Hanako, Kazuki and Takeshi stood in front of the Hokage's desk as the Third looked at them seriously. "How did you learn the Kage Bunshin?"

"It was me." Hanako was the first to say. "I'm sorry, if you are going to punish someone, let it be me. They didn't do anything Hokage-sama. It was my fault entirely." Hiruzen smiled at her.

"Well, Hanako. I'm afraid the punishment applies for the three of you." The Uchiha looked at him with widened eyes. The other two gasped. "You won't be continuing your classes in the Academy." Hanako felt her stomach fell as well as her breath taken away. "You don't have anything else to learn."

"But..." Hanako could feel her tears gathering at her sockets and she closed her eyes tightly before looking at the ground. "I'm sorry, Hokage-sama... They didn't do anything. It was me... Please, expel only me." Kazuki and Takeshi looked at her with their eyes widened.

The Hokage chuckled. "I don't think you get me, Hanako." He stood up from his seat, bringing three village protectors with him. "The three of you don't need to go to the Academy anymore. You are Genin now." He placed a protector in front of her and Hanako looked at it with wide eyes. "Congrats." Hanako looked up at the Hokage and he smiled at the three of them. "Use your abilities wisely," he said as he gave the three kids their protectors. "And don't attack your Konoha comrades unless you're training." Hanako nodded with a wide smile. Kazuki and Takeshi grinned.

"Hai!"

* * *

Hanako and her friends didn't return to the Academy after the incident, so the rumors started.

"Hana-chan didn't come to class today either!"

"Did she really get expelled?"

"No way! She was first place!"

Comments like such were heard every single day. Itachi was also offered to graduate early, along two others in his class. The day of Graduation came, and all doubts were cleared. Hanako was sitting at the back of the class, with her forehead protector on and Kazuki and Takeshi at either side of her. Itachi looked at her for a moment before sitting at the opposite side of them.

"Well, I hope you had a wonderful year!" The teacher entered the classroom with a lot of energy. I wanted to congratulate you for your Graduation, some of you early but still counting!" He chuckled. "Now, before assigning the teams you'll be working in from now on, I want to introduce a new girl. She graduated from the Academy in Kumogakure, so please go easy on her! Come on in, Hyori!" A small girl about seven years old entered the class. She looked at every student with her brilliant blue orbs and her short brown hair held back with hairpins. "Welcome to Konoha," the sensei said again and the girl just nodded curtly before sitting next to a blond boy in the front line. "So, now the teams!"

Hanako sighed. She looked sideways at the Uchiha she had observed during her short year in the Academy. "So, he graduated as well?"

"Team 2!" The teacher announced. "Koharu Anami! Hiroki Daishi! Itachi Uchiha!"

"Oh? Itachi?" Takeshi looked at the boy and scoffed. "What is he doing here?" Hanako just chuckled at him.

"Team 3! Kaichi Kazeyama! Ren Sonoda! Hyori Senju!"

"They're also from our generation, aren't they?" Kazuki asked.

"Really? I never saw them before," Takeshi commented.

"They were probably in class 1-2..." Hanako finished, turning her attention to the teacher.

"Team 4!" he announced once again. "Takeshi Komatsu! Kazuki Mitokado! Hanako Uchiha!"

"Oh!" Takeshi's eyes glistened. "We are in the same team, Hana-chan!" Hanako hit him in his head.

"I told you not to call me that," she said. "Too bad, I thought I'd finally get away from you..."

"You're so mean..." Hanako chuckled.

"I'm just messing with you."

All the teams were selected. Soon, each team left with their Jounin tutor. Team 4 followed their teacher to the training grounds, where he sat them in front of the Memorial Stone.

"Now, from today on you're officially Genin. My name is Kaito Hayata, and I'll be your sensei. So, why don't you introduce yourselves? I'd like to know who I'm dealing with," he stated bluntly.

