A/N: This chapter was meant to have plot, but instead you get more character development and set-up and foreshadowing, yay! You can blame the birthday scene.

o.o.o.o.o

"It still looks fake," Satomi said bluntly.

Sai's smile fell from his face. "What did I do wrong?"

"A lot of the human expression is tied up in the eyes," Satomi said, picking at the grass, a little bored. "You can't do much for things like pupil size, of course, but all the surrounding muscles influence the expression. Eyebrows are a big one."

Sai blinked at her. "How can I fix that?"

Satomi let her eyes drift across the training field to where Hana and Genma were sparring. There was probably a shadow clone spying on them; she knew that Genma could make at least one.

"Okay," she said after a moment, sitting up a little straighter. "You're going to name an emotion and a situation. I will make an expression that I think fits the situation, and you will attempt to mimic it. You're good at details, so it might work better. And I like to think that I'm not that bad at faking subtle emotions, so this should hopefully work. C'mon, suggestion time."

Sai nodded. "Feigning interest?"

"Do I want them to know that I'm feigning interest and leave? Do I feel sorry for them? Why is my interest waning?"

Sai blinked. "There's a difference?"

"Sure," Satomi pulled one knee up and hugged it. "The goal is half of the point, if the expression already involves actively faking or suppressing something. You may want to start with something simpler."

"Oh," Sai frowned at the ground. "Delight?"

"Situation?"

"You… just saw a picture of something you consider very cute," Sai decided, seemingly on the spot.

"Okay, so a lot of these are going to be a process, not just a single still pose or expression," Satomi warned. "Ready?"

Sai nodded.

Satomi slid into the role. Eyebrows pinch together and go up in the middle, but remain down and relaxed at the ends. Eyelids widen enough to show more of the eyes themselves, but minimally affect the surrounding skin and muscles. Mouth drops open, almost completely lax with only the slightest downwards tug of muscles on the jaw to keep it a little more open than total relaxation would have allowed. Hands come up to cover the mouth, but ineffectually.

Sai studied her carefully, then started trying to pull his own face into a shape that mimicked Satomi's. He wasn't entirely successful, but she could critique him later.

Satomi let her mouth start tugging up into a grin and her eyes widen just a little, and her eyebrows lifted up fully instead of just the middle. This was the second part of sudden delight.

Sai once again attempted to mimic her.

She gave up after a few moments. "Okay, maybe this would be easier with a mirror."

Sai's expression fell back into his neutral blankness. "I am sorry. I am… not very good at this."

"Nah, we've all got our strengths and weaknesses," Satomi said, waving off his concerns. "People are your weakness right now. You're not good at social stuff, so we get to work on it. I'm not all that good at teaching some things, but I'm sure we can figure this out. We're supposed to be kid geniuses, right?"

"Yes."

"Besides, you can actually school your expression. You'd probably be great at poker, as far as bluffing goes. Your actual luck with cards could be anything, but…" Satomi shrugged. "I once won a hand at Texas Hold 'Em with a pair of twos because everyone else dropped out and the only other person remaining had nothing at all and was bluffing completely instead of just mostly like me."

Sai blinked and tilted his head. "A pair of twos?"

"The lowest ranking possible hand that's technically still a hand," Satomi explained. "I bluffed my way into winning a lot with that move."

Sai considered that. "I still would prefer to be able to emote, so as to attend to infiltration missions and engage with civilian employers."

"I… may have an idea," Satomi said slowly. "It's not a very good idea, but…"

"That sounds like a recipe for disaster," Genma's voice came from behind her, and Satomi turned to see him and Hana, casually walking towards her and Sai while covered in dirt and various other gross things. "You two done with your discussion on strengths and weaknesses?"

"Yes, sensei," Satomi answered promptly. "I have a request about upcoming D-ranks, if it's possible?"

Genma raised an eyebrow, senbon flicking from one side of his mouth to the other. "Go on."

"I think some time in a customer service position would help Sai with learning how to smile convincingly, or at least convincingly enough that people don't question him directly."

