DISCLAIMER: None of the Naruto characters are mine, they are all Kishimoto's. I'm just messing around with them. Oh, but the OC is mine.

A/N: Ugh, this took forever, and was soooooo hard to write... Anyways, enjoy:)

Chapter 5: Shadow-Grey

The memorial stone is usually void of visitors, and Kakashi is more than a little taken aback to see an familiar figure sitting in front of it. The fact that someone is there itself isn't astonishing, because the shinobi population in this village all had someone to grieve, but it was like 4 o'clock on the morning and normal people should be sleeping.

(Well, he wasn't, because constant nightmares and amnesia doesn't exactly qualify as normal.)

He briefly considered turning on his heels and going back, but the figure had already sensed his presence - his shoulders tensed for a minute before relaxing again - so he merely slouched in his usual fashion and continued his pace.

"Taicho."

A quiet voice greeted him, and Kakashi inclined his head in acknowledgement. He notices the little white bouquet in front of the headstone, and is reminded that the boy's genin teammates were all dead, even the jounin sensei, killed in a single mission gone wrong.

Everyone has their ghosts, indeed.

"You are up late, Uchiha."

"...I would rather say it's early, captain."

Kakashi shrugged. "True."

Silence surrounded the two of them, neither willing to break it. It was comforting, in a sense, and Kakashi walked a little closer to sit beside him. It was ...strange, considering that he usually didn't actually appreciate company in a disturbed night, but this, this was familiar, like an ANBU mission, so Kakashi allowed himself to relax a little.

"I haven't thanked you properly yet, taicho."

"Thank me?"

The older man's eyebrow rose in a silent question and Itachi let out a humorless chuckle.

"My sister was very relieved that you came."

"Maa, maa, I have no idea what you are talking about, Itachi."

Itachi gave him an unimpressed stare, and Kakashi curved his eyes in a perfect bullshit smile. He didn't exactly want acknowledgement about his actions - it was nothing anyway, and the things he did were more for Naruto than the girl - but being thanked personally by the blank, stoic Uchiha Itachi was a novel experience (except for the occasional thank you for saving my life in ANBU missions where 11-year-olds shouldn't be participating) that he glanced briefly at the boy who just shook his head in mild exasperation and fell silent again.

Kakashi had a...fairly complicated relationship with the Uchiha clan. His eye under the hitai-ate stung faintly as he recalled the Uchiha council demanding him to return 'what was originally theirs'. If Fugaku had not let him go without a serious fight, he would have flipped, and who knows what he would have done. He was unstable, more then than now, and that time of his life was especially difficult.

(He sometimes wondered why Uchiha Fugaku let him have Obito's eye. Not that he would have given it up - it was the last link to his former teammate, his present from his best friend, a best friend that he only acknowledged when he died - but still, it was unexpected.)

With a dead Uchiha genin teammate in his past and two Uchiha geniuses in his ANBU team, Kakashi was fairly accustomed to their action patterns, even if Obito was an oddball, Shisui feigns stupidity, and Itachi is too smart for his own good. Uchiha's are born prideful and they were all a bit apathetic. Apathetic to those who were not considered as their people.

Obito tried to be kind and caring to all of Konoha because his heart was big enough to consider the whole village as something to protect. He was goofy and silly, and emotional, Uchiha or not, but he too had that underlying apathy to enemy shinobi, a ruthlessness that shows that he doesn't care. Shisui, with all his bright demeanor and easy-going nature, extends his sympathy to his family, teammates, and kids, but not many others. Itachi is apathetic to the world except his immediate family and Shisui, who is simply his brother at this point.

And Kakashi knows that it doesn't mean that they will not help in a scene of unjust violence - the Uchiha are the police force, that's what they do - but the reason behind it will be a more of a technical version (beating up a defenseless kid is illegal and morally wrong) than an emotional one. (Oh, no, the kid will be so hurt, that is so cruel and needs to be stopped.)

But that baby Uchiha, she was different. Her fear came from sympathizing with Naruto, and that kind of frantic worry for a complete stranger is rare to most, let alone the Uchiha. And Kakashi is grateful to her, in a sense, because if she didn't flare that chakra, he would never have witnessed the scene, and Naruto wouldn't have been saved, and he really doesn't want to know what would have happened then. So he flops down beside Itachi and offers a sincere compliment, if a little backhanded.

