"Would you like some tea?" one of the monks offered, smiling up at him with his arms folded behind his back. Rin beamed back, answering politely and nodding. "Is it just you?" the monk asked next, slowly gesturing to the coffin beside them. Both of them turned to face the smooth wood and then to the Uchiha crest engraved on top. "And just the one?"

"Yes — it's just me," he replied, just as pleasantly. The man's weathered face nodded, eyes and cheeks sagging with his small frown and a distraught expression.

"Ah, yes — of course," the monk said almost to himself. "The Uchiha Clan is known for traditional burials…" Deep in thought, the monk finally shook his head after several seconds. "Young man...I just want you to know, you are free to use any of the temple's resources if you are feeling...weighed down by the loss of your clan," the old man supplied helpfully, in a soothing tone. "We can only sympathise with what you and young Sasuke-kun might be going through… I am truly sorry for your loss. This event has been one of the most devastating events of the decade."

"Thank you so much for your kind words." Rin's face was the picture of empathy with upturned eyes and a kind smile. He patted the hunched monk's arm gently. "I'm positive with the support of people like you, the remains of the Uchiha Clan will heal from this tragic event."

The man nodded quickly, never meeting the eyes of the young teenager in front of him. "It's good that such a young person still has hope in the face of this massacre. May I ask how young you are?"

"I'll be fifteen on the last day of the year," Rin answered easily. He held himself up like an adult, a man of a hundred years, but the smallness of his face and the baby fat around his cheeks always got in the way.

"That will be soon…" the monk muttered to himself, but shook his head afterwards. "I'll go get the tea and then we can start with the cremation ceremony afterwards."

Rin nodded as the man shuffled away, leaving him alone in the large room. High wooden arches hung above, supporting the pagoda outside, and leading toward the altar in the front of the room. He remained in a perfect seiza pose in his lonesome, shins pressed against a thin padding that kept him from knocking against the polished wooden panels underneath his feet.

Eyes closed, he exhaled. The windchimes outside clattered together gently, the melody flowing through the empty, vast room and carrying the ease of the sunny day outside in with him. It was just him, red eyes turned to the coffin beside him, and the body.

It wasn't him who brought and prepared the body.

Steady, slowly, a single pale hand raised, going higher and higher until it fell upon the seams of the polished wood, fingers falling in the etches of the uchiwa fan.

He received the paperwork for the first time the other day. Eyebrows furrowed. A frown appeared on his lips. The mortician's bill was paid in full.

He stood upright by now, hung over the coffin like a ghost.

Static filled his ears.

The lid of the coffin was thrust wide open, crashing on the side with a grand rise and fall in volume that could have blown his eardrum out. Dust picked up, the fabric they placed on her face fluttered away, landing on the ground beside his feet like the single beat of a bird's wing.

Black bangs hung beside his face as he looked down.

There was not a single hair out of place on Uchiha Seiko's body.

"And today we all gather to remember all of the beloved members of the Uchiha clan…" The Hokage remained slouched in the front of the crowd of black, arms folded behind his back. Standing up there, weathered and wrinkles hanging down his face, it was hard to believe he was only sixty years old.

Black lashes fluttered closed, holding back all of the pitiful huffs and sobs of the small boy. The entire village was here — he couldn't cry in front of them. His heart constricted painfully, leaving him with short breaths, heavily silently.

"The village has suffered a great loss in the face of their deaths."

Hari's hand reached out from her spot behind him and clamped down firmly on his small shoulder. Flinching, he nearly jumped in his spot, whirling around to see her dressed all in black, leaning forward and shaking her head softly. The sky above was a clear blue.

The monk stepped forward to recite his sutra.

The steady beat of his voice easily went from one ear and out the other. Wind picked up around them, running through their hair.

"May they find peace in the next life."

At the conclusion of the funeral, everyone shuffled forward slowly to the altar, their last chance to pay their respects. Hari kept her hand firmly on Sasuke as she threw her white flower forward.

It appeared to be in slow motion as it soared forward, petals rising and falling as it crashed on the bed of identical flowers. It didn't make any noise, but with every flower, the impact rattled his brain as loud as a bomb.

The ringing of metal appeared three times in his head then dispersed completely along with the crowd of people before him. The neat rows merged together and the mutterings rose in volume, closing in on him like the smoke from the incense.

One person after another came up to him and Rin to pay their condolences, a sea of blank and empty faces. It was easy to disappear into the background even if he was the only living member left. There were just so many ways someone could repeat "I'm sorry for your loss," until it became like a broken record, grating on his ears and burrowing underneath his skin into his nerves. Sasuke watched Rin's back, eyes following every thread of the montsuki haori that the Jounin wore, emblazoned with the Uchiha crest. He looked every bit of a Uchiha, so much like the ghosts that it was simple to ignore Sasuke, the firey, somber, silent child that hung in the back.