"Have you ever been in a customer service position, Satomi?" Genma asked. "Because if you haven't, you'll find that—"

"Yeah. Not for long, but yeah."

Genma shook his head. "It's such an innocent question, and yet I almost don't want to ask why or how or when."

"Probably not, sensei."

"Okay, then. I'll see if there's anything available, since you're… not actually wrong." Genma shook his head again. "For now, I want to see what you can pull off with that genjutsu I gave you to practice last time."

Satomi made a face, but obligingly got to her feet. She dusted off the front of her pants, and then squealed as Hana grabbed her from behind, arms wrapped around her waist, and spun her in a circle.

"Put me down! Put me down!"

"Cast the genjutsu and I might!" Hana laughed into her ear, and Satomi grumbled. Of course it was one of Genma's training ideas. Of course it was.

Satomi flashed through the handsigns, trying to focus on the genjutsu despite the way Hana was jostling her about.

She failed, unsurprisingly.

"You know," Genma said as Hana set Satomi down, "You probably could have pulled that off if you were practicing more."

Satomi's pout receded into thinly pressed lips and downcast eyes. Oh, she was fully aware of that.

"In fact, I'm pretty sure that you should have been able to pull that off if you'd practiced the amount I told you to," Genma said, his tone conversational. "Which really brings up the question of what you were doing instead."

Satomi closed her eyes and fought to keep her tone even. "Nothing of importance, Sensei. I'm just not very good at time management, and very easily distracted."

"That's not exactly a good excuse, kid."

"I'm aware. I'm sorry. I… can't promise that it won't happen again."

"This isn't just a grade anymore. This is your job, and your life. Being unprepared could cost you both."

Satomi took in a sharp breath. Do not cry.

"I know, Sensei."

"Stop that," Genma said, and it was vague enough that Satomi looked up at him again.

"What?"

"That," he said, reaching down and taking her hands, unfurling them from the fists that she'd made, digging nails painfully into the meat of her palm. "Stop hurting yourself."

Satomi stared down at her hands. "Oh. I… didn't even realize."

Genma was silent for a long moment, and Satomi looked up to find her staring at her thoughtfully. "Have you been going to those therapy appointments?"

Satomi felt her expression flatten out. "Yes, I have. They stopped being relevant a fair bit of time ago, but if I go, so does Sasuke, and he needs it more than I do."

"You self-harm, Satomi. I'm fairly certain that qualifies as a reason to continue going."

"I don't break the skin and at this point it's more habit than anything. The pain just provides a point of focus that isn't my emotions."

"…we'll talk more on this later," Genma said. "Now, genjutsu practice. Run it again a few times, and we'll see if you can do better when Hana picks you up again."

Satomi squashed down the squirming ball of guilt and did as she was told.

o.o.o.o.o

"Guess who finally hit the double digits!" Satomi crowed, jumping onto Sasuke's bed and bouncing up and down until he lashed out with one hand and pushed her feet out from beneath her. She caught herself as she fell, rolling up into a handstand and planting her feet against the wall so she could hold her position more stably with chakra adhesion. Sasuke's voice, when he spoke, was muffled by the pillow he was lying face-down on.

"It's five in the morning."

"You were going to wake up in half an hour to train anyway. I figured I could do you a favor and—hey, watch it!" Satomi swatted at Sasuke's hand, pushing it away. "You just got a year older, shouldn't you be acting a little more mature?"

Sasuke lifted his head from his pillow and gave her a tired, disbelieving look. "Are you kidding me?"

Satomi tilted her head and smiled innocently. "I have no idea what you mean."

"Oh, shut up and go back to sleep." Sasuke rolled his eyes and let his head drop again. "We can get up in an hour or two. I know you don't have training until ten anyway."

Satomi shrugged and let herself drop down, snuggling up to Sasuke as much as she could with a blanket between them. "I'm cold."

"You're always cold. Circulate your chakra or something."

"Human contact is so nice though?"

"Ugh, whatever."

They stayed in silence for a few minutes.

"Happy birthday, bro."

