"Tonight is Juugoya, Koharu."

"Ah?" A six-month-old baby girl babbled in confusion at her father's words. The man smiled warmly at his daughter, even though she couldn't see him.

"Maybe I should let you try some purple sweet potato tonight." He said as he lightly tapped her tiny mouth with his index finger. The baby girl cooed and grabbed ahold of the digit before sucking on it. He smiled and looked back up at the sky. "Kushina-sensei should be in labor by now. A baby boy, blessed by the harvest moon..."

Suddenly a strong breeze blew, carrying an ominous feeling through the air with it, along with the smell of a wild animal. Koharu released her father's index finger and began to cry in terror. The young man held his child close to him in an attempt to comfort her.

'What is this feeling?' Mayonaka Shinji worried as he rocked his daughter. Suddenly he sensed a chakra that he immediately recognized. 'The kyuubi!'

Without a moment's hesitation, he turned and stood up, jumping onto the roof of his small house and then to the street beyond it, and not a moment too soon. It was mere seconds later that the house was smashed to pieces by a massive fox with nine tails.

Konohagakure quickly erupted into chaos as the Kyuubi began wreaking havoc. Shinji ran as quickly as he could, deftly dodging left and right to avoid danger, his daughter still wailing pitifully in his arms.

"All civilians, evacuate to the southeast shelter!" He heard someone call.

The southeast shelter... that was located in the Stone Faces, but...

Taking shelter for a brief moment, Shinji infused his chakra and directed his gaze toward the region where the Kyuubi was. There! A sinister chakra in the same area as the Kyuubi. Shinjiro's eyes widened in shock. He recognized this chakra! But if that person were behind this...

He looked down at Koharu, who was still crying pitifully in his arms. He had no other choice. He changed directions and ran toward the neighborhood of the Uchiha Clan. He arrived just in time to witness five-year-old Uchiha Itachi smashing a boulder into pebbles by combining taijutsu and chakra control as the boy's mother watched in utter shock, her younger son Sasuke in her arms.

"Mikoto-san!" Shinji called as he rushed toward them while Itachi landed lightly on his feet.

Uchiha Mikoto's eyes widened in recognition. "You're..."

"I'm sorry to trouble you, but please! Take Koharu to safety!" Shinji pleaded, abruptly shoving his daughter into Itachi's arms since Mikoto was already holding her own child. "And don't go to the southeast shelter! The enemy will expect that!"

"Enemy...?" Mikoto repeated in confusion.

"We're being attacked by a rogue ninja. One who used to reside in Konoha. Take the children anywhere but the southeast shelter. The Uchiha have some sort of underground storage room or something, right? Take them there." Shinji explained as he turned to leave.

"Wait! Where are you going?!" Mikoto called with concern.

"I have to go help Yondaime!" The young man answered before leaping away.

"Okaasan." Itachi said as he looked up at his mother, the frightened Koharu clinging to his shirt. His questioning look told her that he wanted to know where to go.

Mikoto looked bewildered and bit her lip, but then quickly made up her mind. "Let's go to Nakano Shrine." She told Itachi, turning and running south, but heading toward the southwest corner of the village instead of the southeast. "Mayonaka Shinji's sensory abilities are second to none. If he says that it's safer there, then that's where we'll go."

Itachi nodded in confirmation and ran alongside his mother. Mikoto had now activated her Sharingan to avoid needing to be saved by Itachi a second time. Koharu was still wailing in terror, along with Sasuke, although for slightly different reasons. Sasuke was crying because, in addition to the overwhelming stimulation of the chaos, he could sense his mother's apprehension as she carried him in her arms. For Koharu, it was different. She couldn't see what was happening, though she could hear the sounds. However, more than anything, she felt all of those around her. Pain, fear, grief... all of these emotions were mixing and swirling together. And then there was Itachi. Whatever calm facade he might've been displaying on the outside, Koharu couldn't see it, but she could feel his innermost emotions. Anxiety, dread, heartbreak. As Itachi assured his mother that he was fine when she noticed that something was off about her oldest child, Koharu knew that the boy holding her was anything but fine. And thus, she continued to cry pitifully.

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Sometime later, Uchiha Fugaku watched with concern as civilians filed out of the Southeast Shelter when the attack was over. Where were his wife and children?

"Fugaku-san!" Upon hearing his name, the chief of police turned to see Mayonaka Shinji running up to him with a newborn baby in his arms. He opened his mouth to ask the man what he needed, but Shinji beat him to it. "You won't find them here." The younger man said as he shifted the newborn he was carrying. "I asked your wife to look after Koharu and advised her to take shelter elsewhere. If wasn't for Lord Fourth's Hiraishin, the shelter would've been hit by a bijuudama."

Fugaku blinked in confusion, "You anticipated that the Kyuubi would aim for the Stone Faces?"

Shinji's expression turned slightly awkward as he replied, "I had a greater awareness of the situation than most. Anyway, it seems they've taken shelter underground in the southwest corner of the village. I'm sorry to ask, but could your family look after Koharu for tonight? I'm needed at the hospital."

Fugaku nodded in confirmation. Shinji's request was completely understandable. The matter of the newborn he was carrying aside, the hospital was going to need all hands on deck after this disaster, and very few iryouninja had the necessary skill to use the Mystic Palm technique. The village couldn't afford to be without a man of Shinji's talents at this hour—especially since he was the new head of the medical corps—which naturally meant that somebody else would have to watch his infant daughter, being as her mother had died in childbirth.

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As he had expected based on Shinji's description, Fugaku found his family hiding in the room beneath Nakano Shrine. Sasuke had settled down by this point and was asleep in Mikoto's arms. Koharu had quietly nestled herself against Itachi's chest, and by all appearances, seemed to be asleep as well. When she saw her husband, Mikoto came forward and kissed him gently before Itachi stood up and walked over with Koharu.

"You must be tired." Fugaku said to his older son. "Let's get home, assuming it's there, so you can go to bed."

Itachi nodded silently.

"Where's Shinji?" Mikoto asked.