Disgusted, the Uchiha watched as Rin morphed into a person he didn't know. The strict, quiet teenager that hung around their house like shadows in the dark, always talking quietly to his sister as if every word he said was a secret. Instead he was replaced completely, an apathetic expression forming into a sympathetic mask, eagerly accepting everyone's hollow words of sorrow, even giving him their shoulder to cry on. He forced himself to have red-rimmed eyes, a small frown and a permanent soft look in his eyes. When the person in front of him would break out into tears, the teen never hesitated to scoop them into a hug, and Sasuke watched as their tears created a darkened patch on his shoulder while the male patted them on the shoulder consolingly. He was so convincing. Head turning to Hari, Sasuke noticed the blank look in her eyes, the uninterested stare that she had while she observed her brother.

He didn't know how someone as righteous as Hari let Rin go on like this.

Sasuke felt his fingernails dig into the soft flesh of his palm. Did Rin even care about them? Who did Rin think he was, wearing that crest like a peacock, accepting everyone's genuine affections only to disregard them the second they turned away.

"Asuma-san," his voice picked up from the mess inside of Sasuke's head. The teenager smiled with faint amusement. "I understand that the funeral is over, but please refrain from smoking around my sister. And Uchiha Sasuke-kun." Sasuke looked up, meeting eyes with the bearded, tan shinobi that just shrugged carelessly in apology before turning away with a black-haired kunoichi following after him, apologizing all the while.

"Hey," Hari whispered carefully, leaning closer to Sasuke. To his surprise, he didn't lean away from her touch. The smell of smoke and incense stuck to her funeral clothes like a second skin, intensifying when instead he sidled closer to her. Her hand must've been cramped, he thought listlessly. As the last member of the Uchiha clan and the Uchiha clan head, Rin and Sasuke were allowed to stand at the very front row of the funeral, but Hari was forced to stand in the row behind his, and she kept her reminder that she was with him for the handful of hours. Green eyes peered at him carefully, analyzing every hint of body language. "Do you want to leave?" she asked. "It's getting late — "

"Takashi-kun," the voice spoke up from beside him. It didn't become any louder, but the broken cadence was enough to startle the two of them. Rin spoke like he rehearsed every line he said, but the break in composure was enough to get the kids on edge as if they were thrown in battle. Hari looked up at the man in question and relaxed her body. A tall, nearly as tall as her brother, brown-haired teen with two triangle marks on his cheeks walked forward, a shaggy black dog following him cautiously.

"Rin." The man smiled broadly. "It's good to see you again."

. . .

Although the chatter around them didn't cease, it was as if they were closed to everyone else in the space.

Black slits met red eyes and the two stared at each other endlessly.

Hari watched as the fur from the dog stood up on the ends, large muscles tensing under a thick black coat. Those black beads glared up at Rin, unwavering, but hooded in a confused game of predator and prey. Takashi's hand fell on top of the dog's head and like ripples in a pool, the dog forcibly relaxed.

"Hello, Hari-chan!" the teen said, looking behind Rin and right at her.

"It's good to see you again, Takashi-san." A polite smile appeared on her lips.

"You can call me nii-chan, you know!" he grinned easily, just as laid-back as the rest of his clanmates. Even in the stiff funeral clothing, his loose posture was clear to see. It still crept up on him, just how many people Hari was familiar with. The number of people Sasuke knew could be counted in both hands. Now that most of them were dead: one hand. "You're just as big as Aomaru now! You guys seem to grow at the same rate." The dog underneath his hand, Aomaru, barked once at the sound of his name. The dog was large, a given for nin-dogs, easily large enough for the teenager to sit on top, but the back of her mind suddenly flashed to the image of a tiny puppy. Sasuke didn't know what to say when her smile suddenly faltered before picking itself up again. Her eyes became glassy as she gazed at the black dog, thinking of certain stars in the sky.

"Hello, Aomaru!" She reached down to ruffle the dog's head.

"Do you mind if I talk to your brother for a bit?" he asked, pointing to the quiet boy in question. The back of his body was like a wall to them: silent, imposing.

"... Yeah, take him away," she said, her voice foreignly composed. Turning down to Sasuke, his eyes grew wide, panicked at the thought of being left alone at the funeral. "We can go get lunch while they talk, right?" He nodded quickly, agreeing more with Hari than with Rin.

"Yes…" Rin grabbed his wallet from the folds of his haori fishing out several bills and handing them off to Hari. Without another word, she took his hand and they walked off together, the softness of the grass beneath their feet cushioning the sound of their steps. Several seconds ticked off after the two kids left. The crowd at the funeral dispersed more, only leaving stragglers who wanted a word with the Hokage, the monks, or to stare at the framed picture of their lost ones, almost long enough to appear like their life was going to waste away, Rin thought.

Takashi inhaled, his chest rising dramatically.

"Seiko-chan?" he finally asked, lungs deflating, voice cracking.