"Happy birthday, Satomi."

o.o.o.o.o

"Again?" Sasuke asked, looking down at the package in his arms. He looked over at the longer, thinner one in Satomi's hands, and then back at the one in his. "These were checked over by ANBU or something, right?"

"Yes, they were," the Chunin running the courier mission said. She looked tired. "They figured it would be less worrying for you two to hear that directly this time, instead of running to the tower in a panic again."

Sasuke's frown deepened. "I had a right to worry about an S-rank nukenin sending me weapons in the mail."

The Chunin shrugged, pale green curls shifting on her shoulder. "Hey, I'm getting paid for this. I'm not complaining, even if it is just busy-work."

"We'll be fine," Satomi assured her. "Thanks for the help."

"No problem," the Chunin said, already looking down at the mission scroll in her hand to find her next location. "See ya around, I guess."

Satomi waited until she was gone to look down at the box in her hands. She looked up at Sasuke with a grin. "You first."

"What? Why?"

"Because if this goes like last year, I'll probably be squeeing too hard to get excited about your gift too," Satomi said, then tapped the box in Sasuke's hands. "Go on, take a look. I have to leave in a few hours, and you actually have class today."

"It's starting late, though. Iruka had a mission or something."

"Regardless, open the box." Satomi tapped the box in question again. "C'mon, let's see it."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and took a seat on one of the porch chairs, setting the box on his lap as he pulled out a kunai to cut through the tape. Satomi took her own seat on the porch swing, rocking back and forth a little as Sasuke opened the box.

"Cookbooks?" He said after a moment, seemingly confused. "That's… weird."

"Thoughtful," Satomi suggested. "You do like cooking."

"Yeah, but… since when does Itachi know? Or care? Shouldn't he be sending weapons or—"

"Box," Satomi reminded him. "That wasn't a weapon, now was it?"

"Well, no… but…" Sasuke kept looking down at the cookbooks, sifting through them. "These are pretty, um…"

"Exotic?" Satomi asked, looking closer. "I mean, he seems to have picked them up from all over. At least you can read them?"

Sasuke shrugged, a little uncomfortable. He focused on one book in particular. "Vegan? What does that even mean?"

"That it doesn't include animal products like meat, eggs, milk, and so on," Satomi explained, kicking her legs back and forth. "Some people go vegan as a health choice or for ethical reasons."

"…is it actually healthier, though?" Sasuke asked, looking dubious at the book.

"I mean… ish? It puts a heavier focus on vegetables in your diet, so I'd say that eating vegan some of the time could definitely be an improvement," Satomi said slowly. "I wouldn't do it all the way, though, because proteins are hard to come by in just veggies and legumes and fruits and grains and whatnot. I mean, you can find them, but it's a lot of effort to build a healthy diet solely out of vegan food and honestly I wouldn't bother with doing it fully. I'm not that committed to ethics. I'd rather worry about how the animals are treated before their killed, or about potential human rights abuses and—"

"I got the point," Sasuke said, cutting her off. "I know where the rest of that sentence is going, and ew do not have time for it."

Satomi pouted. "Fiiiiiiiiine. What about the others?"

"They seem… interesting?" Sasuke shrugged. "I don't know what to say. Open yours."

Satomi shrugged, and did so, lightly slipping a kunai between the flaps of cardboard to cut up all the tape, and then opened it to find two firm slabs of Styrofoam keeping whatever was in there safe.

Or keeping the box safe from it. Itachi very likely could have sent a weapon.

It required a little more effort than necessary to get the foam out of the box, but she got it out. As she balanced the Styrofoam in her lap, she noticed a card slipped between the two layers.

Try channeling chakra through it. The resulting effects are purely aesthetic, but I felt you'd enjoy the extra details. I had to bribe Sasori again, but I feel that he's going to start viewing these as a puzzle or challenge, honestly.

- Sincerely, Itachi

Satomi blinked, scanned through the letter again, and then shrugged. Okay. She trusted him.

She pulled the foam apart, and gazed down at what was inside.

She gasped, and didn't move for a few seconds. She could feel Sasuke getting concerned.