"He's fine, but the hospital needs him right now." Fugaku answered, "He asked that we look after Koharu until he's done." Mikoto nodded in understanding. At that moment, Koharu whimpered, dispelling any thoughts that she might be asleep. Itachi looked slightly confused as she opened and closed her mouth, but then they all heard her stomach growling rather loudly.

"I think she's hungry." Itachi said bluntly.

"Shinji must not have had time to give her dinner." Mikoto sighed, "We'll have to find some baby food for her. Poor little thing. She can't see, and she isn't old enough to talk yet... It must be hard for her to interact with people."

"Why can't she see?" Itachi asked curiously.

"I don't know the specifics, but... something went wrong when Koharu-chan was born." Mikoto explained, "That's why her mother didn't survive the birth."

Itachi seemed thoughtful as he stepped out into the moonlight and observed Koharu's midnight blue hair, which was the same as her father's. Come to think of it, he didn't know anyone else in the village who had hair like this, or with the last name of Mayonaka. "Kaasan," The young boy began, "Where did Shinji-san and Koharu-chan come from?"

"Huh?" Mikoto blinked as she looked at Itachi. It wasn't that his question surprised her so much as the fact that he was asking right now. She smiled softly at him, "That's right... you were only a baby yourself when I think about it." Itachi looked up at her with his usual blank yet inquisitive expression. "Four or five years ago, a little before the war started, Lord Fourth went on a mission to the city of Roran in the Land of Wind to stop a puppet master from taking control of the Lei Line. Afterwards, Shinji came to him and asked to be allowed to accompany Lord Fourth and his team back to Konoha. The Mayonaka Clan that Shinji comes from had been the ones that requested the mission. They had formerly been the city's military, but when the puppet master managed to gain the young queen's confidence, he targeted their clan and forced them to retreat into the shadows to survive. Shinji was worried that if everyone in his clan remained in Roran, the clan would eventually be destroyed, so he asked to come to Konoha to have a better chance at preserving his bloodline. The Mayonaka Clan apparently has ties to the Yamanaka Clan, the Hyuuga Clan, and the Uzumaki Clan, so this was a good place for him. And coming here was probably the right choice. Roran ended up being destroyed during the war, and it's unknown if there are any survivors of the Mayonaka besides himself and Koharu-chan at this point."

Itachi looked down thoughtfully at the baby in his arms. "So that's why..." He knew that his own clan was small, but to be reduced to only a father and child? He couldn't imagine it.

Well, at that time he couldn't, but within the next several years, he would come to understand what it meant to be feared for having too much power, both for a clan... and for an individual.

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Following the tragedy of the Kyuubi Incident, Shinji became the guardian of the Fourth Hokage's son, Naruto, who had been born that same night. This had been Minato and Kushina's wish, both because of their close friendship with Shinji and because the young man was the only person skilled enough in fuinjutsu to ensure that Naruto's seal did not loosen over time. Contrary to many of the villagers, who blamed little Naruto for the incident, Shinji treated Naruto as his own son and Naruto and Koharu grew up together as siblings.

Koharu had her own struggles within the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Shortly after Naruto's birth, she awakened her clan's visual prowess, the Shinjitsugan, at an unprecedented age. Her father theorized that this was because, to a point, the Shinjitsugan allowed her to compensate for her blindness by bypassing her optic nerves and feeding sensory information directly to her brain. At first, this wasn't an issue. However, the more skilled that Koharu grew in conversation, the more her troubles increased. The Shinjitsugan endowed its users with a natural inclination to expose the truth, and as a toddler, the little girl would often say things that others wished to remain unsaid. Small children have no filter, and Koharu had not yet developed the ability to sense when somebody didn't want a particular truth to be spoken. As a result, she would often blurt out the reality of the situation, creating friction between comrades. Her ability to know what other people were feeling led the adults to think that Koharu could read their minds, which wasn't quite accurate, but it unnerved them nonetheless, and the fact that she had no way of knowing when members of the ANBU were on duty was not particularly helpful either. Despite that, however naïve she might've been about the wishes of the adults, Koharu was by no means oblivious. As she sensed a growing number of people regarding her with hatred, fear, and resentment, she reverted from being talkative to extremely quiet, only speaking openly to people that she felt she could trust, such as her father. It was also around this time that she sensed that she was being watched everywhere she went, a fact that frightened her to no end.

Despite all of that, Koharu found a sense of belonging in being with Naruto. The two of them were both hated by most of the village, but they pretended that that didn't hurt them as much as it did. Instead, they took to simply avoiding other people and playing together by themselves wherever they could. They were outcasts, but they were outcasts together. As long as they had each other and Shinji, nobody else mattered. At least, that was what they claimed.

And then the two misfits became three.

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"If you're the daughter of the Hyuuga, then show us your Byakugan!" A young boy exclaimed.

"If you don't want to, then don't look our way!" His friend added.

"They're creepy aren't they? Those eyes?" Another boy said. The dark-haired girl standing before them began to tear up, but they just kept going.

"I bet you're actually a demon, right?" Said the first boy.

"Yeah, you're a Byakugan demon!" The second agreed. The little girl began to sob, causing the boys to burst out laughing as she curled up on the ground, weeping pitifully.

It was a snowy winter day in the grove of trees near the Academy, and nobody was around to help the poor girl.

Well, that wasn't entirely true.

Naruto was playing on a swing nearby when he saw what was happening. Without a moment's hesitation, he jumped off of the swing and ran over to the three older kids who were bullying the little girl.

"Hey! Knock it off!" He demanded.

The older boys turned toward the younger one clumsily running toward them and the little girl looked up.

"Huh?"

"Who are you?"

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" The blond declared, "The future Hokage-ttebayo!"

The older boys smirked as they approached him slowly.

"The future Hokage?" The leader taunted.

"Are you stupid?" The third boy asked.

"Get ready!" Naruto warned them as he formed a sign, "Kage bushin no jutsu!" In a puff of smoke, two copies of Naruto appeared. The problem was... they were tiny. Only three inches tall, at best.

"Come at me-ttebayo!" One of them squeaked.

"~Ttebayo!" The other echoed.

The three boys cracked up laughing as Naruto stared at his miniature clones in utter shock and humiliation. He looked up at the sound of one of them running toward him.

"Why you!" The leader of the three boys exclaimed, throwing his fist toward Naruto's face...