Rin tilted his head, opening his mouth to speak.

"'I want to be cremated, my remains thrown off the Hokage Monument on the night of the strongest wind'," they recited together, their voices falling back on a harmony that hadn't appeared for five years. The Inuzuka stared at Rin as if he couldn't believe the boy in front of him.

"You remembered," he said, the strength in his voice wavering.

"Of course I did." Rin smiled pleasantly, eyes closing and head tilting. "She's been cremated. I've already done the bone picking ceremony and I buried it. Her urn is at my home."

A chuckle escaped Takashi's lips, and from his closed eyes, Rin thought that was the end of that. His foot was ready to take a step backward, turning and finally closing the chapter on Team Five, but a call of triumph rang into the air interrupted him. He opened his eyes to see Takashi fist-pumping with the air. "You remembered, you bastard!" He crowed in excitement before running head-first at Rin, crashing into him, arms wrapped around his waist. An "oomph! " escaped from his lips, but Takashi didn't listen. Rin's body underneath his arms were like a statue, frozen, unmoving, but he didn't release. The dog bites down until the competitor gives up. Rin's arms hovered above his body, unsure. Takashi had his eyes screwed shut and he tightened his hold around his former teammate, squeezing him like a toy, and burrowed his face into perfumed black fabric. Those arms in the air trembled, then fell softly on Takashi's head, stroking his hair softly.

His clan called him stupid for holding onto this hope.

After what seemed like an eternity, Takashi finally released him and waited as Rin straightened out his clothing, smoothing over every wrinkle. Rin's eyes softened.

"How are you?" he asked, voice composed. "Have you been taking up missions?"

Takashi folded his arms behind his head, leaning back and forth from his heels to his toes, eyes wandering. A smirk appeared on his wild face as he pointed at himself with his thumb. "You're looking at an official Jounin of Konoha, bastard!" His voice raised up and down with pride, every inch of it filling with a beat that tone.

"I became Jounin at ten-years-old."

"Wha — " His arms fell, as he sputtered, eyes as large as plates. "That means you were only Chuunin for one year!"

It was Rin's turn to smirk this time. "Looks like you can do math, baka."

"S-Shut up!" Takashi growled. "I can't even go on strenuous missions anyway." Two pairs of eyes fell down to his leg. Huffing, and crossing his arms, he turned away with his nose in the air. "My leg acts up if I work on it for too long."

A nine-year-old Rin easily slipped down to his knees, sleeves rolling up as he did so. Takashi's large black eyes stared up at him, pupils wavering in fear and surprise, body planted on the ground. All around them, the crowd rose in suspense. The desert around them was hot, but the look Rin was giving him was frigid.

"I'm going to break your femur next." It was scary just how monotone Rin sounded as he stated that.

A single pale hand rose in the air before coming back down like a guillotine.

His scream rang through the air.

Something flashed across Rin's face, sharpening his features. Before things could grow awkward again, Takashi spoke up. "But I don't care about dumb diplomacy missions anyway. I miss the good ol' times where we just picked fruit all day — "

"Nara-san used to scold you because you would eat on the job."

"Shut it! I was a growing boy!" the teen defended, huffing like a dragon. "That doesn't matter. I'm the head of the Inuzuka veterinary clinic so I spend most of my time there with Aomaru anyway." His smile grew. "You still have your raptors, right? You can come on over anytime. I might even give you a friends and family discount — "

"If you were giving out a friends and family discount you would go out of business. You appeal to the Inuzuka clan first and foremost."

"Can you just stop interrupting me for once?" he whined almost pitifully, but stilled once a genuine smile appeared on Rin's lips.

Could he imagine, just for a second, that they were children again? Standing face to face with their new forehead protectors shining under the sun.

"You haven't changed the slightest, Inuzuka." He stated it as a fact, with a biting tone and for a second Takashi wondered if he was visibly looking down on him. He was ready to open his mouth, snapping back about Rin having a stick up his ass, but stopped before he could get to it. A wistful expression fitted on Rin's face, his features seemingly wiped away the hard lines from his face. It was amazing how young he could look, turning that attitude of his on its head.

"I — " Takashi tried to say. He blinked owlishly as his mouth became dry.

Even at night, he rolled over in bed calling himself an idiot.

"Takashi!" a voice barked out from behind them. The two boys turned simultaneously to see Inuzuka Tsume standing several yards away from them, arms crossed and a scowl on her lips. It didn't take a genius to figure out that that glare on her face was for Hanasaki, burning with old resentment. She ripped her gaze away from Rin's once his expression became tight despite the smile he had on his lips. "You have a couple appointments coming up. C'mon, you can't dawdle here."

Hanasaki Rin was not someone you commit to.