"Are you going to scream again?"

"It's so shiny…" She cooed, ignoring Sasuke. Careful fingers pried heavy metal out of the nest of foam, hefting it up and spinning it slowly through a simple movement she'd used previously with a bo staff.

"That looks like a weapon," Sasuke said carefully. "But…not a very practical one."

"It's a prop. A replica of something I saw in a story I very much loved. It's not meant to be used, not really, so I'll probably hang it up on a wall or something," Satomi explained carefully. She turned it over in her hands. "In the story, it housed a gem that had magical powers. This version, according to the letter, just lights up if you channel chakra through it."

Sasuke picked up the letter and scanned through it, mouth twisted into something Satomi wished she couldn't read into. "That's… nice? There's something on the back that's confusing me."

"Something on the back?" Satomi asked. She hadn't seen that. "Lemme see."

Sasuke wordlessly handed the card over.

Enjoy your glowstick of destiny, little changeling.

Satomi's first thought was that fucker, because she both was and wasn't a changeling, technically, and it was really rude yet kind of hilarious for him to point that out.

Laughter won out, though, because Itachi had called the gift by the joking name it had been given, however temporarily, in the movie.

Satomi channeled chakra through the replica of Loki's staff, spinning it in her hands and giggling as the fake Mind Gem glowed blue. "I love it."

"You're so weird," Sasuke muttered, rolling his eyes, but nonetheless asked, with ill-disguised anticipation in his eyes, "Can I try holding it?"

o.o.o.o.o

"You liar," Satomi said, grinning. "You didn't!"

"I'm not lying, and yes, I did." Neji rolled his eyes, passing over the schedule. "The studio is made with shinobi in mind, so you can shift around classes if you need to for missions."

"You're a sweetheart," Satomi told him, grinning widely as she scanned the paper. They were sitting on the back porch of the Uchiha house. "Seriously, you didn't have to do this."

"If I didn't agree to attend swing dance lessons with you, what kind of best friend would I be?" Neji asked.

"A normal one?"

"Enjoy your birthday present, Uchiha." Neji rolled his eyes again, and ruffled Satomi's hair.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Satomi batted his hands away. "My hair…"

Neji sighed, but there was still a small smile on his face. He smoothed the strands down and pushed them back into the braid where they'd come out. "Picky."

"Vain," Satomi corrected, and smiled when that got a snort of laughter out of Neji. Good. The boy didn't smile enough at home or school, that was sure.

"Most people wouldn't say that's a good thing."

"I don't see why not. I'm a pretty person. I put effort into my appearance, at least in some ways. Why shouldn't I be proud?" Satomi stood up and turned on the spot, her skirt flaring out as she spun. Her curtsy went deep, and she extended one hand in Neji's direction. "Shall we?"

Neji pressed his lips together, hiding a smile. He took her hand. "We shall."

Satomi closed her eyes for a moment. A song. She needed a… ah. Téir Abhaile Riú. Yes, that would do.

She plucked the memory from the recesses of her memory, drawn up and preserved by Itachi's access techniques, and used a genjutsu to start playing it for both herself and Neji.

"You know I don't know how to dance to this."

"Neither do I, dude. Just follow along. Let's make fools of ourselves!"

He did, of course. Neji had long since learned to dance as Satomi did, and knew when and how to tell her no if he didn't feel like joining in. Right now, as far as Satomi knew, there was no reason for him to drop out.

"Uh…"

Satomi turned her head towards the back porch, grinning when she saw Hana. "Hey, sempai!"

Hana waved unsurely. "Is there music I can't hear, or are you just…"

Satomi frowned in concentration, willing her genjutsu to expand past just herself and Neji, to envelop Hana and whoever was inside the house as well.

Hana blinked. "Oh. Well, then, isn't that something? Is this how you normally practice basic auditory genjutsu?"

"Yep!" Satomi spun out from Neji, spun back in, let him dip her, and then returned to their normal dancing. She giggled.

Hana huffed out a sigh. "Well, I guess that explains why you're better at auditory genjutsu than the other kinds."