...Only for it to be caught by the much smaller hand of a girl about the same age as Naruto. The older boy was startled as a girl with midnight blue hair and fierce blue eyes glared up at him... or at least in his general direction.

"Don't touch my little brother." She said as she forced his hand away from her. Koharu had been nearby the entire time, since she and Naruto were rarely apart. She had merely been concealing her presence to try and give Naruto a chance to resolve things on his own before she stepped in.

"Wh-who are you?" The boy demanded as he stepped back, slightly unnerved by the ease with which she had stopped his punch.

"Mayonaka Koharu." She answered flatly as she glared up at the older children, "You know, picking on kids who are younger and weaker than you is nothing more than a sign of cowardice. Also, Hinata-chan hasn't awakened her Byakugan yet. It'd be unusual if she had."

"Why you little...!" The second boy said, rushing toward the blue-haired girl. He threw his fist at her, but she caught it easily and then slammed her flat palm into his stomach, knocking him back. The boy coughed and sputtered as he fell to the ground. The other little girl, whom Koharu had called Hinata, gasped as she recognized the move.

"If you have that little confidence and this little skill, then instead of picking on smaller kids, you should spend your time training to improve your taijutsu." Koharu said evenly.

"Oh yeah?! Get a load of my taijutsu!" The first boy said as he tried to punch her. Koharu blocked the blow effortlessly with her forearm and slammed her flat palm into his chest, causing him to cringe in pain as he fell on his butt.

The third boy looked closely at her and noticed the grey tint covering her pupils. "Hey wait a minute! You're that blind girl that all the adults are scared of! The one they say can read minds! How are you even able to...?"

"I might be blind, but I can see your every move before you make it." Koharu told him, "What do you think a mind reader does?" She moved into a proper stance for fighting. "If you three think you can take me, then by all means, try it."

The Hyuuga girl gasped again as she recognized Koharu's stance.

"We'll see about that!" The first boy exclaimed as all three ran at Koharu at once.

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"Darn! We'll remember this!" The first boy said.

"Yeah, we'll pay you back for this!" The second boy declared.

"Next time!" The third added. Despite saying these things, all three of them were running to get away from Koharu as fast as they could.

Koharu scoffed. "Idiots..." She turned toward the other girl and held her hand out, "Are you okay, Hinata-chan?"

"Uh, yes..." Hinata said as she allowed Koharu to help her to her feet.

"Hinata-chan, this is my little brother, Naruto." Koharu said while gesturing to the blond. "Since you're here, would you like to play with us?"

"Huh? Really?" Hinata asked.

"Sure!" Naruto added. "It's always fun when there's more people! Let's play tag!"

"Oh, good idea!" Koharu said happily, "That game's no fun when there's only two of us after all."

"Neechan, you're it!" Naruto exclaimed before running off.

The three children played happily for a while before a man from the Hyuuga Clan came looking for Hinata.

"Lady Hinata!" The man called as he approached. He took sight of Naruto and glared at the young boy.

"Oh. I have to go." Hinata said, waving her hand as she turned to approach the man. However, Koharu's eyes hardened and she marched right up to Hinata's clansman.

"Hey! Who do you think you are, judging somebody for things that they have no control over?!" She demanded angrily, causing the Hyuuga man to be a bit surprised. "You're a grownup, right? So act like it! Grownups should know that a person's status doesn't define who they are! You think that he's some kind of monster, but my brother Naruto is kind and brave! He stood up to some other kids who were bullying Hinata-chan even though he stood no chance against them! If getting beat up was what he had to do to protect her, then he was more than willing to take that! Where were you when that was happening?! Isn't it your job to protect her?! Naruto has no control over what happened when he was born any more than Hinata-chan had control over being born with the Byakugan or that I had control over having the Shinjitsugan! You should judge a person by their actions, not their differences!"

Now Hinata's bodyguard was downright embarrassed at having been lectured by a little girl. Any other villager might've commented on Koharu's rudeness in speaking to an adult in this way, but the Hyuuga held a certain regard for Koharu and her father since the Shinjitsugan was related to the Byakugan, and it was well known among their clan that Koharu was a prodigy with regards to the abilities of her Kekkei Genkai. More than anyone else, she knew what was inside of Naruto, but deliberately chose to ignore it. She was a girl who judged people solely by the information she gleaned from their chakra, which meant that she saw Naruto and the Kyuubi as separate entities, despite their existence in the same body. For that reason, he couldn't help but feel ashamed by the fact that he had failed to do so himself, to say nothing of the fact that she was correct about him not being there to protect Hinata from the older children.

"My... my apologies..."

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After that day, Hinata spent every evening playing with Naruto and Koharu together, their preference being a park that was a bit removed from the rest of the village, near the Police Force Headquarters. One day, in the early spring, they were playing together as usual when something caught Koharu's attention and she abruptly ran off.

"Excuse me!" She called as she ran up to two boys, the older of whom was carrying the younger one on his back, "Forgive my intrusion, but it looks like you've hurt your leg." She said to the younger one.

"Huh?" The boy questioned before looking down at his right leg, "Oh, it's nothing. I just twisted my ankle during training."

"Please, let me treat it for you." She insisted, "It won't do for you to start at the Academy tomorrow with an injury!"

The boy blinked, "How did you know that I'm starting the Academy tomorrow?" He asked.

"Ah, my little brother and our best friend are starting there tomorrow too." She explained, gesturing to Hinata and Naruto on the playground, "You're Uchiha Sasuke, right? I remember hearing Papa say that you would be in their class."

"Oh."

"Sasuke, there's a bench over there." The older boy, Sasuke's brother, said. "Let's set you down there so Koharu-chan can treat your leg."

"Hm? How did you know my name?" Koharu asked as she followed the older boy.

"You don't remember, but we've met before." He told her, "The first time was when you and Sasuke were babies. My name is Itachi."

"Itachi-san..." She said thoughtfully, "There is something a little familiar about your chakra when I think about it..."

"In my first year as a genin, my team and I babysat you and your brother fairly often." Itachi added for further explanation, "Sometimes I brought Sasuke along since he's the same age as you. I imagine the three of you were too young to remember it now though."