"Got it, Auntie!" Takashi called out, waving his hand. Aomaru began to pull on his owner's pant leg. "Hey — " His head snapped back to Rin, eyes moving back and forth as if he was trying to remember every inch of him. "I mean it, alright? Drop by the clinic anytime!" He started to give in to his dog's pull and steadily took one step after the other backwards. "Let's meet up again one day! I want to catch up!"

"Takashi!"

"I know!" He snapped, but immediately flinched back when his clan head glared at him for his attitude. Face contorted with fear, he slowly looked back at Rin who waited expectantly. He took the boy's hands into his own. A wolfish smile appeared on the boy's face, but his eyebrows turned down and narrowed his eyes with determination. "I'll see you again, Ricchan." Red irises reflected the image of the boy before him.

He guessed that he was just an idiot by nature.

With that, their hands dropped and the boy rushed off to his aunt who slapped himself in the back of the head the moment he got to her side. Tom Riddle watched the pair leave, accompanied by their dogs and felt himself tilting his head.

Takashi was always a person he never was able to understand.

For chasing someone whose friendship is as stupid and cruel as his.

Hari led Sasuke back to their house where they changed out of their funeral clothes, but the smell of smoke and incense that clung to their hair still lingered. Their walk to the market square was slow yet purposeful, eerily quiet as Sasuke kept ahead of her, head bowed low. Hari felt her attention drift elsewhere, to anything and everything. The only funerals she had really been to were Dumbledore's, the mass memorial for everyone during the Battle of Hogwarts, and then Fred's. She doubted that those experiences would amount to much when it came to finding the right words to comfort Sasuke. Immediately after Dumbledore's funeral she broke up with Ginny and dropped out of school, going out on a life-threatening trip as she tried to track down the horcruxes. Fred's funeral was incredibly solemn, such a polar opposite to his prankster behavior that George had to crack all of the jokes in his arsenal until they were all laughing, bent over with hurt stomachs.

She doubted that cracking jokes or breaking up with her girlfriend would do the little boy in front of her any good. If anything, she'd probably just scare him away, and she already had Rin for that.

Sasuke was just so different from any child that she had ever experienced. Angry and shy in the way that Teddy never was. All of the younger students at Hogwarts were usually starstruck when they saw her, causing her to leave them after a couple awkward words. He had been through more than most adults have, and that made Hari think that instead of any other child she'd interacted with, he was the most like her before anyone else. And that was what got her stuck.

Eyes drifted away, hands deep in her pockets until they landed on the empty training field beside them. Kunai littered it like confetti with ninja wire tangling in the grass. Noticing that Sasuke had stopped his stroll too, she glanced down to see him staring at the training field as well, eyes yearning. These past couple of weeks they were on a strict chakra and weaponry schedule. She sighed, putting her arms up to stretch up to the sky and winced when her bones cracked as a response. It had been a while since she did anything strenuous.

"Do you want to have a spar?" she asked.

Her words went off like the toppling of dominos, making the Uchiha's head snap immediately to the left where she stood.

"...What…?" he asked. He made it sound like she was speaking another language.

She kept her face forward, eyes on the large stretch of green. Perhaps some exercise would do them good, get some endorphins running in the both of their brains.

"We haven't had a taijutsu spar in a while," she commented. "I kinda miss it." Smirking down at him, she was sure to word herself to make it seem like she was the one who desperately wanted to fight. "Besides," she didn't need his verbal confirmation to know what he was already in. Leaving him behind, she stepped forward. "I'd like to know what the top rookie's like."

. . .

Watching the boy several feet across from her, she noticed the way his muscles were tensed, limbs corded and prepared to strike. He recognized her as a viable opponent and threat, she summarized. He wasn't going to hesitate.

Leaning back on her heels, she felt herself relax. Hands raised in a traditional fighting stance.

The rock she threw up in the air crashed back down to earth.

Immediately, her head twisted to the side as his fist sailed past her ear, whistling in the wind. She sprang into life, striking the inside of his elbow with one grand smack. His arm buckled and Hari took it in her hands, flipping him over her and into the ground.

It was over in ten seconds.

In the Academy, they would've expected her to then climb atop of his body, pinning down his limbs or place a hand near his vital points to end the fight. But she took several steps back, hopping on one foot and waited for him to get back up and fight her again.

His eyes were wide, nearly popping out his skull from his place on the grass and Hari watched as that shock quickly moved aside for the next emotion: irritation. The younger boy lept up and started to advance again, going on the offense.

But Hari was the fastest student in her class — now that she fought against Sasuke, perhaps that she was the fastest student in the Academy. Whenever he raised his legs to deliver a particularly high kick, he easily left the rest of him open for her to attack.

Nevermind the fact that she had years of practice with the god-forbid Harry Hunting game and Quidditch. Her eyes were trained to hone in on every subtle movement he made.

