First I'd like to say this is my first published story. Any reviews are very much appreciated.

If I (like the summary stated) made a character design/illustration I will put the link on the top of the chapter. Maybe in the end I'll make a chapter especially to collect all of them.

For now I have the character design of Chizuru when she is 7, and when she will be 10. Together with an illustration of her with Itachi.

Chizuru 7 years old: avalinel/art/OC-7yearsold-758641246?ga_submit_new=10%3A1533838786

Chizuru and Itachi without background: avalinel/art/Chapter1-758640714

Family portrait Chizuru 4/5 years old: avalinel/art/New-Family-Final-758642682

Where Ivory meets Onyx

Her ivory eyes where looking out of the window with a dreamy expression. Carefully she had balanced herself on the tips of her wooden sandals, so she could peek out of the window of the Mizukage's office. No, rather peek outside of his waiting room.

Today she was accompanying her uncle, the Water Daimyō, on his annual visit to Kirigakure. Naturally, she was taught a great deal of politics from her private tutor, but to actually see the hidden village was a special treat. Normally her days where rather busy and full, they allowed no room for loafing around. They existed out of being tutored in politics, playing the shamisen, learning history, practicing dancing, flower arrangements and calligraphy. She even had to learn the many ways of holding a tea ceremony and how to perform them perfectly. To visit a village full of shinobi was certainly something else from her daily routine.

Due to this change she expected to love every minute of the visit, however reality did not quite meet her fantasy. She had been stuck in the office for a couple hours now because her uncle had several formal appointments where she could not join him. Chizuru had already anticipated this when she agreed on coming along, but secretly she had hoped she could do something more interesting in the mean time. Right now she was stuck in a waiting room with an kiri ANBU next to her doing absolutely nothing apart from looking out of the window.

And yes, she had tried to make small talk with the guard. This, however, failed miserably. They were probably not allowed to talk. Or maybe the guard had no intentions on holding a conversation with a 7 year old, that was also a reasonable possibility.

When the door opened and her uncle came into view she repositioned her feet on the floor again, which resulted in her sandals making an a hollow clicking sound upon contact with the floor. A sweet smile appeared on her face as she slowly walked towards her uncle's direction.

"Chizuru, I'm afraid I'll have to leave you alone for a little while longer." he told her with an apologetic look on his face.

In response, she shaked her head slowly while hiding her disappointment "No, it's okay uncle. I understand."

She understood perfectly well that he had his priorities and right now they did not include her. In the meantime a foursome of guards had joined them in the room, which made it quite crowded.

She smiled kindly at her uncle, but before she could request to go outside the Mizukage walked inside together with a boy that was around the age of 7, just like her. Curious she cocked her head to the left. "I will give my assistants the order to look for the scrolls in my office." He told the boy.

With a couple of curious eyes Chizuru looked from the Mizukage to the young shinobi. She wondered about the content of the mentioned scrolls and why the young shinobi needed them.

From the headband he wore she could tell that he was from Konoha, the hidden village of the land of Fire, meaning he was probably on a mission to retrieve the scrolls.

"I already granted your teammates access to the library." the Mizukage he mumbled hastily.

Her uncle looked at the Mizukage and back to the young boy. His eyes finally rested on her. He flashed her a reassuring smile that said 'I know, and I will try to fix it.' He stepped closer to the Mizukage and whispered something in his ear. The Mizukage looked a bit confused and in his turn whispered something in her Uncles ear.

This went on until the Mizukage nodded understanding and turned towards the boy.

"Uchiha, was it right? While you wait for the scrolls to be retrieved, I have a small mission to keep you occupied."

The young boy looked up towards the Mizukage and nodded.

"Your job is to keep the niece of the Daimyō company and guard her until the end of the afternoon. There will be several ANBU on guard around the entire city. Just a reminder."

Her uncle nodded approvingly towards the Mizukage and glanced sternly towards the young boy. With a snap of his fingers, he signaled the guards to join them while he and the Mizukage walked off towards their next meeting.