"That's probably why your chakra feels familiar then..." Koharu murmured. Itachi set Sasuke down on the bench and sat next to him. Koharu knelt down a little and held her hands over Sasuke's injured ankle, her hands taking on a blue-green glow.

Itachi blinked in surprise. "Koharu-chan, you've already learned Mystic Palm?" It was an A-Rank technique that required very precise chakra control. Even most iryouninja couldn't perform it. That a six-year-old girl could was practically unheard of.

"Papa taught me." She said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "It's a lot easier to master techniques like this when you can literally see your own flow of chakra."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked in confusion.

"I have a Kekkei Genkai of my own." Koharu explained to him, "It makes chakra control very easy for me."

"Ohh..." Sasuke said with interest, "I bet you've got good grades at the Academy then."

"No. I... I can't attend the Academy. I'm not allowed to." She said sadly.

"Huh? Why?" Sasuke asked. He couldn't fathom how a girl who was obviously very talented at Ninjutsu could be banned from the Academy. Koharu looked up at him, her blue eyes filled with sadness.

"I'm blind." She said simply, "No matter how talented I may be, that's considered too dangerous of a handicap for a shinobi, so I'm not being allowed to enter the Academy. My birthday isn't until the fourth, so I would've been in your class too if I had..."

"But you said that Naruto kid is your younger brother..." Sasuke remarked in confusion, trying to change the subject.

"Adopted. We're not related by blood." Koharu explained, "Naruto's mama and papa... they were killed by an enemy of the Leaf on the night that he was born. That's what Papa told me. He was close with them, so he took Naruto in and so, he's always been my brother."

"An enemy of the Leaf... killed his parents when he was born?" Sasuke asked in confusion, "Why?"

"I don't know." Koharu admitted, "I was only six-months-old, so I don't actually remember it. To be honest, Naruto doesn't even know that much. I've probably said more than I should have..."

"I do remember your father saying something along those lines that night." Itachi said thoughtfully, "But I never found out what he meant." When Koharu and Sasuke looked up at him in confusion, he explained, "Your father asked my mother to look after you before he went to try and help Naruto-kun's parents, so you were with us at the time."

Koharu nodded as her hands stopped glowing and she stood up, "There! It's all better!" She turned to run off, "Have fun at the Academy tomorrow!"

"She's kind of weird..." Sasuke remarked as he slipped off the bench and tested his foot before smiling, "But she's really good!"

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Koharu stood at the edge of the grove of trees near the Academy, watching the entrance ceremony. She'd been careful not to let Naruto see it all morning, but she was really disappointed about not being allowed to join. Her father was with the other family members attending the ceremony, but he had allowed Koharu to watch from a distance rather than right up front. She frowned to herself, taking note of the chakra signatures that she recognized. Uchiha Sasuke... Yamanaka Ino... Hyuuga Hinata... and of course, Uzumaki Naruto. Her brother and all of her friends were entering the Academy today. They wouldn't be around for her to play with until at least the afternoon. Her father had work at the hospital. She sighed and turned so that her back was against the tree. For the first time since she was born... she was going to be completely alone for an extended period of time.

As the ceremony ended, Shinji approached his daughter, frowning at her forlorn appearance. "Koharu." She turned her head toward him, "Do you want to come to the hospital with me?" She shook her head.

"No. I'll just be in the way. I'll just... stick around here and train by myself." Shinji frowned with worry, but Koharu smiled weakly at him, "Don't worry Papa. I'll be okay." She couldn't hide her feelings from Shinji and she knew that, but she wanted him to at least trust that she could look after herself while he worked. Shinji sighed softly, but nodded to his daughter and left.

Koharu headed into the grove and walked up a tree before sitting on one of its branches. She swung her feet, trying to decide what to do with herself. The problem was that training on her own was rather difficult. There was only so much that one could do to practice taijutsu alone, her father didn't even allow her to carry kunai, and her ninjutsu repertoire was... limited. It wasn't that there weren't other things she could do. She could always go to the Yamanaka flower shop. Even if Ino wasn't there, her mother had always treated her kindly. There was, at least, that benefit of living in a village full of distant relatives.

Suddenly something caught Koharu's attention and she shivered. She was being watched. That, in and of itself, was not unusual. Koharu was more than aware of the fact that she was being constantly observed by somebody. It was a feeling that had always unnerved her in the rare moments that she was alone. However, most of the time, she was with Naruto, whose chakra reserves were so large, even without the Kyuubi, that she could ignore that feeling. Right now, however, Naruto was not there. The one watching her was closer to her than he was. Going to a more crowded area would help, but... if she went to an area where there were fewer plants and more buildings, she was liable to run into something. That was why she hadn't given any serious consideration to visiting the flower shop. She whimpered in fright, shutting her eyes tightly, not that it helped. She could practically hear the voice of the one who was watching her. Their chakra said it all.

This child cannot be trusted. She's too perceptive. She is a threat.

With another whimper of fright, the little girl dropped from the tree. She landed on her feet and took off, heading deeper into the forest. Panic overtook her as she desperately tried to outrun her "escort", despite knowing that it was impossible. All she wanted was to get away, to feel safe. Lost in her terror, she didn't pay attention to where she was going. At least not until she realized that she was about to run straight off a cliff and skidded to a halt. Panting and out of breath, she turned and faced the direction she had just come from. Without anything to really obscure her "vision" at this point, she could see the chakra of the one who'd been following her and she once more whimpered in fear. At that moment, the edge of the cliff gave way and she screamed as she slipped off of the bluff.

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Uchiha Itachi was walking with his best friend Shisui back to the Uchiha Compound after they had successfully completed the mission that would get him into the ANBU. They had already made their report and were now heading into the compound the back way, through the forest, which was their preferred route. At that moment, the sound of a child screaming reached their ears. The two of them looked at each other in both concern and confusion.

"Help!" Came the cry of a small, frightened voice. Without a moment's hesitation, the two boys ran off toward the sound.

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Koharu whimpered fearfully as she dangled from the side of the cliff. She had just barely managed to grab hold of a small ledge, but her grip on the piece of stone wasn't particularly good, and it was only a matter of time before she'd slip and plummet into the ravine beneath her. She focused her attention on the chakra of the shinobi who had been following her. They hadn't moved at all! Were they seriously just going to let her fall to her death?! Tears filled her eyes and she cried out again.