Her feet slid backwards after she blocked one of his kicks with her forearms, noticing how pink they started to become. On her days off she only wore civilian clothes, and the lack of arm wraps were becoming apparent by the jolts of numbness. Flipping her hair out of the way, she landed multiple hits at different points in his body, pausing once she saw the way that he wheezed in response, clutching his chest once the air was knocked out of him.

If Harry Potter had it her way, she would've done her best to keep her fighting style evasion-focused, avoiding her enemy to the best of her ability, but Rin made sure to knock his own offensive style into her. She was sure that beating her around the training field was his way of getting revenge on her after all these years — the only way that he could be sadistic and she couldn't say or do anything about it.

Sasuke jumped to counter again, going for another high kick, but her hand came down on his limb in a vice grip. Ducking when he moved to grapple her, she kept her eyes trained on his form. "You keep on going for my head — But you need to think about the basics, Sasuke. Go for my balance." It scared her how flat her voice came out in the way his did. Perhaps she had picked up some of Rin's traits, the cold way he would look down at her as he was training her. Wrenching his shin out of her grasp, Sasuke tried to duck low and follow her advice, but she already prepared for it. It seemed as if she already knew the conclusion of this fight. With her upper body relaxed, she swung her foot up. Knowing that she was going for the back of his knee, he moved accordingly, but fell right into her trap as she slipped her other foot in front of him, targeting his ankle and finally toppled his balance. The grass underneath his hands crumpled as he fell to the floor, eyes downturned.

Hari didn't move back this time. She reached out her hand to offer it to him, but immediately retracted it once Sasuke began to move his hands in rapid succession.

Ninjutsu? she quickly thought, her expression scrunching. Hari thought the boundaries of this fight was already established: hand-to-hand only.

Eyebrows furrowed, she watched his movements, trying to recognize the different seals.

Snake. Ram. Monkey. Boar. Horse. Tiger. Wait a minute — That's — !

Flipping backwards and out of place, she forced distance between them as Sasuke's chest expanded and expelled.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" he cried out. A fireball puffed out of his mouth like a Hungarian Horntail and Hari immediately threw her hand up. The heat became uncomfortably close.

Protego! The wave of fire crashed against an invisible wall and extinguished upon contact, spreading out in a circle around her; close enough for her to feel heat licking her cheeks and for sweat to build up along her hairline. When the last of the flames were put out and she appeared completely fine, she noticed the way he clicked his tongue with irritation. One foot came forward in hesitation, but once his shoulders sagged and the sudden poison inside his eyes faded, Hari felt herself relax despite the growing storm of thoughts.

"Good job," she said, walking towards him and holding out her hand for the seal of reconciliation. Several seconds too late, Sasuke left her hand hanging there in the air before finally hooking her fingers with his own. "You're just as talented as the reports say." Here she gave him a smile.

Even as she said this, her thoughts swirled inside of her head like a crystal ball. What the hell was that? She couldn't help but think. Was he seriously trying to hurt her?

No, she thought. The actions he had displayed throughout the weeks were not acts. There wasn't any resentment when he talked to her, and his attachment toward her was real. So what was that?

"...You're stronger," he simply said, turning away. When he said this, his voice filled with self-resentment. His hands balled up at his side, opening and closing. She looked down at his figure as he swayed slightly in place. During the tail end of their fight, he became sloppier. His priorities switched like a shuffled deck of cards, going from focusing on his form to beating her with everything he had. His movements became quicker, but easier to overcome.

What came over him? she started to think. She was certain it wasn't that he wanted to be malicious toward her, to hurt her intentionally. She pushed aside any potential pain in her heart at the thought.

He wanted to beat her with every fiber of his being, she summarized.

"That was a nice Fireball jutsu," she said, consoling in a way that wasn't obvious. She didn't want to set him off more than she already had. But was he expecting her to go easy on him? It was as if he became a different person when he realized that he was going to lose. "Rin and I are fire-nature too," she said, hopefully to move the conversation aside. "I also have an affinity for lightning-style. What are your chakra types?"

He was surprisingly reserved now, hiding away from the person he stuck to like a limpet. Breathing heavily from the workout, he straightened up. Half of his face was hidden by his collar; she could only see a sliver of his face as he looked anywhere but at her.

"...I don't know," he finally mumbled out, so low that she was tempted to lean in to listen better, but she didn't want to invade his space and make him more closed-off.

After another pause, he straightened out his breathing to a steady rhythm. "Every Uchiha is supposed to be able to use the Grand Fireball Jutsu. It's a rite of passage." He kicked a pebble with the tip of his sandal, watching as it soared and hit the base of a tree. He moved on quickly, she noticed how he was back to sharing with her again.

She forced herself to smile. "We can go check," Hari suggested. "Let's go to the supply store. I'm sure they have some there." He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I thought only registered ninja could buy that," he said, but even as the words came out of his mouth he started to walk toward the marketplace.

"Not always. If you're on track to graduate, they allow some exceptions. Chakra paper isn't dangerous so it should be fine."