She received a last smile from her uncle before the pair accompanied by the five guards left the room, leaving her alone with the young shinobi.

His onyx eyes met her ivory ones after the door was shut. To be perfectly honest, she was pleasantly surprised about how all of this had turned out. At least she could spend time with a shinobi and possibly take a look around the village.

Careful not to wrinkle her kimono she walked closer to the boy, who looked quite stiff and stoic. When she closed the distance, she bowed gracefully.

"Nice to meet you, I am Murakami Chizuru. May I ask what your name is?" she asked him.

His onyx eyes never left her posture while he bowed to her and answered "Uchiha Itachi. Nice to meet you." a smile appeared on her face.

Since they were formally introduced, she had hoped they could leave this waiting room as soon as possible. Although the Mizukage did not specify anything, she hoped he would share her idea of going outside.

"Have you been to Kirigakure before?"

Slowly she shaked her head. "No, I have not. This is the first time accompanying my uncle."

He nodded and quietly looked at the door.

"Uchiha-san, would you mind if we take a look outside?"

Since he asked the last question, it was more then fair she asked something in return. And she really did want to go outside.

In response, he nodded again and opened the door for her. Although her face might not have show, was absolutely delighted to see the hidden village unclose.

In a calm pace they walked in the hallways of the office, side by side without saying anything for a good 10 minutes, until he suddenly spoke.

"You can call me Itachi."

Being caught off guard she raised her eyebrows and looked at him in surprised. Luckily she returned to her usual composed self soon after.

"Itachi…"

The world lingered in the hallway. When they reached the exit and finally came into contact with a lovely fresh breeze she looked at him with a genuine warm smile.

"You can call me Chizuru."

After some walking, small droplets began falling from ever so grey the sky. While remaining composed and calm she looked left. Itachi did not seem to mind the rain, so she continued walking. It was quite peaceful, walking here next to someone her own age. It seemed strange, he spend his entire youth training for a greater purpose. To safe people, or so she assumed. And what about her? She spend her youth studying, practicing the arts. And for what goal? To become the perfect wife for someone that was high up in the politics in the Land of water. How could two futures seem so different? They were both alive, both human, the same age, and yet so different

Everything he knew she had no knowledge of and every skill she possessed he probably never bothered to think about. He probably thought it was insignificant compared to his skills.

While being deep in thought, they passed a big concrete building with some children outside. Her endless cycle of thoughts ended when she saw some children around their age running past them while playing some kind of tag game. It looked rather aggressive. Maybe this was the kind of tag shinobi played?

Her eyes lit up in curiosity while she followed the kids with her eyes. They looked like regular children, in a way they appeared carefree.

She knew the village was currently unstable, her sensei and family tried to keep her as much away from the 'serious' matters as possible, but every now and then she would listen in on the conversations held in his office, and it sounded pretty serious. Especially everything regarding the Hidden mist- or as some might call it: Village of the bloody mist.

Her gaze lingered on the children. They had a certain look in their eyes besides the playfulness. Something serious, something scary. Which can be expected from all of the stories she secretly eavesdropped upon. She wondered if it was ever going to peaceful. She wondered if these ways where the ways of the Water Country, and that she might have the same serious look in her eyes someday

She shrugged a bit while she had her eyes locked on them. She, however, flinched when one of the children had almost caught up to the other one and tried to tag him, not with his hand but with his kunai. Luckily, when he appeared to hit the other kid, he disappeared in smoke.

A small giggle escaped her mouth.

Upon realizing, her hand quickly covered her mouth while she looked away in embarrassment, hiding the faint blush on her cheeks. She could feel Itachi's gaze on her, which made it more embarrassing.

Tactfully she composed herself and then looked Itachi's way.

"This is a school, right? But for shinobi… My sensei told me about it."

When they passed the building she started thinking. Itachi was around the same age as her, so why wasn't he in the academy like the other children? She turned her head towards him and stopped walking.