"Help!"

"Hang on, we're coming!"

She abruptly became aware of two new chakra signatures moving toward her at considerable speed upon hearing the reply. Two members of the Uchiha Clan, and one of them was a person she recognized.

"Itachi-san! Help me!' She pleaded.

"Koharu-chan!" Itachi exclaimed in surprise as he arrived at the cliff's edge with his friend.

"Please help me!" She cried in terror, "I can't hold on much longer."

"Just hold on! We're coming down to get you!" The other boy said as he and Itachi carefully descended the cliff by concentrating chakra in the soles of their feet. Koharu screamed as her fingers slipped from the ledge, but Itachi's friend quickly reached out and caught hold of her forearm to save her.

"Give me your other hand!" Itachi called to the young girl, stretching out his hand toward her. Feeling that his friend had a secure grip on her, the little girl reached up and managed to grab ahold of Itachi's hand. Both boys pulled her up and she swung her legs, directing her own chakra to her feet to adhere to the cliff.

"You've already learned how to do that?" Itachi's friend asked incredulously.

"She used Mystic Palm to treat Sasuke's sprained ankle yesterday, so I'd be surprised if she couldn't." Itachi told him. Both boys continued to hold Koharu's hands as they walked back up the cliff with her. Once they had made it to the top and were a safe distance away from edge, Koharu plopped to the ground and began to cry softly. Itachi knelt down next to her. "Hey, it's okay..." He said gently. "You're safe now." To his surprise, the little girl threw herself into his arms, burying her head in his chest as she clung to his shirt. Itachi wrapped his arms around her to assure her that she was safe. "It's okay, Koharu-chan..." He couldn't help feeling slightly confused as Koharu shook her head in response to that. His friend, however, was more concerned about something else.

"What are you doing out here? And how did you wind up... like that?" He asked awkwardly.

Koharu sniffled as she pulled away from Itachi slightly so that she could talk. "I was trying to get away..."

"Away from what?" Itachi asked.

Another sniffle. "From the shinobi who is always watching me... everywhere I go... they're always there..." She whimpered, "Normally I have Naruto with me, and his chakra is strong enough that I can ignore them, but... He started at the Academy today, so I'm all alone and... I couldn't take it... I couldn't take the feeling of being watched as if I were an enemy. I tried to get away, but I wasn't paying enough attention and... the next thing I knew, I was on that cliff..." Itachi and his friend exchanged concerned glances, but Koharu didn't seem to notice as she gripped Itachi's shirt and sniffled again, "They were going to... just let me fall... they followed me all the way here, but..." Itachi sighed and stroked her hair in an attempt to comfort her. The little girl's body shook as she clung to him again, "I hate this! It's not like I mean to read everybody's chakra! I don't even want to! But I don't have any other way to see! I don't even know how to not do it!" She turned her face toward Itachi with tear-filled eyes, "You understand, right? I know that... your clan also has problems with the village... There's no way that I could be unaware of it..." She buried her face in his shirt again, "Why do people treat us like monsters?! We didn't ask to have Kekkei Genkai! Naruto didn't ask to be a Jinchuuriki! It's not fair!"

Neither Itachi nor Shisui had any idea of what to say or do as Koharu continued clinging to Itachi and crying her eyes out. After a while, she began to settle down, and Itachi decided to try for a distraction.

"Koharu-chan, are you hungry?" He asked. Koharu blinked in surprise, but then nodded.

病

Itachi and Shisui brought Koharu to a small tea house in the village proper, where Itachi's former teammate Shinko happened to work. After greeting the young woman and ordering their food, Itachi decided to start a conversation with the younger child.

"Naruto's teacher will probably ask him this today too." He began, "What is your dream for the future, Koharu-chan?"

Koharu blinked in surprise before her face became downcast. "I don't really have one..." She admitted.

"Really?" Shisui said in surprise, "Even if you can't be a regular shinobi, I think you'd be a great addition to the sensory unit."

"The Yamanaka Clan are my cousins, and I don't think Ino-chan's Papa would mind, but... Do you really think that the same higher-ups who keep a child under twenty-four hour surveillance and would let her fall off a cliff would allow her to be part of the team that scans the entire village?" Koharu asked bluntly. Shisui sweat-dropped, unable to deny her logic.

"What about an iryouninja?" Itachi asked.

"I'd like that, but I don't think it's possible for me to be a full-fledged iryouninja. I can get by as a field medic, but... there are times when diagnosing illness or even identifying poisons requires being able to see things in a normal sense." She explained before sighing softly. "I wish that Grandma Tsunade hadn't retired. Papa says that if anybody could've fixed my eyes, it would've been her. Then I wouldn't have to use the Shinjitsugan constantly and maybe the village wouldn't be afraid of me..." Itachi and Shisui both frowned, both able to understand the little girl's predicament all too well. Koharu gripped the fabric of her skirt with a forlorn expression. "The fact is, I'll probably be relegated to being a watchdog to Naruto my whole life, even though he shouldn't need it. Everyone says that that's my role here in Konoha."

Itachi's frown deepened. He knew what it was like to have others' expectations pushed upon him... to not be allowed to think for himself... to not be given the chance to dream.

病

A few weeks later, Koharu greeted Itachi when she found him waiting outside the Academy for Sasuke. She herself had come to wait for Naruto and Hinata, along with Hinata's bodyguard. Following the incident on the first day, Hinata's father had offered to train Koharu while Hinata and Naruto were at school, and then she accompanied Hinata's bodyguard when he went to pick up Hinata. Koharu had settled down since then and seemed content with this arrangement, but there was something on her mind this particular day that she'd been thinking about all weekend.

"Hey! Neechan!" Naruto exclaimed happily as he ran over to his sister, Hinata following him at a slower pace.

"Naruto! Hinata-chan! How was your day at the Academy?" Koharu asked with a smile.

