"Of all possessions a friend is the most precious."

Herodotus

I woke with a start, scaring Yukimaru and Shiromaru a bit as they immediately jumped up from my bed; their muscles tensed and bodies in guarding position. Oops.

Ever since Yuki and Shiro became my partners, they had become extremely protective of me. I couldn't blame them since I knew how they lost their previous partner, it made sense that they didn't want to go through it again. It did tend to keep me a bit isolated though, as people had a tendency to keep their distance when two massive, battle-hardened ninken growled at them for merely taking a step in my direction.

"Sorry." I apologized sheepishly, sliding my legs out from under the covers and getting to my feet. Today was the day I started at the Academy and I couldn't be more excited. It was a new experience, a new adventure, I was officially becoming a ninja. That was so fucking cool.

Still clad in my puppy pajamas, I practically bounced to the kitchen, Yuki and Shiro trailing after me.

"Morning Kaa-chan!" I chirped, sitting at the small dining table and swinging my legs, my ninken taking their typical spots on either side of me, resting their heads on my legs. They were very touchy-feely, but so was I so I wasn't complaining.

"Excited for today?" Mom asked with a laugh from her place at the stove. One of the things I wasn't expecting was for Mom to cook so much. She was an active duty Special Jounin and a fierce woman in general. Her appearance didn't exactly scream 'good mother'. However, she was also an excellent homemaker and an even greater mom. Almost every meal Hana and I ate was home cooked unless she was gone on an extended mission or had an especially rough day. It made me look up to her even more. She juggled her two lives seamlessly.

"Mhm. I'm going to be a strong kunoichi like you!" I said happily, taking a large gulp of the orange juice in front of me.

"I'm sure you will pup." Mom replied fondly, placing a plate of eggs in front of me and planting a kiss on the top of my head.

Dressed and filled with energy, Mom and I left the house, our ninken trailing behind us. Hana was already at the Academy and I didn't bother asking if Dad was going to make it. I didn't let myself be disappointed.

Mom and I had went shopping a week ago for suitable 'first day of school clothes'. The fishnet actually wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought it would be though I wasn't quite sure what the point of it was. Regardless, I had a fishnet top layered beneath a dark blue top, black shorts, a fur-lined white coat and standard ninja sandals. I liked the white, fur-lined coat the most, I matched Shiro and Yuki.

When we arrived, there was a small introduction ceremony for us. Mom sent me off with a push and I took my place with the other children, Yuki and Shiro flanking me protectively. There were a lot of strangers after all and they weren't exactly the most trusting. The Third Hokage was there and I couldn't help but be a little star struck, and a little sad. I knew his fate. He gave a very touching speech about the Will of Fire, how we were the future of the village, he sounded so genuine, so grandfatherly. I could see how he was the Hokage. Being able to hold the attention of children was a feat, but his speech drew me in, made me feel pride for my village, and it wasn't even really my village. Well, I guess it was, but still.

I looked around quite a bit. I was curious, by nature and by the fact that this was supposed to be a fictional world. The number of children surprised me. Due to the series, I assumed it was only one class of kids a year. I seemed to be mistaken. It looked like there would be about six or seven classes if the size of Naruto's was anything to go by. In hindsight it made sense, not all the kids would make it to graduation and even fewer would actually pass. Consider how dangerous of a profession we were choosing, there had to be a lot of us to fill the roster. I really didn't want to know the average amount of shinobi that die per year, but it had to be an exponential amount.

Especially now. Though Mom didn't tell me directly, I could figure out that the Third Shinobi War was currently ongoing. It was why Dad was away so much (I liked to think anyway), why the whole village seemed solemn. I heard the whispers on the streets, the worry. I wasn't though, I knew we would win the war, and soon. I didn't let myself think about Kannabi Bridge and the chaos that would ensue because of that event.

I was too young to make a difference, to save Obito from Madara.

Teacher after teacher called out the names of the class and lead them away. I was starting to get restless when a large, jovial man took the stage. None of the names stuck out to me until he got to mine.

"Inuzuka, Ashi." I grinned, jumping to my feet and strolling to where the rest of my classmates were waiting. The quickly shuffled away from me when I approached and I was confused for a moment before I realized why my classmates didn't want to be near me.

Yukimaru and Shiromaru didn't exactly look 'kid-friendly'. I was so desensitized to it, growing up with Kuromaru who was more ferocious than my ninken. It seemed they wouldn't allow me to fade into the background, the presence of ninken larger than the children made my appearance pretty obvious. That was fine. I didn't exactly want to fade into the background, I wanted to be someone, to be known, to be good at this. If it got me killed in the process, well, it wouldn't be my first time dying.

"And Uchiha, Itachi. Thanks, follow me, guys."

My head whipped around, eyes landing on the child approaching our little group.

Itachi.

Uchiha.

Was.

In.

My.

Class.

How did I miss him? How was I so oblivious to his presence? Well, it wasn't as if he stood out. He looked like just another kid.

Which made sense. This wasn't the Itachi Uchiha I was familiar with. The one who murdered his entire clan -save Sasuke-, the one who joined the Akatsuki, who sacrificed everything for his village, for his brother.

No, this was just a seven-year-old on his first day of school.

"Show them what you're made of Ashi!" I heard Mom shout and searched the crowd of parents before finding her, a wolfish smile on her face. The parents beside her looked a bit out off by her volume, but I was so used to it. It was comforting. I mirrored her expression and nodded once. "'Atta girl."

We walked to the classroom as a group, my classmates keeping a safe distance from me and my intimidating looking ninken. Looked like making friends wouldn't exactly be easy. I wasn't too torn up about it, I liked my solitude. The only one who didn't actively keep their distance was Itachi, and that was a complicated situation.