"Absolutely," Satomi confirmed, then turned back to Neji. "Hey, let's do a lift!"

"No."

"Party-pooper."

Hinata ducked her head out of the house. "Satomi-chan, Neji-nii-san? We're almost done with the food, so you guys set the table!"

"On it!" Satomi called back, letting the genjutsu go and grabbing Neji's wrist to pull him towards the building. "Hana, come with us!"

"Yeah, okay," Hana said, tucking her hands into her pockets. "Sensei and Sai are on their way, since you invited them. Sai said he was considering bringing his brother?"

"I told him to," Satomi said, darting up the stairs and bouncing at the top as she waited for Hana. "We still haven't met Shin. He matters a lot to Sai, though, so I want to know what he's like."

"Sure," Hana said, shrugging and gesturing for the door. "After you, m'dear."

Satomi rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out, but pranced into the house nonetheless.

o.o.o.o.o

Genma handed over her present privately at the door, rather than further in. It was to avoid awkwardness, Satomi knew. It made sense that Genma only brought a present for Satomi and not Sasuke, but it was still plenty reason for awkwardness.

Satomi blinked down at the fingerless leather gloves nestled inside of packing paper. "Sensei?"

"They're pretty tough, so they should be able to protect your hands during taijutsu practice, or from when you slip up with your little trick with the chakra strings. It's also something I want you to wear as often as possible for other reasons."

"…I'm not following."

"Satomi, if you wear these, it's harder for you to self-harm."

Satomi couldn't hold back the flinch at those words. "Oh. I, um… I don't…"

Genma reached out took her hands, curling them around the package. "Wear them. You've already been playing around with how you present yourself and how to work your style around what few regulations the non-standard Konoha uniform has. The gloves won't be that much of a change, and we both know they fit what you normally wear fairly well. They won't get in the way, other than in ways that help."

Actually, they would be something of a problem from Satomi's perspective. They'd make washing her hands and keeping them clean much more of a hassle.

"They're not washing machine-safe, are they?"

Genma closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly through his nose. "Wear them while you're on duty, Uchiha. That's an order."

"…yes, sir."

"Besides," Genma said, putting a hand on her shoulder and maneuvering them both towards the dining room. "I'm going to drag Sai shopping soon anyway. He needs a little more variety in his life, wouldn't you say?"

"…you're prepping us for something with that, aren't you?"

"What kind of a teacher would I be if I didn't teach you all some bits of my part of the trade? You were going to receive infiltration training eventually. Might as well start now with the small stuff."

o.o.o.o.o

Shin was… nice. Vaguely so, anyway. He didn't emote much more than Sai, but he was better at avoiding insults and at least seemed to have some handle on small talk.

He was also rather ill.

"We aren't actually blood-related," Shin told them, shaking hands cutting apart his katsudon. He'd requested silverware instead of chopsticks near the start of the meal, claiming that they required less dexterity, and would be easier on his body. "But we were raised together, so we see each other as brothers."

Sai nodded wordlessly, his eyes fixed on Shin's hands.

"Well, blood doesn't always make a family," Sasuke said, deceptively light. His movements were controlled, but the air got awkward anyway. They all knew what he was talking about.

(It was hard not to, after someone asked about the spear-staff laying as decoration on a table, waiting for a stand of some sort.)

"Sasuke-kun," Hinata said quietly, elbowing him gently. Her eyes flickered to meet Satomi's. "Not now."

He pokes at his meal. "Sorry."

"So," Satomi says loudly, drawing attention to herself and changing the subject. "You said you'd been trying to find something to work on to enhance your shinobi skills even while undergoing treatment?"

Shin smiled blankly at her. It wasn't a very convincing expression, but it was the right one for the moment and better than Sai's. "Ah, yes. I cannot often leave bed, or expend much chakra, so I have been attempting to learn fuuinjutsu. The tremors make it difficult sometimes, but I have good days and bad days, so I can practice on the good days and study theory on the bad ones."