"Flaring chakra like that at her age isn't easy, even if it wavered a lot."

Itachi's lips quirked in a half-smile.

"She is young. She will learn."

Yes, Kakashi thinks, staring up at the dim sky, she is and she will. The world will teach her far much than she will ever expect, more bad than good, and like all other kids that grow up to be shinobi, she will see blood and death and sorrow and loss. And he had seen what happens to a soft-hearted Uchiha once, and wonders if this one will meet a similar fate.

He sincerely hopes not, for the sake of Itachi's sanity.

(And for his too, if he is a bit more honest to himself)

"There is an annoying kid in my class."

A pause, an Itachi comments dryly,

"Only one? What about your whole herd of fangirls that I hear of?"

"They are infuriating, aniki. Annoying is too mild a term for them."

Iroha snorts into her miso soup as her brother puts his nose up in the air in indignation. Chuckling a little Itachi pokes him in the forehead with his finger.

"So, otouto, who is it?"

"A blond kid...I think his name was Naruto. He is so loud all the time and wears orange, aniki! Orange!"

The table went silent at the name. Sasuke, noticing that the reactions to his word were not at all what he expected, quieted down and glanced at his brother. Did he say something wrong? Iroha's hands trembled a little at the memory the name brought back, Itachi gripped her leg in silent support.

"Naruto, you say? Is he...very loud? What is he like?"

Mikoto smiles with the question, a little strained in the edge but sincere enough to make Sasuke brighten up a bit again. She sends her husband and look, and he quickly abandons the sudden tension in his shoulders.

"Obnoxious. Always late and shouting. And stupid too, considering that he is the dead-last."

His expression turns smug.

"I beat him in spars every time."

It's odd, Iroha thinks, remembering the amount of chakra the boy - Naruto - had. He must be powerful with that kind of chakra reserve, but maybe he isn't smart enough to follow the curriculum?

"But it's also strange that every adult seems to be wary of him. Mother, do you know anything about it? Even the teachers hate him, and I somehow think that it is not because he is the last in our class."

"Teachers?"

Itachi's voice comes out sharp, and even Fugaku looks up at his tone.

"Like who?"

Sasuke's face scrunches up in thought.

"Iruka sensei is the one who scolds him the most, but I think the other one, Mizuki, hates him more."

Mizuki. Iroha recognizes the name, and from the expression of her brother, he does too. The air tenses around Father and Itachi, and Sasuke looks up warily.

"What's wrong? Aniki? Father?"

Mikoto and Fugaku shares a glance, and with a sigh, Mikoto nods her head and Fugaku stands up from his seat.

"Itachi, my office. Now."

"Yes, Father."

Sasuke stared at the two of them, his disappointment and worry showing on his face, and Iroha sighs a bit. She is quite sure the reason her brother and father were so alerted at the name was because she told him that Mizuki tried to pry about her eyes.

"Did...did I do something wrong?"

"No, Sasuke, your father and brother just have a...conversation to make. It's not because of you, darling. Now, tell me more about your class. Do the girls still bother you?"

Sasuke doesn't look quite convinced, but seemed to realize that he will get no information from their mother and started talking about stupid fangirls who can't understand the word 'no'. Tuning him out a bit, Iroha stared to her bowl.

Did that man actually meant her harm?

If so, what happens if he noticed anything strange about her?

"Nothing extraordinary, you say?"

"Yes, she was just blind. Didn't even seem to be sensor type."

"Not even a sensor?"

A pale eyebrow rose under a pair of glasses and the man nodded.

"She didn't see the stairs in front of her and bumped right into it. She could be a sensor later with some training, most of the blind ninjas do, but she didn't seem exceptional."

"Nothing noteworthy then?"

"Yeah. Just a scrawny kid who doesn't even have a possibility of the Sharingan. I don't think there is anything in her that would make Orochimaru-sama interested."

"That's disappointing."

Kabuto sighed, scribbling something in his report.