"Say, I hope you do not mind me asking, but why aren't you in school right now?" she asked way to bluntly.

"I graduated this year." he said, while he shot her half a smile.

"Graduated? How old are you?" She asked curiously.

She had suspected that he was about the same age as her, but she might have been wrong... She children usually graduate from the academy at the age of 12. He certainly did not look 12 in her eyes.

He shrugged. "Seven. I graduated early."

He was a prodigy, graduated at the age of 7. Although her admiration was not very noticeable, she did think it was admirable. Graduated at the age of 7, that is quite something.

A small smile was displayed on her face when she thought of the accomplishment. When she looked at him back at him she could see a smile on his face. They looked at each smiling for no longer then a secord, but she could have sworn she saw a faint blush on his cheeks.

The small droplets from before where currently not so small anymore, in a minute the rain started pouring from the sky. In despair she looked around to search for something where they could take shelter.

Itachi, however was way faster and had already spotted something. He held out his hand. Around them the people on the streets were running and seeking shelter already. The rain was incredibly heavy and filled his open handpalm in no time with a small puddle of rain.

In the heat of the moment, she grabbed his hand without a second thought. Plashing the water around their joined hands. Together, they started running and although it seemed completely normal, she could not help but blush faintly and smile at the situation.

The run seemed to go on for ages and she was incredible relieved when they finally reached the shop. When they entered, Chizuru was panting. The run had been rather unpleasant, especially because she was wearing geta. Luckily, Itachi slowed down for her, or at least, she suspected that he did

While she caught her breath her eyes secretly glanced towards Itachi, who just stood there very casually, like they did not just run on high speed trough the rain. When she finally caught her breath, she shaked the rain off her pale purple kimono which had dark wet spots all over the shoulder and arms. Now that the rain was removed as much as possible, she could look around and figure out where Itachi had taken them.

She had to admit she was pleasantly surprised with their location, which appeared to be in a dango shop.

It made her realize that she secretly craved some sweets, especially after spending the entire morning waiting and doing nothing. She would love to eat some dango and hoped Itachi would join her. Although, Itachi did not look like someone who had a sweet tooth.

With a curious look, and sparkling ivory eyes she turned to Itachi, who shaked some rain of himself. "Would you like some dango?" she asked kindly.

Where Onyx meets Ivory

His team had been send to Kirigakure for a small mission. Retrieving some scrolls about the known poisons in the area. The Hokage and Mizukage had decided on a collaboration regarding their shared knowledge about antidotes against poison. Both shinobi from Kirigakure and Konohagakure had been poisoned, and many had already died due to the unknown poison.

His teammates had been granted access to the library, where they were currently searching for scrolls. Itachi had been send to the Mizukage to retrieve the scrolls he had in his own possession. However, the Mizukage had been too busy to tend to him. In matter of fact, he was in company of the Water Daimyō, which obviously held priority.

He had been waiting in the hallway since the waiting room was closed and was being well guarded. When the Mizukage and Daimyō walked outside, the Mizukage had signaled him to walk along.

The first one to enter the waiting room was the Water Daimyō himself. Itachi immediately observed the change in his posture as the Water Daimyō opened the door. When he first spoke, the change in his tone of voice was also significant. The girlish voice that answered the Daimyō explained it all.

The guards followed by the Mizukage entered the room next, and finally Itachi entered the room last.

As he entered, he saw the owner of the girlish voice. A young girl that was about his age, dressed in a formal looking Kimono that colored slightly purple. Her long hair was extensively cared for and her demeanor looked elegant. .

The Mizukage finally spoke to him, telling he would order his assistants to look for the scrolls in his office. Itachi simply nodded upon hearing this information. This meant he could join his teammates in the library.

The Daimyō seemed to want to have a word with the Mizukage and whispered something in his ear, on which the Mizukage responded again.

After some whispering and confused looks, they finally seemed content and the Mizukage turned towards him.

"Uchiha, was it right? While you wait for the scrolls to be retrieved, I have a small mission to keep you occupied."