At the mention of her graduation, Sasuke seemingly soured again, twisting his features into one of anger. However, he quickly smoothed it out as soon as it came.

As they walked to the store together, Hari allowed herself to ponder, hands deep in her pockets as her feet led her in multiple directions.

It became obvious that his anger only came up when he recognized that he was losing to her, causing him to fight her in desperation and even used ninjutsu against her. He was not angry at her, but — her skills? Sasuke hated the fact that she was stronger than him, Hari confirmed. But that didn't make any sense to her. She was in the grade above his and so wouldn't it be natural to be better? She had average chakra control and as a clan kid, she was positive that he would be able to outgrow her there. Magic was immediately skipped over in her mind. He was going to be stronger than her in a couple of years, so what was the matter if he was the weaker one now? If it was a question of Itachi, or being exposed to danger, Hari was certain that she had more than enough power to protect the both of them until then. Yet she held this to herself. Hari had more than enough experience with Harry Potter's old temper, Draco Malfoy's jealousy, and Ron Weasley's irritation to know that if she brought this up he would just grow angrier. Nevermind the fact that his mood skipped around so easily.

Where is this superiority coming from? ... Don't tell me, she thought, looking down at him as he pushed the store's door open. The bell above it chimed quietly. She tilted her head as a pit formed in her stomach, the dots connecting in her head. An inferiority complex?

She was getting ahead of herself, shaking her head as she walked up to the shelf that housed the chakra paper. These were too big of leaps, but the smallest part of her still said that he could only get worse from here. She wasn't a psychologist, but — where the hell was his therapy sessions anyway?

It had been several weeks since the Massacre and not one mention of therapy came to them. Some ninjas and older civilians abhorred the thought of mental illness, but after the Third Great Shinobi War, the Fourth Hokage made some pushes toward mental health and therapy. As an Auror and fighter in the Battle of Hogwarts, she agreed wholeheartedly with the dead man's efforts. Also, she thought wearily, Sasuke is a kid who had his entire family killed…

She would have to check up on that later, she told herself.

Now that I think of it… I didn't even know that Sasuke existed before this, she thought. She knew of Itachi, sure, but not knowing Itachi as a Konohagakure native was like navigating a straight hallway and still getting lost. The Uchiha Clan used to hold the boy up like a peacock, and the feats he managed and the intelligence he had made her wonder if Itachi was a reincarnation too, despite how outrageous that seemed. Though … Hari silently watched the back of Sasuke's head. That might explain why he's like this. Genius first-born and "the spare," she summarized. Itachi was so grand that Sasuke might've believed that will never be able to catch up. Ron certainly felt the same, shadowed by his older brothers as the "talentless" sixth brother. Hari closed her eyes and imagined herself, her past life, going to him for advice. She thought of her two best friends talking to Sasuke, teasing him easily and getting him to open up. Harry didn't know it then, or he was too angry to recognize it, but those two were the perfect people for Prefects. Ache filled her heart, but the absence of her best friend wasn't something to ponder about now, not when she was already standing in front of a tall shelf.

"Of course it's on the highest shelf," she said almost to herself, sighing pitifully, hands on her hips. The two of them turned left and right, looking around the store for a small step stool. Harry Potter never made it past average height, but even he would have reached the shelf with ease. One of the things she hated the most about being a kid again was pitfalls like this. Especially when they were being passive aggressive toward each other, Rin would put stuff on the tall shelves just to annoy her.

"I can get it, Nee-san," Sasuke spoke up when their search came up empty. She held back whatever words that came to the tip of her tongue. He was even shorter than she was. "I can climb the shelf."

"Uh." She craned her neck up to look at the basket of chakra paper, placed right next to a loose stack of books and right above a careful pile of scrolls. "I don't know if that's the safest option." His eyebrows formed a deep V.

"I can get it," he repeated firmly. He turned to the shelf and prepared to scale it like a cliff wall.

Feeling a sigh build up in her chest, she closed her eyes before Hari gave away any signs of doubting him. "Sasuke — "

The Uchiha had already climbed the first two bottom shelves, hand reaching up far above his head. Right before his fingers brushed the woven basket, almost toppling it over, a larger, gloved hand reached over his and snatched a bound pack of chakra paper.

"Maa," a voice called out from behind both of him. Hari flinched, but immediately reached a hand out to stop Sasuke from falling over in surprise. "Little chibis shouldn't be doing things that would irritate the store owners, hm?"

She froze in her spot, like if she didn't move the mystery man wouldn't be able to see her. Hari hadn't even sensed him come up to her.

Craning her neck until she was nearly looking backwards, Hari caught sight of a masked face and silver hair. His posture just screamed lazy , but no unskilled ninja would've been able to sneak up on her like that.

His single exposed eye curved up into a smile and he leaned in close to her face. "Hello there!"

