In the kitchen, Hanako sat down at the table and almost immediately her mother placed a plate of hot steaming miso soup in front of her, a plat of sliced fruit in the middle and scrambled eggs. Hanako waited until everyone was sitting down before eating.

"So, we have already chosen a name for the twins," Akira commented and Hanako looked up at her with widened eyes.

"Really?" she gasped with her mouth full and Hikari threw a napkin at her.

"Don't talk while eating!" she chastised. Hanako used the napkin to clean her mouth while dedicating her sister a glare.

"So, which are they?" she finally asked, turning her attention back to her mother. Akira beamed and looked up at her with a big grin.

"Ryusuke and Hayato," she announced. Hanako felt as her blood ran cold and her frame visibly paled. Her chopsticks fell from her hand and she gaped at her mother when part of her nightmare suddenly came to mind.

"Promise me you'll live. You will take care of Ryusuke and Hayato. You will train them and protect them with your life." That's what Hikari had told her in the dream. Hanako's eyes drifted towards her sister. She was eating calmly, totally unaware of anything. She swallowed the lump forming in her throat and did her best to give the most convincing smile to her mother, who was still looking at her expectantly. She was probably hoping to hear her opinion about the names.

"They're wonderful," Hanako said with a wide grin. It must be a coincidence she had dreamed about them before she knew them, right? Or was she asking for too much?

"Right?" Her mother was so excited she couldn't help but feel happy for her. It was just a dream, she shouldn't put so much thought into it.

Hanako heard a knock on the door and stood up. "I'll go get it!" She hurried towards it and opened it to find Itachi on the other side. She raised her eyebrow at him. "What are you doing here so early?"

Itachi smirked. "It's ten in the morning, you call that early?" Hanako was taken aback and turned to look over her shoulder at the clock hanging in the wall of the living room. Her eyes widened when she realized Itachi was right.

"No way, I couldn't have slept that long..." Hanako muttered under her breath and turned back to Itachi when she heard a soft chuckle coming from his way.

"It's okay. Go and put on some proper clothes, the Hokage is calling for us." Hanako looked at herself and raised an eyebrow. She was wearing her pajamas, which consisted of a pair of shorts and tank top, all white.

"Can't I just go this way? It's a really hot day anyway..." She chuckled when she noticed Itachi had paled, and closed the door in his face. Hanako hurried to her room and quickly changed into her ninja gear before going back to the living room. Right at that moment, Hikari walked out of the kitchen and looked at her questionably.

"Where are you going?"

"The Hokage's. Itachi came here to tell me he's waiting for us," Hanako replied. Hikari sighed.

"So, I'll take it you're not going to finish your breakfast," she stated, making Hanako look at her.

"I'm sorry, I'm not hungry anyways..." she commented, dragging a bit the words. Hikari chuckled.

"Alright," she shook her head, trying to dismiss her previous action. "Just go before I get tempted to lock you in your room before you decide to leave again," she finished.

Hanako scoffed. "Good luck with that..." and she walked out the door. Itachi waited for her, and looked up when he heard her exit the house. "I'm ready," she smiled slightly before starting to towards the Hokage Mansion.

Along the way, Hanako was lost in her mind as she thought of all the possibilities of what the Mangekyou Sharingan could be. If it was a type of Sharingan only certain special Uchiha possessed. Whether it was good or bad, and what abilities it might convey.

Hanako was brought out of her trance when she suddenly felt something warm slide into her hand. She looked down at it and found a hand wrapped around her own, their fingers intertwined. Her eyes moved up, following his arm, until they met Itachi's intense black irises. He was staring right back at her. All colors rose to Hanako's cheeks and she looked away.

"What were you thinking about?" Itachi asked softly. Hanako could almost hear him smiling and she felt a weird sensation in her tummy. She knew she was crushing on him, hard, but she wasn't yet willing to admit it.

"Nothing." She knew he didn't buy it. Itachi never believed any of her silly excuses, but she couldn't blame him for that, they were so random at times she wouldn't believe them either.

The two of them remained silent for the rest of the way to the Hokage's. When they opened the door, they found Hiroki already there. He looked at them with a mischievous smirk once he noticed their joined hands. Hanako let go of Itachi and went to stand beside the green haired boy.

"It was about time you came," commented the Hokage while looking at them with the same smile Hiroki had on his face.

"I'm sorry," Hanako chuckled nervously. "I overslept, Itachi had to call me personally." The Third chuckled.

"Well, I called you three here because I have great news to deliver." The Genin all looked at him expectantly. The Hokage pulled out from of his drawers three green vests. "Congratulations! You three have approved the Chuunin Promotion Exam."

Each one of them was given a Konoha vest and a certificate of promotion. They all smiled at each other and bowed respectfully at the Hokage, thanking him before they walked out of his office. Once outside, Hanako laughed. "I guess your father was right, Itachi, we were really promoted."

"Well, there would have been something strange if you hadn't been promoted," Hiroki said. "Especially you Hanako-san, you set a record in the Forest of Death."

"Really?" Hanako arched her brows. Hiroki laughed slightly and patted her head. Hanako scoffed.

"Well, Itachi, Hanako-san, I'm sorry. I'd like to spend the rest of the day with you guys, but I just remembered I had something else to do." Before leaving, Hiroki approached Itachi to murmur something to his ear. Itachi widened his eyes before glaring at his teammate. Hanako frowned, wondering whatever Hiroki could've said to his friend. "Bye!" Hiroki waved his hand at the two Uchiha, leaving quickly before Hanako could ask anything.

"What did he say to you?" Hanako looked at Itachi questioningly, but the boy just turned to look at her with a small smile.