"Impressive," Satomi said, swirling her drink in its glass. It was cranberry-apple juice, but it looked enough like wine that Genma snorted in amusement. She grinned at him and continued. "In any case, I'm glad you could come here tonight. We're always looking to widen our social circle."

"No, we're not," Sasuke argued.

"We should be," Satomi shot back.

"I mean, you have a pretty good network regardless," Hana interrupted. "Like the several hundred people you're renting out to."

Satomi shrugged. "Nobody wants to live in a ghost town, but I make prices affordable. They're not much of a network, though. Just renters. I want actual friends and stuff."

"Then what does that make me?" Neji asked.

"My bestie and my sidekick, but I need more. I crave interpersonal relationships. I'm a hungry dragon that hoards connections. Rawr." Satomi kept her face completely straight.

There was a moment of silence, which was then broken by Hinata's giggle, hidden behind her hands. Hana joined in with a snicker, and even Shin and Genma cracked smiles.

"You're so weird," Sasuke groaned, burying his face in his hands.

"It's okay," Satomi said, patting Neji on the shoulder. "You're the second-biggest jewel in the collection."

"Should I feel offended that I'm not the first?" Neji asked.

"Do you want to compete with my actual twin?"

"Fair enough."

"Thank you for accepting your silver-medal status."

"I'm concerned about the sidekick comment, but I'd really rather argue the dragon thing. I don't think you're quite large or scary enough to be one of them, Satomi."

"And what would you suggest?"

"A bird of some sort, perhaps? The Uchiha were fairly well-known for their ties to both cats and birds, after all."

"Magpies do love to steal shiny things, my dear Neji."

"And there's been at least one corvid contract in your family, from what I know."

"I don't know if it covers all corvids."

"It could still be a sign, Satomi."

"I guess I'm a magpie, then."

"They do have the most unnerving laughs."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Don't you always?"

"And this is why the Hyuuga clan elders are expecting you to actually go through with the contract," Sasuke said.

Satomi made a face. "Ugh, don't remind me. I want to think about that as little as possible."

"I really don't think I'm old enough for that kind of decision," Neji said.

"I don't even know if I like boys yet," Satomi added.

(She'd been aroace before. She kind of expected that pattern to hold true in this life as well. Given all the age differences that would be in play due to her physical and mental ages contrasting to such a degree, it didn't really matter, since romances would be creepy in any direction, but still. She'd like to know.)

"Good luck with that," Hana said, raising her glass in a mocking toast. "Took me until last year to realize I was gay."

"Yeah?"

"Took me until I was twenty-three to realize I was bi," Genma offered. "You have time."

Satomi shook her head. "I mean, thanks? I guess? I'm just planning to ignore the entire concept of romance and sex until something proves me one way or the other. Or both. Or neither. Or whatever, there's a lot of options."

"Once again," Hana said. "Good luck with that."

"And once you do find out what kinds of people you're attracted to," Genma said, eyes sliding over to Hana, "Try not to start pining over people outside your acceptable age range."

"Oh my god, Sensei, let it go."

"Anko still laughs at me, Hana. A six-year age difference isn't going to do you any favors for a while yet."

"First of all, it's only a few years until I'm old enough that almost any age difference is negligible, and second of all, you were the one that said anything to her at all!"

"Hana, you're my student and I love you, but subtle about your affections, you are not. Anko knew before I said anything, and—"

"Oh my god, please stop," Hana whined, pushing her plate away so she could drop her head into her arms.

Satomi laughed quietly behind one hand.

"Anyway," Genma said, taking pity on Hana's pitiful form, "I did find us a mission that fit your request from the other day."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, kid. It's a simple one, but it'll do the trick."

It wasn't their first mission, of course.

It would be the first mission to go entirely off the rails, however, and would set them on the path they'd take towards the rest of their careers.

o.o.o.o.o

A/N: You can blame the magpie thing on Kieron Gillen's run of Journey into Mystery. Ikol and Leah and Thori made for a beautiful and morally dubious supporting cast.

I promise there's a reason for Shin being here and alive and not planning-on-death and yes it has to do with Danzo.