"It would have been convenient to have a more vulnerable Uchiha, since Uchiha Shisui and Itachi are nearly untouchable."

"Well, but it also means that the girl won't be much of a threat."

Mizuki pointed out.

"We have enough Uchiha on our backs as it is, we didn't need another."

"True."

Mizuki has a point, Kabuto thinks. It was unfortunate that there won't be a spare pair of Sharingan for Orochimaru-sama, but the news itself that the youngest of the Uchiha main house is practically useless isn't bad. Good, even.

He smirks, a little dark and a lot snake-like, and wonders what his master would say about this.

Iroha is training with Itachi when she sees that shinobi who came to her call again. She remembers his chakra, and the subtle white tinge to it, and remembers his gloved hands covering hers. And a new presence of chakra in her vision is too much a distraction that her aim goes haywire and the kunai she's holding sails straight towards the man's abdomen. Which he catches in midair without even blinking. Cool.

Iroha tries not to flush in embarrassment as Itachi narrows his eyes at his ANBU captain. These were private Uchiha training grounds, and even Hound is not exactly allowed inside without an insider's permission. As an answer to his unspoken question, Shisui appears half a second later and Itachi gives an exasperating look at his cousin.

"Well, sweetheart, I think training is over for today."

Shisui tells her in a cheerful voice, but Iroha can literally see his anxiety so she is not fooled at all. But she knows when she has to listen to people, so she smiles at her brother and cousin, bows slightly at the shinobi, and walks towards the house without looking back.

"Taicho," Itachi says as the girl disappears into the door, "These are private grounds, and I do not understand why we couldn't have met outside."

Kakashi flicks his hand at Shisui, because he is mature enough to blame all this to his subordinate, and Shisui gulps a little and tries to explain.

"I needed a private place to talk, Itachi. I didn't think that Iroha was training till now."

He actually has a point, because there is nowhere more secluded than this place, and Iroha should have been home by now if she didn't insist on extra training today. So Itachi sighs, nods his head, and lifts his eyebrows watching Shisui activating the privacy seal around the grounds. There weren't a living soul around them and the main house who could listen to them.

"That much?"

Shisui nods, and flops to the ground as Kakashi lazily leans against a tree. To his mild surprise, it is Kakashi who speaks first.

"We met while following Mizuki."

The statement contains just enough amount of faux-cheerfulness that Itachi stares at both of them in disbelief. Shisui sends him a faintly apologetic look, which Itachi ignores pointedly. Kakashi snorts, than goes on.

"I had been watching Mizuki for a few days after Naruto was...hospitalized."

Shisui winces a bit at the mention of the boy, and Itachi just keeps silent. Uzumaki Naruto was a very touchy subject to his superior, and it was rare for him to bring him up in a conversation voluntarily. But still, given that it was Iroha who saved the boy the other day, and Mizuki seems to be quite hostile to Naruto, Itachi mildly wonders if Mizuki is dead by now and Kakashi came to ask him to help hide his body. Not that he needs help, that is.

"It was a part of my...guarding duty."

A guarding duty which ended quite a while ago, but Itachi keeps silent, and Kakashi eye-smiles at him.

"What do you know about Yakushi Kabuto, Itachi?"

It is not long after starting her training that Iroha finds out that Genjutsu simply doesn't work on her. Not only does she notice the slight distorting of the chakra around her, but the fact that nobody could imitate her sense of sight is a dead giveaway. After watching her saying "Kai!" for like five times, Shisui just shook his head and ruffled her hair, and called it a day.

"Enjoy the sunlight or something, sweetheart. You spend too much time inside that is."

Iroha scoffs a little, and Shisui gives a her a little sad smile.

"Do you want to go out? You barely go out of the compound, do you?"

It was true, partly because of her own protection, and partly because she hated the assessing looks she was given when she walked through the village. The clansmen were bad enough, she didn't need more whispering voices.

"Want to go to the Hokage Mountain?"

"Why would I want to go there?"

Her voice comes out sharply than she intends to, but Iroha can't help it, not with barely contained resentment bubbling in her chest.

"It's not like I could exactly enjoy the view, is it?"

Shisui winces.

"And I don't like climbing things."