He looked up towards the Mizukage and nodded slowly. He wondered what kind of 'small' mission this would be, since he was a Konoha Ninja, not a kiri one.

"Your job is to keep the niece of the Daimyō company until the end of the afternoon. There will be several ANBU on guard around the entire city. Just a reminder."

The Water Daimyō gave him a stern look, and Itachi swallowed. It was a weird request, but since this mission was in the name of peace and a collaboration, he figured that it could not hurt.

Itachi nodded, and with a snap of fingers the guards, Mizukage and Water Daimyō began leaving the room. This left only him and the girl alone in the room together.

Her body language was careful and gracious. The way she neared him in the kimono and on her geta was skilful. When she stood in front of him, she bowed with the same grace as she had walked.

"Nice to meet you, I am Murakami Chizuru. May I ask what your name is?" while bowing back, his onyx eyes where locked on her posture.

"Uchiha Itachi. Nice to meet you." he said in a neutral tone.

He had been surprised with her manners up until now. She lacked the playfulness that the 7 years old in his village did seem to possess. Everyone but him, he realized that. He simply did not care for childish games. He rather trained. She seemed the same, although she might have not chosen this herself. It was probably forced on her, being the niece of the Daimyō.

He did wonder if she had been to the hidden village before, and decided to ask "Have you been to Kirigakure before?"

She shaked her head in response. Her dark hair that dangled next to her face moved gently due to the movement of her head. "No, I have not. This is the first time accompanying my uncle."

Itachi nodded in response.

The age of 7 seemed like a good age to learn more about the hidden village. It seemed disappointing though, she traveled here with her uncle to visit the hidden village and all she did up until now was sit inside while being guarded.

His dark eyes glared at the door wondering if they should go outside and if she would be allowed to.

"Uchiha-san, would you mind if we take a look outside?" she asked suddenly.

Did she just read him, or was her question fully a coincidence? It did not matter. Itachi walked towards the door, and opened it so she could walk through. After closing it, he caught up to her and took his place next to her.

The walk was silent, so silent their steps could be heard twice, due to the acoustics in the building.

"You can call me Itachi."

She was visibly caught off guard by this. In the corner of his eyes, he saw her raising her eyebrows and eyes widening. However, she composed herself rather fast, showing she was used to this. "Itachi…" She spoke. Her words softly echoed in the hallway, and lingered there for a while.

They where nearing the he would be a lot faster, but since she was wearing wooden sandals, the walk had been longer then he first anticipated. Upon reaching the exit, they where greeted with a kind breeze that brushed trough their hair.

He looked towards his side, to see her expression, to only be greeted with a genuine smile. "You can call me Chizuru." she said, while she closed her eyes and cocked her head slightly to the side while smiling. He quickly turned his head towards the other side, aware of the slowly appearing blush on his face.

It was his first time in Kirigakure, and he only knew it from this mission. They had arrived yesterday evening, and they had walked around the city a bit. He could show her the things he already knew, but his knowledge was very limited.

During their walk, small droplets fell from the sky. He noticed she turned her head to look at him as soon as the rain started falling.

He gave no response.

She was probably trying to figure out if he minded the rain, which he did not. If she minded it, he was positive she would have spoken up, so he remained silent. The silence was comfortable, it felt familiar in a way.

While walking his route, they passed the academy that was very well known for its blood thirsty ways. Currently the students seemed to have a break, and where playing tag with each other. The children that where playing tag where nearing them, and right before their eyes one failed to tag the other, since the target disappeared.

Itachi remained silent, he did not care for the game, and their skills where average. Chizuru, however, seemed to enjoy it. A giggle had escaped her mouth, and out of the corner of his eye he saw her covering her mouth in embarrassment.

His skilful eye even spotted a blush on her cheek that she tried to hide. Again, she managed to compose herself in a blink of an eye. "This is a school, right? But for shinobi… My sensei told me about it." she mentioned. Her sensei appeared to teach her about shinobi too, this he noted mentally. Although it might have seemed trivial to some, Itachi was rather curious about her education, since she seems intelligent enough, especially for her age.