Sasuke was immediately in the middle of them, his tiny face twisted into a pout. He spread out his arms to create as much of a wall between them as he could, quickly snatching the chakra paper from the ninja's hands.

"Nee-san," he said, turning his head to Hari and ignoring the man in front of him completely. "I could've — "

She pinched him in the back of his bicep where the mystery man couldn't see him, causing the boy to yelp and flinch quickly.

Narrowing her eyes, she stared harder at the man in front of her. Green eyes scanned him up and down, taking note of his hitai-ate and the body hidden behind the bulk of the flak jacket. His posture or composure didn't change the slightest despite Sasuke's rude or snappy behavior. Raising an eyebrow, she didn't look twice at Sasuke's sudden protectiveness.

The Uchiha were a coveted clan, and now that they were in scarcity, it wasn't surprising that just about anyone wanted to reach out for them now as if they were fruit at the top of the trees. Rin had always been receiving love confessions left and right, civilians and shinobi alike, but ever since the Uchiha clan was killed, those confessions had increased tenfold, stretching from Konoha to the neighboring villages. They go from talking to him shyly on the street to having marriage proposals shipped to their door. Although Hari knew the truth, Konoha had recognized Rin as an adult even though he was barely past his preteen years. But Rin could handle himself, she thought, but the disgust came from the fact that now those same girls would look at Sasuke too.

Sasuke, who wasn't even ten years old.

It didn't even stop there. The list of people who wanted to get close to them just for association was a mile long and a mile wide.

She was the spare in the remnants of the Uchiha, but Hari would be lying if she said the number of people she talked to didn't increase in the past several weeks.

The man in front of them didn't look at them like a piece of meat, but after weeks of turning away random girls and guys that stopped Rin on the street or even at their door, their suspicions were mountain-high.

"Oh — " She pulled Sasuke closer to her. "Thank you, shinobi-san, but I was actually reaching for the book right next to the chakra paper."

He tilted his head, but to her frustration, there was nothing in his eyes or body language that told her he caught onto her lie. Instead, he easily reached over and got the book that stood right beside the basket of chakra paper. It was here that he raised his visible eyebrow.

"Advanced Taijutsu for the High-Ranking Shinobi?" he read. She narrowed her eyes when the man didn't just give him her book and go. He looked down at her. "Shortie-chan, isn't this a bit above your...ah...paygrade?"

She gave him a flat look. So that's how it's going to be. "It's not for me," she immediately said. "It's for my older brother. He's a Jounin." Hari forced herself to speak higher, conjuring the image of a first-year Hermione in her head: young, slightly haughty with a dash of I-will-sic-authority-figures-on-you. Hanging the bait, she wanted to know if he would catch onto her act.

That lone eye curled upward again. "Then your brother would know that this book is targeted toward Chuunin-level shinobi."

Hari's frown deepened. "Taijutsu is his weakest subject." That he did recognize from the flicker in his eyes.

"Wouldn't it be better if he learned taijutsu from a fellow ninja who can properly train him then?"

She was sick of this game of back-and-forth and the ninja's unmovable composure. Lowering her voice into a near hiss, she turned the heat of her glower up. "Why would I let some strange shinobi around my brother?" she said, as if daring him to challenge her.

Sasuke caught wind of her hostile energy and started to square up too, glaring at the man in front of him.

He tilted his head at her sudden anger. "Not even if it's from the best taijutsu user in Konoha? Your brother would greatly improve then." When her frown didn't ease up, he sighed dramatically. "So suspicious, hm? Back in my day, children weren't as serious as you, Shortie-chan."

"I don't know about you, Shinobi-san, but things have changed since the Second Shinobi War." She looked down at the boy in front of her. "C'mon, Sasuke, let's go pay." The boy quickly nodded and trailed behind Hari, making sure to never remove his heated gaze from the ninja.

"Hm? Second Shinobi War?" The man suddenly perked up once her words registered in his brain. "Hey! Wait — how old do you think I am?"

"Thanks for your help," she said as she ushered the Uchiha out the door of the shop. "But we have to get going now."

It came as prickles along her skin, how analyzing he looked for one second then completely casual the next.

"Alright then, Shortie-chan, Shorter-chan. Make sure not to bother any more shopkeepers, hm?"

Hari showed no signs that she heard him, making sure to push the door open as loud as possible until the bell rang over the man's words.

As Sasuke kept his hand firmly around hers, Hari walked with her head deep in thought.

The Notice-me-not charm she put over them when Sasuke climbed the shelf should have remained strong, but the man still interacted with them and caught on to her lie about the book. The only way he would've known was if...he was watching them even before she cast the charm.

She sighed deeply, listening with half an ear when Sasuke called out, "You're so slow, Nee-san!" as he pulled on her arm.

First two masked men, and now another masked shinobi? Hari's three step plan for a normal, simple life was wilting away before her eyes.

"Yo!"