"Fine, I'll go first," the brunet boy said. "My name is Takeshi Komatsu. I live with my father. My mother died when giving birth to me so I'm an only child. My father had to quit his career as a ninja to raise me and now he works selling weaponry. My dream is to be the great ninja he couldn't be so I can honor him. I like to build stuff and train with my sword. I hate cocky people who believe themselves to be superior."

"So, you basically hate Hanako," Kazuki commented, earning a glare from the girl. The boy chuckled, "It was just a joke..."

Hanako rolled her eyes, "Sure..."

Kaito nodded, "Fair enough. Next."

"My name is Kazuki Mitokado," continued the blue eyed boy. "I live with both my parents. Unlike Takeshi, I don't have a story to tell so I'll just say that I like reading technique scrolls in my free time. I dislike when people interrupt me while I'm reading. My purpose is to become a Jounin and a master in Ninjutsu."

Kaito sighed and looked at the last member. "And you?"

"My name is Hanako Uchiha," the brunette was the last one to talk. "I am going to become the most powerful Kunoichi of all times. I like training, sparring, taking long walks, dango and sweets. I hate bitter food, people who underestimate me and waking up early in the morning."

"This is an interesting team, isn't it?" Kaito chuckled dryly. "Well, if you thought that once you graduated the Academy everything was going to be easier, then you're awfully mistaken. From now, things are going to be harder. Our first mission begins tomorrow, make sure to be here early." Kaito looked at Hanako. "Sorry Uchiha, but now you'll have to start liking waking up early in the mornings."

* * *

After a week of the graduation, Itachi walked with his father through the city. People bowed at him in respect whenever they saw him, although Fugaku only smiled politely at them and continued his way. Itachi noticed this and smiled up at him. Fugaku looked down at him when he felt his intent stare. "What's gotten into you?" he asked with curious eyes.

"Nothing," Itachi looked down. "I am just proud of you, Father... I feel proud walking next to you."

Fugaku's eyes widened slightly before he smiled barely. "I see..." He looked around for a moment, when an idea suddenly popped in his mind. "How about getting some of your favorite food?" he asked.

Itachi looked up at him with gleaming eyes and nodded with a smile. They walked to the closest dango store, but Itachi stared with disappointment at the lady changing the sign from Open to Closed. "That's a shame..." Fugaku commented, "It'll have to be some other day..."

At that moment, a girl with long brown hair walked out from the store carrying a paper bag. When she looked up, she was surprised to find Itachi, with his father, looking at her. "Itachi-kun?"

"Izumi?"

"Oh?" Fugaku raised an eyebrow. "Is she a friend of yours?" he asked.

Itachi looked at him. "Well... you could say so..."

"Why don't you hang out for a while?" Fugaku smiled. "I've got a lot to do anyway, so I better go back. See you tonight," Fugaku nodded at his son in goodbye and turned to make his leave.

Itachi looked at his retrieving back and then his attention was caught by Izumi. "Do you want to watch the lake with me?" she asked.

Itachi smiled slightly, "Sure."

The lake's water was clear as always, it perfectly reflected Itachi's image when he looked down at it. It was like a perfect mirror of nature. "I'm sorry I interrupted your walk with your father," Izumi's voice brought Itachi back from his trance. He looked at her and smiled softly.

"It's okay, don't worry."

"That's right!" Izumi gasped as she remembered something, "I didn't congratulate you for your graduation, did I?"

Itachi widened his eyes in surprise and shook his head quickly, "It's okay, don't bother -"

Izumi wasn't paying attention to him as she rummaged through her paper bag. She pulled out and opened a stash of Hanami Dango before offering it to him. "Here," she smiled. Itachi looked at it hungrily, but when he was about to accept it, Izumi pulled away. "I'm sorry, I really didn't think it through. Of course a genius like you wouldn't like sweets." She sighed. "But I already opened it, it would be waste if they get cold, so I guess I have to eat it now." She was about to take a bite into the dango when she felt the boy next to her glaring daggers into her head. She looked at him sideways and smiled softly. "Could it be...you actually want some?" she asked.