"Same as usual..." Naruto muttered, causing Koharu to sweat-drop and Hinata to laugh nervously. Koharu only paid mind to her brother's grumbling for a moment before she turned her attention to the other students leaving for the day, her senses honing in on a boy that felt like he was Hinata's brother, but Koharu knew otherwise. Having found her target, she jogged over to him.

"Hey! You're Hinata-chan's cousin, Hyuuga Neji, right?!" She knew he was.

"Huh?" The boy, only a week older than Koharu, turned and looked at her. "Yeah. And you're Lady Hinata's friend, Mayonaka Koharu. So what do you want with me?"

Koharu glared at the boy slightly before pointing her finger at him, "I'm challenging you to a taijutsu match!"

"Huh?!" A young girl from Neji's class exclaimed, obviously thinking that the other girl was crazy to say such a thing.

Neji narrowed his eyes slightly, "Why?" It wasn't that he was outright dismissing her, but he still wanted to know her reason.

"I don't necessarily think that Lord Hiashi was right to do what he did, but even so, what you did on Saturday was going too far for a sparring match!" Koharu exclaimed, "You had no right to try and hurt Hinata-chan! And you're entirely too stuck up! That's why I want to have a match with you! The loser has to do whatever the winner says!"

"Hmph. Fine. But you'll regret challenging me." Neji replied as he set his schoolbag down.

"Don't taunt an opponent until after you've beaten them." Koharu chided, "Now then, before we start, we need a proper referee. Somebody who won't be biased." She scanned the chakra of the people around her and noticed that Itachi had not yet left with Sasuke. "Ah! Itachi-san!" She turned and ran over to the two brothers, "I've challenged Hyuuga Neji to a match. Would you mind being the referee? If we don't have one, it's nothing more than a schoolyard fistfight."

"Who the heck is Hyuuga Neji?" Sasuke asked in confusion.

"He's in the class ahead of yours." Koharu replied.

"You're challenging an upperclassman?!" Sasuke asked incredulously. Even he wouldn't attempt to do something so rude as challenging his senior.

"No, because I'm not in the Academy, remember? Strictly speaking, I don't have upperclassmen." Koharu replied, "But this has nothing to do with the Academy. He made my best friend cry, and she's his cousin! That's why I've challenged him to a proper match, but we need somebody to be the judge, and in the interest of fairness, it can't be somebody from the Hyuuga."

Itachi blinked. Clearly, Koharu took the protocols for challenging somebody very seriously, which he honestly respected, so he nodded. "All right." He walked with Koharu back over to where Neji was waiting. "So a straightforward taijutsu match?" He asked.

"Right." Koharu said, "No ninjutsu, no genjutsu. Not that genjutsu affects me anyway. Hand-to-hand only."

"All right." Itachi said with a nod, "We'll use the Academy rules for a sparring match then. First one to fall or be immobilized by their opponent loses."

"Got it." Koharu said with a nod before forming a sign with her right hand. Neji raised a brow at her and she rolled her eyes in exasperation. "The rules say that both participants must make the spar sign before they begin. It doesn't matter what the reason for the match is. Now hurry it up."

"Fine." Neji replied, forming his left hand into the sign as well. Once she saw that he had done so, Koharu moved into a proper fighting stance and Neji did the same.

"Begin!" Itachi said.

Neji made the first move, but Koharu easily diverted the attack with her forearm before grazing his shoulder with her own palm. Neji winced, but retaliated by spinning around on his right foot, attempting to kick Koharu with his left. She avoided this by bending backwards, but rather than merely dodging his attack, she countered by performing a backwards cartwheel, attempting to strike him with a kick from below. Neji just managed to avoid this and Koharu sprung back to her feet, a slight distance between them now. Both children moved to close the gap at the same time. Neji thrust his arm forward, but Koharu again diverted it from its path with her own forearm, ducking underneath his arm slightly as she did.

'Here!'

Before Neji could recover from his parried attack, Koharu let out a yell and struck him square in the chest, knocking the Hyuuga boy away from her and causing him to fall flat on his back.

"That's enough!" Itachi announced, "The winner is Mayonaka Koharu!"

The other kids in the group were already gasping and beginning to chatter amongst themselves. Koharu walked over to Neji and held out her hand in a silent offer to tie the unison sign. Neji sighed and returned the gesture before standing up.

"So now what? I suppose you want me to apologize to Lady Hinata?" He asked.

"That would be nice, but an apology only has meaning when it comes from the heart. Nobody needs the Shinjitsugan to see that you wouldn't mean it." Koharu replied, "So instead, I don't want you to speak to her until you are ready to apologize, no matter how long that is. Not one word. Understand?"

"Fine."

"Oh, and a word of advice." Koharu added, "You didn't think I could really fight you because I don't have the Byakugan. You made the mistake of thinking that my visual prowess somehow isn't as good as yours, which isn't the case. I could list any number of ways that the Shinjitsugan is better, but that probably wouldn't be the smartest thing to do. Just keep this in mind: You can't judge an opponent based on what you think of them or how good you think they are. Today was just a formal challenge in the schoolyard, but in the future, when you become a shinobi, mistakes like that could cost you your life. Remember that." She turned and walked over to her brother, "Come on Naruto, let's go home. Papa will get worried if we take too long."

"Sure!" Naruto said with a grin.

"See you later, Hinata-chan!" Koharu called as she and Naruto ran off.

"Compared to him, Naruto's sister is kind of cool." Sasuke said, clearly stunned at having witnessed a girl who'd been banned from entering the Academy defeat a student who was a year older than him.

"Koharu-chan has her own way of doing things, that's for sure." Itachi replied.

病

A couple of more weeks passed by when Koharu found herself being dragged into the middle of something she had been trying to avoid. She was playing with Naruto on their usual playground when three members of the Uchiha Clan approached them.

"Hey, you're Mayonaka Koharu, aren't you?" One of the men asked.

"Yes. And you are?" Koharu asked, instinctively on her guard in response to their chakra.

"We're members of the Police Force. We think you can help us with our investigation." One of his companions answered.

"Investigation?" Koharu asked in confusion.

"We're about to go question a suspect regarding the recent death of a member of our clan." The third explained, "We need you to tell us whether or not he's lying."

Koharu turned, angling her left shoulder away from them, a sign that she was feeling intimidated. "What if I don't want to?"