A broad-shouldered man with a bowl cut turned around at the sound of the greeting, a smile immediately igniting on his face.

"Kakashi!" the self-proclaimed "Green Beast of Konoha" shouted. "My Rival! How are you?"

"I'm good," he said casually, a single hand raised in greeting. "Say, Gai, I might have a favor."

"Why — Of course, anything for you, Kakashi!" Gai nearly shouted at the top of his lungs, lit with hip and cool energy. "Ha Ha Ha!"

"Do you know someone by the name of Hanasaki Rin by any chance?" When Gai's face immediately frowned with thought, Kakashi opened his mouth to speak. "He's — "

"No!" Two hands held themselves up with a grand flourish. "Don't tell me — Don't tell me! I Will Get It!" Gai held a hand up to his chin in thought, face scrunched up with deep concentration. A rumbling hmmm sound came from the very bottom of his stomach to his throat. Gai snapped his fingers and flashes his eyes wide open, a shine appeared on his pearly white teeth as he gave a thumbs up to his Lifelong Rival. "He's the mochi-pounder from down the street!"

Kakashi sighed dramatically as he shook his head, arms coming up to make an X as a buzzer sound appeared out of nowhere.

"The fisherman that can juggle!"

Another buzzer sound.

"Incorrect."

Gai's deep sound of concentration became louder. His eyes became more and more watery with every wrong answer.

Snapping his fingers, he shouted, "He's the bass player from the band at the bar, The Jumping Leaf!"

"Wrong," Kakashi said again. "And he seems more like a piano or koto player."

Tears were streaming down Gai's face like two rivers now. His fist was clenched tightly as he shook it in the air.

"The anticipation is killing me, My Rival." Gai screwed his eyes shut. "Tell me — No! That would mean giving up! Give me a hint."

"Hmm." Kakashi posed, fake in thought. "He's this tall." Kakashi held his hand up to about 175cm off the ground. "And he kinda looks like…" His image suddenly flashed before their eyes to show Gai short, disheveled black hair and his clothes were switched out to a loose black and green kimono shirt over a tight, black mock neck shirt. Kakashi kept the same masked face of his but smoothed over his thoughtful expression until he had one of pensiveness. In a blink of an eye, Kakashi was back to his regular clothes and hair. "That."

"Oh!" Gai slammed his fist into his palm, eyes brightening as the lightbulb went off in his head. "Yes! I know him now! Young Hanasaki-kun was in Genma's squad for a while!"

"Yea, that's him." Kakashi leaned on one leg. "Anyway, a little birdie — ah, rather, a little crab told me that Hanasaki Rin was struggling a bit in taijutsu. I thought that — "

Gai's hand came up to stop him right there. "Say no more, Kakashi! How cool of you to think of the newer generation! It shall be an honor! A right to pass on my taijutsu knowledge!" A fire was lit in Gai. "If only I thought of helping our kohais before! I shall run around Konoha five times. No — ! I shall run around it ten times for neglecting the young shinobi! Our comrades!"

"You do that, Gai," Kakashi said breezily. "Oh and one more thing. He's supposedly really shy and thinks it's shameful to ask for help." Kakashi leaned in close, hands in his pockets as his single eye lazily peered at the man in front of him.

"But there's nothing wrong with asking for help!"

"I know, but he doesn't." The copy-nin sighed dramatically, his hair drooping as he slouched. "So no matter how many times he refuses, don't let him say 'no,' okay?"

"You got it! Hanasaki Rin will accept my teachings or my name isn't Might Gai!"

A faint smile appeared on Kakashi's face at his friend's passion and his exuberant exclamations, but faded not long after. The jumpsuit-clan man dashed off not a second later, and Kakashi allowed this moment of silence all to himself.

The Hokage's words rang in his head, repeating over and over like a broken record. The mission to keep an eye on Hanasaki Rin was a strange one, the only person that was able to evade Uchiha Itachi, but not a mission that he would ignore. Nobody said it, but Kakashi caught onto the connotations. The Hokage's faith in the Hanasakis was given, but not one that he blindly overlooked. Their leader relied on Rin to be the one Uchiha that was able to challenge Itachi and keep his beating heart, but Rin's wavering loyalty in the village was a sentiment the teen wore on his sleeve. No one knew if he was going to be the next one to snap too.

His sister proved to be nothing special, he confirmed. Fiery, but at the very least he could admire someone who tried to protect their friends. It was truly the oldest that he needed to keep watch on. He couldn't tell Gai about his mission, but he knew first-hand how persuasive the "Green Beast" was. The official papers and his own sister confirmed it, but if taijutsu was truly Rin's weakest point, then if anything were to go to hell, Kakashi relied on Gai to stop him.

Deep in his heart, Kakashi knew that he could've done better to prevent Itachi from descending to madness. The downfall of another genius wasn't going to happen under his watch. Even if he had to gather all of Konoha to stop him.