Itachi blushed slightly and quickly looked away. Izumi took a stick of dango and offered it to him, "Take it."

Itachi grabbed it, "Thank you..." he muttered softly.

"I would have never thought you like sweets," she commented as she watched Itachi take a bite of dango. She was amused at how he actually enjoyed it. The sight of it made her chuckle.

"Is it really so strange?" he asked.

Izumi chuckled even more, "No, not at all..." The girl watched as Itachi took another bite and laughed. "Yeah, it is."

"I really don't understand the relationship between being a genius and liking sweets," Itachi said. "For me, it's perfectly normal."

"Yeah, I guess it is..." Izumi's laughter seemed to die down as she took a deep breath. "So, talking seriously, is there anything special you want for your graduation?"

Itachi looked at Izumi briefly before staring away into the lake. "There's something I want to ask you about, someone actually..."

Izumi looked down and nodded softly, "Oh...," she looked at the lake. "Is it...about Hanako-san, maybe?"

Itachi looked at her in surprise, "How did you...?"

Izumi smiled. "Who doesn't ask about her?" she commented with fake humor, and Itachi noticed. "So, what do you want to know?" she looked back at him.

"How much do you know about her?" he asked before eating his last dango.

Izumi shrugged. "I only know we used to play when we were kids. We would meet every day, at the same park, at the same time. It was like our own ritual, neither of us would miss it... Now, we don't really talk anymore..."

"What happened?"

"She...she stopped coming to the park. One day she missed the ritual, and I felt so alone. The next day, she didn't come either. Or the next, or the day after. She never came back," Izumi mumbled. She took a deep breath and wiped away some tears. "She was my neighbor, but it was like she had disappeared. I never saw her again. Until the entrance ceremony," Izumi shook her head. "I was happy, like if she had never left at all. But I had made my friends and she had made hers, so I think it's for the best."

"I see..."

"She graduated too, didn't she? That's cool. I'm intrigued, though, as to how she managed to master the Sharingan," she suddenly said, calling Itachi's attention. "Even you, a prodigy, haven't awakened it." She looked at him, "And I admit, maybe I shouldn't have awakened it myself. I can't really control it." She chuckled lighlty. "But Hanako-san...it seemed to be natural for her. Staring at her eyes was like staring at the eyes of an adult, it was scary..."

"Izumi..." The girl looked at Itachi with curiosity. He was looking at the lake. "How did you get those eyes?"

Izumi smiled. "I don't really know, they just appeared one day. You will have them, Itachi-kun, I'm rooting for you." Itachi nodded in acknowledgement and continued to stare at the water. His mind couldn't stop thinking about the Uchiha girl, and who she was.

* * *

Hanako was walking back home after she was dismissed by her sensei. Kazuki and Takeshi also went back to their homes, but they lived the other way, away from the Uchiha Compound. "You are Yusuke's daughter, aren't you?" Hanako stopped walking when she heard a man speaking to her. She looked up to find him standing in front of her.

"Who are you?" she asked cautiously. The man had interrupted her right at the entrance of the Compound, so it was right for her to assume that the man in front of her was an Uchiha.

"We have met already," said the man. "But I guess you don't remember." Hanako frowned slightly at his lack of response. "I am Fugaku, the Clan Leader."

Hanako widened her eyes and immediately let herself fall on her knees, bowing at him. "I'm sorry, Fugaku-sama, I didn't recognize you. Please forgive my rudeness."

Fugaku approached her until he stood right in front of her. "Get up."

Hanako gasped and looked up at him in surprise. "What?"

"Stand," he spoke in a sterner tone. Hanako slowly complied, but kept her head down. "I heard you graduated early form the Academy," he said. "Congratulations."

Hanako nodded, "Thank you, Fugaku-sama."

"I also heard some of your teachers complaining about you," Hanako pressed her lips into a thin line. "They say you trapped one of them in a Genjutsu, using a third wheel Sharingan... Hanako, have you already mastered the Sharingan?" Hanako looked up slowly at the leader. He wasn't mad, actually Hanako could see he seemed to be interested in her answer.