I knew what happened. Knew what he would be ordered to do, knew how he would die. Did I want to be his friend, knowing that any attachment to the boy would cause me pain?

Or you could change things. A voice in the back of my head whispered and I almost stopped dead in my tracks. That was absurd. How could I possibly hope to change such a major event? There was so much planning, plotting that went into it. What could I do? Yeah, I wanted to be someone, but changing the fate of the entire Uchiha clan was a little extreme.

I glanced back at the boy. He was quiet, wasn't chatting with our classmates. It was crazy, looking at him now, knowing what he would do.

Knowing you could stop it. The pesky voice whispered again and I carefully chewed on my bottom lip. I couldn't stop Obito being saved by Madara, I wouldn't be able to save Rin, I wouldn't be able to save Minato and Kushina, I was too young, too weak. But the Uchiha massacre was ways away. It gave me time to grow, to get more powerful.

It wouldn't be easy. I would have to keep up with him, that in itself would be challenging enough. Itachi was a prodigy, he graduated the Academy in a year if a remembered correctly. The skill required was nothing to laugh at.

Sure, the word prodigy was thrown around by my clan. I picked up things quickly, my adult mind made sure of that, but I was nowhere near Itachi's level. It would take a lot of work, a lot of training.

But maybe.

Just maybe.

I couldn't believe I was even entertaining the idea. The survival of the Uchiha clan would change the story so drastically. Sasuke wouldn't leave the village, that alone was such a major plot point. It could ruin everything.

But the lives that would be saved.

This was definitely going to get me killed.

"Hi!" I said cheerfully, falling back to walk next to Itachi. "I'm Ashi Inuzuka!"

"Hello. I'm Itachi Uchiha." He replied with a small, polite smile that managed to solidify my decision.

"These are Shiromaru and Yukimaru." I introduced, gesturing to each dog as they tilted their head when their name was said. "Wanna be best friends?"

"Best friends?" He parroted, charcoal eyes widening a bit. No Sharingan, it hadn't been activated yet if I remembered correctly. My heart ached.

"Mhm." I hummed, interlocking my hands behind my back and grinning wide, my long brown pigtails swinging back and forth and my canines on display by default.

"Okay everybody, take your seats!" The large man from before said with a large grin as we walked into the classroom. I sat next to Itachi, noticing how he never gave me an answer. Sure, it was a forward approach, but we were children, it wasn't that odd. "My name is Daikoku Funeno and I'm going to be your teacher."

Itachi never did never give me an answer, but I forced my way into his life. I sat next to him every day, absolutely talked his ear off, and became a complete pest of myself. Either he would get sick of me or get used to me.

We were all outside for our first sparring lessons, we were going one pair at a time so everyone could observe and I was first up. Nothing extreme, no clan jutsu, no jutsu in general, and no weapons, basically taijutsu, but without the jutsu. I was paired with some boy I didn't recognize, nor had any recollection of his name, I didn't talk to many people besides Itachi. However, I did recognize his pale eyes. Hyuuga. Interesting.

"Hm, this'll be a piece of cake." The boy sniffed arrogantly, arms crossed. Yep, Hyuuga.

"What makes you think that?" I asked curiously, head tilted.

"Everyone knows Inuzuka's are nothing without their mutts." He smirked and I felt my temper flare. He wasn't just insulting me, but my clan, my family. I was going to beat the fuck out of him.

"Not sure where you heard that, but you're in for a rude awakening." I grinned confidently, my canines as prominent as ever.

We were fighting with no jutsu and no sharp objects. Inuzuka's were monsters when it came to grappling. That little shit was getting his ass handed to him.

I dropped down to a squat, placing my hands and feet flat on the ground. It took some getting used to, but ultimately, being on all fours was a more comfortable battle position than standing on my own two feet.

"Disgusting. Nothing but ill-bred mongrels." The boy said with disdain and I launched myself at him.

He let out a small shriek as my fist made contact with his jaw in a harsh uppercut and I grinned. Who was nothing now you little shit?

He recovered and got to his feet, wiping the blood from his mouth and glaring at me.

"You'll pay for that you mutt."

I easily dodged his fist and dropped low, sweeping his legs out from under him. He hit the ground again and my grin widened. Mom had been training me for years. Years of sparring with an opponent stronger, faster, and bigger than me, this wasn't even a challenge. Maybe passing as a prodigy alongside Itachi wouldn't be as hard as I expected.

The boy once again got to his feet, face flushed red with anger and probably embarrassment.

"Still think Inuzuka's are nothing without their mutts?" I snarked.

"You're just lucky this is taijutsu only." He sniffed.

"Ha!" I barked. "We'll just have to see about that."

"Alright, alright, enough of that kids. Good work Ashi-chan, your speed, and efficiency are admirable. Keep that up and you'll be even more of a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. Shinji-kun, I think you've learned a valuable lesson on arrogance today and how it's never wise to taunt your opponents before a match unless it is part of a carefully thought out strategy." Sensei said and I skipped over to Yuki and Shiro who immediately jumped on me. I knew it was hard for them to watch me fight and not be able to assist me.

"You did well," Itachi said and my eyes widened a bit. His face had a tint of redness to it and I grinned. Every conversation I had with Itachi, as one-sided as it was, I was the one to instigate it. Ahh, sweet, sweet progress.

A/N: Edited by Empress Crowillow

A/N 2.0: I'm playing around a bit with the timeline here, I aged up Hana a year so Ashi and Itachi could be in the same class, also I'm a little fuzzy on the war timeline so I know it's not completely accurate.