"You're going to refuse to cooperate with the Police Force?" The first man asked her, as if daring her to defy them.

Koharu's lip quivered. She'd heard recently that the Police Force had been responding to even the smallest offenses with violence and imprisonment. Even with her immunity to genjutsu, she was no match for three adult shinobi. She turned to her brother, "Naruto... go and find Papa... I'm... I'm going to go with them."

"Huh? But Neechan...!" Naruto exclaimed, unable to help worrying about his sister going anywhere with these overly pushy policemen.

Koharu turned her head back toward him as she left the playground. "I'll be all right... just go find Papa, Naruto..." Naruto looked hopelessly confused, but he nodded, watching as Koharu left with the three officers.

病

"Is Itachi here?!" One of the policemen demanded after they had led Koharu to a stately home within the Uchiha Compound, "We have to talk! Come out!"

Itachi quietly walked out to greet them. "Why is everyone gathered here?" He asked politely. Koharu quietly stepped off to the side to stand in the yard, away from the walkway. No matter how calm and polite he seemed, she could easily sense that the presence of these three had put Itachi in a bad mood. Given their personalities, she had no intention of being in his way when they pushed their luck too far.

"There are two people who didn't come to yesterday's assembly," The officer who had called Itachi out began, "Why didn't you come?!"

Koharu sensed Sasuke peeking out at the scene from the hallway. Judging by his chakra, the young boy, while frightened by his temperamental clansmen, was unsurprised by the fact that Itachi had not been at the aforementioned meeting.

"I understand that when you enter the ANBU, you get roped into various troublesome things." The man continued, "Your father also said something like that in your defense."

"But for us, we don't intend to treat you special." Said the older man beside him.

Itachi closed his eyes, as though trying to maintain his composure, "Understood. I'll be more careful next time. Now I'm going to have ask you to leave."

Her frown deepened. Koharu could sense that Itachi was deeply saddened by something, but such a strong emotion... what could cause it? Whatever it was, it was definitely going to shorten Itachi's already unusually short fuse.

"Right..." Said the second man, "But before that, there's something else I want to ask you..." Itachi looked up, and Koharu could tell he was a bit alarmed. "It's about Uchiha Shisui, who threw himself into the Nakano River to kill himself."

At this, Koharu gasped. "Shisui-san...?" She immediately noticed the flare in Itachi's chakra and realized that this information was the source of the preteen's sorrow. Sasuke seemed just as shocked as she was. Suddenly, her lip began to quiver. So that was why she hadn't seen Shisui all day.

"Shisui is the other person who didn't come to the meeting." Said the first officer. "As I recall, you adored him as if he were really your older brother."

Itachi was clearly troubled, but all he said was, "Is that so? I hadn't seen him at all, recently. That's too bad."

Koharu's eyes widened. 'He's lying!' She thought to herself, 'Itachi-san must've been there when Shisui-san died! No wonder he's in so much pain!'

"And we, the Police Force, have decided to launch an all-out investigation." The leading officer said.

"Investigation?!" Itachi asked, alarmed for a reason that Koharu couldn't quite pinpoint.

The second man reached into his obi and pulled out a piece of paper. "This is the will that Shisui wrote." He explained, "The analysis of the handwriting has been completed. No mistake, he did indeed write it."

"If there are no murder leads, then why the investigation?" Itachi asked.

"It'd be easy for a person who can use the Sharingan to copy handwriting, you see..." The first man said.

Sasuke's fear seemed to grow as Itachi accepted the piece of paper.

"The most adept Uchiha. The man feared as 'Shunshin no Shisui'." The second man began, "He was a man who would take the lead, no matter what the mission, if it was for the sake of the clan."

"It's tough to think that such a man would leave something like this and kill himself." The first added.

"It's not good to judge people based on looks and mere speculation, don't you think?" Itachi replied. Koharu frowned to herself. That had been a warning, but these blockheads weren't smart enough to realize that.

"For the time being, I'll leave the will with you." The first officer said.

"Take that and you request cooperation in the investigation from the ANBU." The second said.

"Understood..." Itachi replied.

The three men turned to leave—The third one, who hadn't spoken this whole time, had just been keeping watch for some reason—and the oldest of them spoke. "I hope we get a lead."

"Also, we have a different route to ANBU." The first man said. "We'll know right away if you do something like crushing the investigation request."

'Liar! You're bluffing!' Koharu thought.

Itachi clenched the paper in his hand. "Why don't you just come right out and say it?" He demanded, "You suspect me, don't you?" Koharu could tell by their chakra that all four Uchiha had now activated their Sharingan, the three men glaring over their shoulders at Itachi, who was glaring right back in unusually heated anger.

"Yeah, that's right, you darn brat..." The first man said.

"Listen up, Itachi." The oldest man said, "Just trying doing something like betraying the clan and... it'll cost you!"

In the next moment, in a series of movements too fast for anyone besides Koharu to see, Itachi rushed at the three men and swiftly clobbered all three of them, throwing them out into the street beyond his front gate.

"I told you before..." Itachi said as he straightened up, "It's not good to judge people based on looks and mere speculation. It's because you take the liberty to judge me as patient and take me lightly. The Clan... The Clan... You measure incorrectly the size of your own vessels and don't know the depth of mine. That's why you're lying there now."

The oldest man looked over at Itachi. "Shisui was... monitoring you recently..." He stated, "So soon after entering the ANBU... the strangeness of your behavior couldn't be overlooked. What the heck are you thinking?"

Itachi's eyes narrowed, his Sharingan still active, "Fixated on the organization, fixated on the clan, fixated on the name. It's a dreadful thing that constrains oneself and label's one's own vessel. And it's a foolish thing... that fear and hate... what one has never seen or known..."

"Stop it, Itachi!" Fugaku suddenly exclaimed. Itachi turned and glared at his father. "What the heck's the matter with you?! Itachi... You've been a little strange lately."

"There's nothing strange at all." Itachi replied flatly, "I'm carrying out my own role... that's it."

"Then why didn't you come last night?" Fugaku asked.

"In order to elevate myself higher..." Itachi replied.