"Yes..."

"Can I see it?" Hanako closed her eyes for a moment, until she felt the comfortable heat of her blood running through her irises. When she opened them, Fugaku took a deep breath while his eyes widened. "How...?"

"Need," she said. "I was in danger, so I guess the instinct helped me."

Fugaku looked at the ground and closed his eyes. "I see... how long have you had it?"

"About a year."

"And how did you master it in just a year?" he asked again, this time looking at her seriously.

Hanako just shrugged. "It was like I already knew how to use it. It tired me at first, but I got accustomed to it. My sister helped me control it, she was the one who trained me to use it." Hanako smiled, remembering her sister's ecstatic behavior when she found out.

"Let me see it, let me see it!" Hanako jumped when Hikari suddenly opened the door of her room.

"Nee-chan!"

"Show me your Sharingan!" she exclaimed, inviting herself in. Hikari grabbed Hanako by the shoulders, waiting for Hanako to show her her eyes.

The girl sighed as blood filled her dark colored irises, turning them into a bright red. One tomoe pointed at her pupil in each eye. "Sugoi..." Hikari muttered in amazement. "Honto ni...sugoi..."

"Hikari-nee would help me every night. And before I knew it, I already had three tomoes."

"I see..." Fugaku nodded. "Then, should we test your current abilities?"

"Test?" Hanako reacted in surprise.

"Yes." Fugaku also activated his Sharingan, staring fixatedly into Hanako's eyes. "Show me what you can do, Hanako Uchiha." Fugaku landed a kick into Hanako's stomach before she had any time to react. The force of the impact sent her flying away from the entrance of the Compound, and she rolled to a stop a few meters away. Hanako slowly stood up, when she felt Fugaku's chakra beside her. She barely avoided another kick by rolling to the side, then she stood up in a flash and jumped away before he could land another hit.

Fugaku smirked. "Too slow."

Hanako widened her eyes, she had failed to notice in time that Fugaku was a clone, and the real one stood right behind her. He hit her again, and she fell to the ground, clutching her abdomen in pain. She didn't expect him to appear just like that, and she didn't expect him to hit her like that.

"Hanako," Fugaku appeared beside her once again, and she got ready for another hit. "You are still missing experience," he said. Hanako looked up at him. "I believe you can improve your fighting skills by learning some of the clan's own moves. The elders have taken a liking to you, so you have to be careful."

"What do you mean?"

"You need to learn how to defend yourself properly," he added. "Meet me at the lake every night from tomorrow. I'm going to teach you everything I've taught Itachi so far." Fugaku deactivated his Sharingan. "Rest well, I'll see you tomorrow." With that, he left.

Hanako still held her middle tightly as she slowly got up. "Tch...You could have just said so..."

* * *

The next day, Hanako approached the lake after dark. She had snuck out of the house, knowing that her father wouldn't let her come after what had happened the time the masked man attacked her. But this was different.

Fugaku was waiting for her, standing on the edge of the deck. "Took you long enough," he was quick to notice her presence.

"What are we going to do today?" she asked.

"The first thing I taught Itachi in this lake was the clan's most basic fire technique," he said. Then he turned to look at her from over his shoulder. "Do you know which one it is?"

"The great fireball?" Hanako raised an eyebrow. She knew about Taijutsu, and she had experimented a bit on Genjustu. But the only thing she knew about Ninjutsu was what she had learned from the Academy.

"Yeah, do you know the seals?" Hanako shook her head. "Come here, I'll teach them to you." Hanako smiled brightly and hurried to his side. She was excited to learn a new technique. "Watch. Tiger-Ram-Monkey-Boar-Horse-Tiger." Fugaku finished the hand seals, and sucked air into his lungs. He then exhaled it in the form of fire. Hanako gaped at the fireball, which grew larger than twice her size.