He had already been surprised with her politeness, language and manners and noted she seemed different from other children their age. The ivory eyed girl was way more refined, and careful.

The playfulness had left her, and he could not help but think they seemed similar, just a tiny bit. Itachi could only guess she was raised strictly, and had a very good education. Chizuru suddenly turned towards him and stopped walking. Noticing this, he naturally also stopped. "Say, I hope you do not mind me asking, but why aren't you in school right now?" Blunt. Very blunt.

Itachi wanted to raise an eyebrow, but contained himself. "I graduated this year." He admitted. He wondered when she would ask about his education, since she seemed occupied with her own. It's only natural to mention and question the subjects closest to you.

It seemed likely she would ask more, so he prepared himself for the next question. "Graduated? How old are you?" she asked curiously.

There it was. "Seven. I graduated early." he said, while offering her a small but genuine smile. The praises of his mother and father upon his graduated where something that he kept in the back of his mind. Something that made him smile. Her reaction, however, was something that was quite rare in his opinion. She did not congratulate him, praise him, call him a wonder child or simply a prodigy. She just smiled. Not noticeably and bright, but genuine and kind. For some reason, that small gesture was worth a lot more.

The rain had been minimal, just a few small droplets. He however, already anticipated the heavy rain that would soon follow. Itachi already smelled it in the air, and his skilful eye had already searcher for the nearest places to seek shelter.

He held out his hand so she could hold on to him. The heavy rain filled his hand open hand with a peddle of water, while he looked at her intensely, waiting for her to grab his hand.

When she grabbed it, the peddle of water in his hand splashed, leaving sparkling raindrops traveling upwards around their hand, mixing with the ones falling from the sky downwards.

There where 12 possible shops they could take shelter in that they just passes, and yet when she grabbed the hand that he held out, he choose the one that was the furthest away. He predicted that the first 5 possible places that where the nearest by where already occupied and crowded with people that had a similar idea, so it would be natural he would guide her to another place that seemed less crowded.

That left 7 places. A furniture store, a weaponry, a kimono shop, a flower shop, a cafe, the kirigakure library and the dango shop. The weaponry was out of the question. The furniture store did not seem like they would want two wet kids near their furniture. The library had the same story as the furniture store, plus his teammates where occupying the library, and he did not care to elaborate them on his new day-mission.

This left them with 5 options. He was certain she would have loved the Kimono and flower shop. Judging on the high quality kimono she was wearing, and her personality. And still, out of all those options he chose the dango place.

The mist was thick, and in combination with the rain it was hard to see where they where going. He could feel her hand clenching his, afraid to let go. The mountains and bridges in Kirigakure did not make the run easier. Obviously Chizuru did not have the same stamina, and she appeared to have a hard time catching her breath.

He had already made sure he adapted to her pace while running, but maybe he could have lowered the pace even more.

Finally reaching the dango pace, he heard a relieved sigh which made him smile for a second. When she caught her breath and shaked the rain droplets of her kimono, she seemed rather pleased that he had chosen the Dango shop.

Of course, she did not realise they passed about 4 other fair possibilities along the way. Itachi himself brushed some droplets of his attire himself, while looking around the store.

His eyes flashes towards the menu for a second, especially on the Hanabi dango. His favourite.

The unknown reason why he had chosen the dango place still bothered him. He wondered if it was out of selfish desire just to eat dango, which seemed unlikely. Maybe he wanted to share the experience of eating dango, but that seemed something unlikely too. Why would he make her run further, causing inconveniences for her, just to share Dango?

Next to him, Chizuru looked at him with an rather curious sparkle in her ivory eyes. At times, it seemed like she was trying to read his mind. While looking slightly away, he moved his hand trough his bangs, to shake some of the rain out.

In the meanwhile, Chizuru had turned towards him, still with that curious glint in her eyes "Would you like some dango?" He nodded without thinking.