it could have happened today. I might have just missed him by a matter of hours. Now what do I do?

"HEY MEIKO!" Sasuke shouted directly into my ear, he had probably been trying to get my attention for some time to be yelling like that. Still, it snapped me back to my senses somewhat. "Finally, what are you reading?"

I couldn't register his question. Now that the initial shock had passed, panic was setting in. What would happen if someone saw us here with the letter? There would be questions I couldn't answer. "We need to go." I said, placing the paper back on the table and scooping up the senbei.

"Wait, why are you taking those?" Sasuke asked, clearly confused but I wasn't sticking around. Instead heading straight for the door.

"WE HAVE TO LEAVE! NOW!" I called back with as powerful of an authoritative tone as I could muster. Right now the most important thing was to get out of here before anyone came by. Practically jumping back into my sandals, I had to take a moment to properly fit them before sliding the door open. I had planned to charge out the door and just start sprinting but instead I found myself stumbling to stop to keep from running into something.

Standing before the door was a person, he wore black clothing underneath a tactical vest, different from the usual ones seen on shinobi in the village. This one was thinner with fewer pockets and did not cover the shoulders. My eyes traced upwards, the person's face coming into view. He wore the signature headband of the village on his forehead, the metal shining between his parted bangs. The deep tear-troughs on his face adding years to his otherwise youthful visage. Deep black eyes staring down at me with cold indifference, although the whites had a tint of red to them.

"...Itachi..." Was all I could say under my breath as I stood paralyzed in his presence.

Sasuke's older brother took a step forward, stepping into the doorway. I took several steps back, my heel hitting the small step from the entrance and the hallway nearly causing me to stumble and fall. "What are you doing here?" He asked, his voice like ice, cold and stinging. His question was met with only silence. I couldn't talk, couldn't think, couldn't move.

"Hey Meiko! What the heck is this!?" Came Sasuke's voice as he ran into the hallway. I didn't, couldn't turn my head to face him. My focus was entirely locked on Itachi. "Oh Itachi!" Sasuke said, his voice not carrying the usual joyful tone it had when he met his older brother, instead he sounded worried. I could hear the rustling of paper as he ran up to my side and held out the note. "Itachi, is this real? Where is Shisui?"

Itachi said nothing, taking the note in his hand for but a moment before he turned his gaze back to me.

"You're going to come with me."