The fire was so hot, Hanako could still feel it even after it disappeared. "Once you learn this jutsu, you won't be regarded as a kid within the clan anymore." Hanako looked back at the leader. He was looking at her with a stern face.

"Father?" Fugaku looked up the hill at the new voice. Itachi was standing there looking down at both him and Hanako. "What are you doing here?"

Hanako looked at Fugaku with a raised eyebrow. "He's your son?"

"Itachi," Fugaku asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I was curious," he replied, his eyes were glued to the girl that was with his father. "You left after dinner, you normally don't do that."

"Go back home." Fugaku looked back at Hanako. "Hanako, your turn."

Hanako nodded with a smirk, and stood next to the leader on the deck. Itachi didn't go away, instead he observed with interest. The girl performed her hand seals. "Tiger...Ram...Monkey...Boar...Horse...Tiger..." she muttered each seal in a slow pace and then inhaled. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" She exhaled a fireball, a small one, but fire nonetheless.

Fugaku hummed. "Alright," he shook his head. "I think you can do more than that."

Hanako frowned at him. "It was my first try, what did you expect?!"

"Itachi did it on his first try," Fugaku said sternly. Itachi walked to stand on deck with them, and made the jutsu. Hanako observed him as he created a giant fireball. She then looked away with a huff.

"Of course he did..." she muttered lowly. Hanako tried again, and this time she managed to create a larger fireball, but not as large as Itachi's.

"At least, you improve quickly..." Hanako rolled her eyes, and tried again.

After the training, Hanako walked back the way she had come. She was a bit frustrated on her abilities. 'Itachi did it on his first try,' Fugaku's voice still resonated inside her mind. Hanako clicked her tongue and kicked away some nearby stone. "Show off." Itachi caught the stone with his foot, surprising the girl. She looked up at him and immediately looked away.

"What do you want?" she asked boredly.

"Are you Hanako Uchiha?" he asked. When he looked at her, the first thing he noticed was her Konoha protector on her forehead.

"So?" Hanako shrugged. "What if I am?" She said before continuing her way.

"Why are you training with my father?"

Hanako didn't reply and just walked past him. Itachi looked at her.

"Hey," he asked again.

"That's none of your business," she replied without looking at him.

"I was just asking."

Hanako stopped and looked at him from over her shoulder. There was a smirk plastered on her face. "Why? Are you jealous?" She didn't wait for his reply and continued walking. Itachi hurried to match her pace. Hanako looked at him sideways with a frown and walked faster. Itachi matched her again. "Stop doing that!" Hanako suddenly stopped and glared at him.

"Doing what?" Itachi looked at her confused.

"Walking with me!" Hanako snapped as if it was obvious. "You live the other way, don't you? Go home!" She continued walking again.

"I'll walk you home." Itachi followed her. Hanako stopped again.

"I don't need you to walk me, go away."

"It's dangerous at night, I'll walk you home," he repeated seriously. Hanako huffed.

"Who said I was going home anyway?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "Leave me alone."

"Where are you going?"

Hanako growled. "You just won't shut up, will you?!" She looked at him and seemed to remember something. "Wait, you are Izumi's friend, aren't you?" Itachi didn't respond. "Did she send you to question me?" Hanako narrowed her eyes. "Because if that's the case, tell her to come ask me herself." Hanako turned her back to him once again.

"Izumi didn't send me," Itachi said. "My name is Itachi Uchiha."

"I know who you are."

Itachi looked at the ground and sighed. "I just realized we didn't have a proper introduction. It's nice to meet you, Hanako-san."

Hanako rolled her eyes at him. "Call me Hanako, and I'll call you Itachi. Is that okay with you?" Itachi smiled softly, but Hanako couldn't see it since she was still giving him her back.

"Yeah, that's okay."

"Well, then. Good night, Itachi," Hanako continued walking but then stopped. "By the way," she looked at him. "I will be training with your father in the lake every night. Please, don't come. I don't want to be compared to you." With that said, she continued walking. This time Itachi didn't follow her, only observed her until she disappeared at the end of the road.