Iroha knows she isn't one for physical activities, her desire to be a ninja was more of a survival sense rather than a preference. Running laps every day was tiring enough, and she lacked the stamina and the willpower to do more voluntarily.

"I could carry you."

"Are you really that bored?"

"Iroha..."

She closes her eyes, breathes out the morning air, and tries to remember that none of this is Shisui's fault, not anyone's fault really, while simultaneously attempting to erase the image of bandages ripped apart in her fury this morning. She had been sick of them. Maybe changing the colors will help, probably pink or yellow just to make Father raise a disapproving brow and Sasuke twitch, she thinks ruefully and nods her head.

"I want dango too, Shisui-nii."

Shisui smiles, if a tad sorrowful, and he pats her head.

"Sure, sweetheart."

It turns out that apparently Shisui is needed in ANBU, or other department that he participates in, and he hands her the dango and dumps Sasuke in the picture to 'look after her'. Iroha protests, of course, because she could just go back to the house, take off the bandages and lock herself in her room. Who cares about sunlight and meadows and good weather when she can do that?

But Sasuke is stubborn, more so than her cousin, and he too agrees that she spends to much time inside, and promises to carry her all the way up to the Hokage Mountain. And Shisui laughs, probably at the mental picture of a scrawny 6 year old carrying a 4 year old toddler, and grabs them both before shunshin-ing towards their destination.

"Well, kids, don't come home too early - or too late for that matter, Aunt Mikoto will have my head - and have fun!"

Then he promptly disappears.

Sasuke stares at the blank space that was occupied merely a second ago, and mutters,

"I am so telling Mother."

Iroha snickers.

The picnic isn't half bad, and Iroha decides she should do this more often. The soft breeze was warm against her skin, the weather was lovely, and everything was so quiet and peaceful. Lying on her back in the grass, Iroha turned to face her brother, who was staring off at the distance.

"Do you have any friends in the academy, nii-san?"

Sasuke lets out a scoff.

"Friends? No, they are all stupid."

"Now, that's just mean, nii-san."

"I told you how annoying they all are."

"Yes, but only about the girls, Sasuke-nii. What about the boys? Surely they are not all that bad."

Execpt Naruto, she almost said, but she held her tongue.

"I don't need friends."

It was just sad, Iroha thought, that the only amiable one in the family except herself is Shisui, and that her two brothers lack in social interactions.

"I am not saying that you need one, I'm just asking."

"Well, I don't plan on befriending any idiots."

"Are they really all stupid?"

Iroha's voice was skeptical, and Sasuke pouts.

"Fine, the Nara isn't, they are supposed to be geniuses, but he is always sleeping and lazing about."

"Well, thank you for your correct assessment of my character, Uchiha. Can't say I'm flattered."

Someone drawled behind them in a mildly irritated voice, making Iroha jump slightly and sit up in surprise.

It was a boy, with a spiky ponytail and a faint tint of shadow-grey around his chakra, slouched with his hands inside her pockets. Sasuke narrowed his eye with a cordial nod of his head, a faint blush barely noticeable on his cheekbones.

"Nara."

"Uchiha."

The boy moved towards them, and Iroha noticed in slight fascination that the grey flicker of chakra was moving like a shadow. Or rather, the shadow itself seemed to have chakra. It was interesting, even if she knew that the Nara's specialization was in their shadow techniques.

The Nara's eyes flickered towards her minutely, and Iroha silently waited for any comment on her apparent blindness, remembering the last time she met her brother's classmates. Instead, he just asks,

"And this is?"

"My younger sister."

Sasuke's voice is curt and tight, as if daring the other boy to say anything out of the line. The Nara simply nods his head, muttering a 'Troublesome' under his breath and crouches in front of Iroha.

"Hi, my name is Nara Shikamaru."

Iroha offers him a slight, a bit shy smile, because this is the first time someone who is not part of the clan is introduced to her, and his chakra was warm with gentle curiosity and honesty and not an ounce of pity, and relaxes.

"Hello, Nara-san. My name is Uchiha Iroha."

The boy smiles, and his chakra flickers a little shyly.

"Shikamaru. Call me Shikamaru."

And Iroha knew she will.