"What're are you talking about...?" Fugaku asked in confusion. Koharu was wondering too by this point. She was no longer able to understand what the older child was saying. Itachi abruptly took out a kunai and threw it at the wall on the other side of the street. The little girl couldn't help but wonder why, as she was unable to see what was painted upon said wall. Fugaku, however, narrowed his eyes and looked back at his son.

"My vessel is dismayed at this foolish clan!" Itachi stated.

Koharu could sense Sasuke's fear and confusion as he watched the scene. He had since moved to the doorway of their home, but unable to sense Itachi's emotions like she could, there was no doubting that he couldn't understand what had gotten into his older brother.

"Because you're focused on insignificant things like clans, you lose sight of what's truly important." Itachi continued. "True change cannot be made if stuck within the restrictions of regulations and constrained predictions and imagination..."

"Saying such arrogant things!" Fugaku exclaimed as he helped the oldest officer to his feet.

"Enough!" The man in question said once he was standing, "You'll be imprisoned if you say any more foolish nonsense." Sasuke's fear and confusion grew at this statement.

"Now... what do you say?!" The first officer demanded before narrowing his eyes, his Sharingan once again active. "I can't tolerate it anymore... Captain, order imprisonment!"

"Niisan! Stop it already!" Sasuke cried desperately from the doorway.

Itachi gasped and his eyes widened. In his anger, he had forgotten Sasuke's presence, but hearing his younger brother's frightened voice, he was immediately filled with a sense of regret. He lowered his eyes before dropping to his knees and prostrating himself in front of the four men, "I'm not the one who killed Shisui. But I apologize for my numerous slips of the tongue. I'm very sorry..."

Fugaku didn't quite seem to know what to make of this, but he quietly closed his eyes. "Recently, it seems that he's been up to his ears in ANBU missions and is a little tired..."

"Captain!" Exclaimed the oldest man.

"The ANBU is a force under the direct control of Lord Hokage. Even we, the Police Force, can't arrest him if we don't have an arrest warrant." Fugaku continued. "And, as for Itachi... I will take the responsibility and monitor him..." He bowed his head to his three clansmen, "Please..."

"Understood..." The oldest officer replied.

As Fugaku moved towards his home, Koharu quietly walked over to Itachi, causing Fugaku's eyes to widen. "You're...!"

Koharu scarcely acknowledged the man as she hugged Itachi's head to her chest, causing the boy's eyes to widen in surprise. Fugaku saw the sadness in the little girl's eyes as she did so.

"He won't show it on the outside, but... Itachi-san's heart... is crying..." She said quietly. Fugaku's eyes widened and Koharu turned her head, directing a tearful glare at the three men, "You dragged me here because you hoped I would confirm your baseless accusations, but the fact is, Itachi-san didn't kill Shisui-san. There's no way... But he did know of his death, and he's deeply saddened by it. That's why he lost his temper. Who can blame him? How would you feel if somebody showed up unannounced and accused you of killing your big brother?" She turned and looked at Fugaku, "And you asked him why he didn't come to the meeting everyone keeps talking about, but judging by yours and Sasuke-san's chakra, he told you that he wouldn't be there ahead of time. Nobody does that and then commits murder." She stopped hugging Itachi and stepped forward toward the three officers. "However, your suspicions about a murder may be right. Shisui-san passed by the park that Naruto and I play in yesterday, and there was nothing in his chakra that would make me think that he was about to..." Her eyes were lined with tears, but she blinked them away, "If he did, then there must've been a reason... to protect the village, and protect your clan... Perhaps he was..."

Suddenly her eyes widened in alarm, and before anybody knew what was happening, Koharu pulled out a kunai from the holster on her leg and held it up just in time to deflect a projectile that had been heading straight for her. She kept the kunai at the ready, her eyes wide with fright and her breathing shallow.

"Koharu-chan!" Itachi called out in concern, reaching out to place a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Hey, what's wrong?"

As suddenly as she had withdrawn it, Koharu dropped her kunai and flung herself into Itachi's arms, clinging to him the way that she had back on the cliff. "I... Itachi-san!" She whimpered pitifully, shaking in terror as she clung to him and began to cry. Itachi's eyes widened in surprise before he immediately searched the ground for the projectile that she had deflected.

"Chichiue..." He said quietly to his father. Fugaku's gaze followed Itachi's, quickly spotting the senbon that was lying on the ground a few feet from where Koharu had been standing. It was clearly coated in poison. Somebody had been trying to stop the child from finishing what she was about to say.

"Koharu!" At that moment, Shinji came running around the corner in search of his daughter.

Koharu turned toward him. "Papa!"

Shinji immediately sensed his daughter's terror and, spotting her kunai on the ground, understood the reason. He rushed forward, past the three officers, and knelt down in front of her, quickly hugging her tightly as she practically jumped from Itachi's arms and into his. "Thank goodness you're all right..." He pressed his daughter's head into his neck and turned to glare at the three officers, "What were you thinking, dragging her into your investigation?! Koharu attracts enough unwanted attention as it is!"

"He's right." Fugaku told them, "If Koharu hadn't succeeded in deflecting that senbon, she would likely be dead right now."

Shinji sighed in relief as he held his daughter tightly, "Thank goodness I let you learn how to deflect projectiles with a kunai." He stood up with Koharu in his arms, "Chief Fugaku, forgive my impertinence, but... from now on, I would prefer that my daughter not have any involvement with the Police Force. I came here after Naruto told me that she'd been coerced into coming here, but if Koharu didn't have increased awareness of her surroundings and a heightened ability to sense danger..."

"I understand." Fugaku said with a nod, "And I apologize. These three should've never involved her to start with. I'll make sure the entire Police Force knows that Koharu is never again to be asked to assist with an investigation."

It would be more than a year before Mayonaka Koharu once again met Uchiha Itachi.

So since somebody was frustrated by the lack of Koharu's back story before the story began, I decided to write this prologue. I was originally going to make it a separate piece, but I decided to just make it into one really long chapter to make it fit more nicely at the beginning. ;

Also, the incident of somebody trying to hit her with a poisoned senbon is why Koharu only speaks to her father about Itachi's feelings of dread the morning before the massacre. She purposely keeps her distance from the Uchiha between the two incidents.