"Nothing," he said. Hanako rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I saw your reaction, it had to be something." Itachi's frame became serious again before he shrugged.

"It wasn't really important," he sighed. "Do you remember that day I invited you to train with Sasuke and me?" Hanako raised an eyebrow at him but nodded.

"And that's important because...?"

"You turned down my offer and told me to leave it for some other time," he finished. Hanako's lips curved up into a smile when she remembered that time.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" She continued to press down on the subject. Curiosity got the best of her as to where that conversation was headed. Itachi took her hand in his once again.

"It means I want you to spend the rest of the day with Sasuke and me, will you?" Hanako smiled widely.

At Itachi's house, Sasuke waited at the front door. When he took notice of his brother, he stood up and ran in their direction. "Nii-san! Why did you take so long?!" he inquired to his older brother, inflating his cheeks in a childish manner.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," Itachi replied at him with a soft smile. At that moment, Sasuke seemed to notice that his brother handn't come back alone, Hanako was standing at his side, smiling at him. Sasuke frowned.

"Why are you here?" he pointed a finger in her direction. Hanako laughed.

"Are you really going to treat me this way, Sasuke-kun? Don't you remember the deal we made yesterday?" Hanako gave him a mischievous smile, and the boy widened his eyes.

"Deal?" Itachi looked at Hanako curiously, but the girl waved him off.

Sasuke asked, "Are you going to teach me a jutsu?"

Hanako nodded. "That's right!"

Finally, Sasuke got excited. "In that case, I guess she can come with us," he commented, trying to appear calm but Hanako could see the excitement in his eyes. She guessed he rarely received any individual attention during training.

"Then, shall we go?" Hanako looked at Itachi, who smiled back at her.

Sasuke grabbed her by the wrist and broke into a sprint. "Sou, Hanako-neechan, ikuze!"

* * *

Shisui moved as fast as he could in the forest. He needed to find Hanako before she got into real trouble for having the transcript. Shisui stopped when a knife was thrown at him, and was nailed in the tree beside him.

He looked up to find Root's ANBU members looking down at him with their masks on. The Uchiha narrowed his eyes. "What is the meaning of this?"

"I know you have figured it out, Shisui." Danzou walked out of some bushes in the ground below him. Shisui took a deep breath, trying to hide his annoyance. He didn't have time to deal with Danzou at the moment.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."

Danzou smiled as he looked up at him. "About Amane Uchiha's relation to Hanako." Shisui's blood ran cold. "You don't need to lie to me, I am aware Fugaku is carrying an investigation on Hanako right now. And you are the one in charge of it. Does Hanako know about it?" Danzou asked. Shisui didn't say anything. "Of course not," he continued. "How could you tell her that you are only training her because the Clan Leader told you to, so that you could inform him about her abilities?"

"What do you want, Danzou-sama?" Shisui gave the elder a rough glare.

"Let me tell you something, Shisui. You must know that Hanako is dangerous, and as the days pass she'll only become even more dangerous." Shisui narrowed his eyes, having an idea of what he was implying. "Your Clan should take care of her, instead of protecting her like you do. Trying to understand her is just a waste of time."

"By that you mean..."

"You must eliminate her, or deliver her to us and we will happily take care of it."

"That is out of question, we don't murder our own," Shisui hissed.

"That's too bad, I thought you would be more understanding." Danzou started to walk away. "Just so you know, Hanako is sneaking out of the village at night. I wonder who she might be meeting with..."

Shisui observed the elder walk away, and his ANBU disappeared with him.

* * *

"That's not true!" Hanako replied to Sasuke for the millionth time.

"Yes it is!" he shot back.

They had been arguing for almost thirty minutes. Itachi had gone back to town to look for something to eat, leaving Hanako in the training field to watch over Sasuke. The current discussion between them circled around Sasuke mentioning that Itachi would win in a fight against Hanako, but she was against it. In other words, hell broke loose. Sasuke had so much pride in his older brother, that Hanako was worrying about him.

"It's not!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms in front of her chest in frustration.

"It is! Nii-san is stronger than you, he could beat you at any time!" Hanako's brow twitched.

"How can you be so sure about that?" she inquired. Sasuke smirked in her direction with a confident grin.

"Haven't you seen him fight? He's so good, you could never compare to him." Hanako clicked her tongue.

Itachi arrived at that moment, and looked at both of them with a raised eyebrow. He had brought a bag with three orders of dango with him. "What are you guys arguing about?"

"We are not arguing," Hanako corrected with an annoyed tone. "I'm just explaining to your brother that I can beat you, but he doesn't seem to understand." Itachi looked at her and smiled mockingly. Hanako noticed it and narrowed her eyes at him. "Is there something you would like to add to that?"

"Actually there is..." Itachi said, walking in her direction. Sasuke grinned and began to cheer his brother.

"Go, Nii-san!" Hanako had her guard up, wondering if Itachi was really going to fight her. She honestly didn't expect him to take such argument so seriously.

"Found you," Hanako heard another voice behind her and her grin vanished. She looked over shoulder to find Shisui standing there, with his arms crossed in front of his chest and a smile on his face.

Itachi halted his movements and looked up at him. "Shisui? What brings you here?"

"I was looking for Hanako, there's something I would like to speak to her about," Shisui replied while staring intently at the girl.

"Now?" Hanako wondered while turning her eyes back to the older Uchiha. He nodded sternly, which caused her to sigh.

"Fine."

"I'll come with—"

Shisui interrupted Itachi in the middle of his sentence. "Alone," he stated firmly. Itachi nodded slightly and retreated slowly. Sasuke followed him as they walked back towards the village. Itachi looked over his shoulder at Hanako and Shisui for moment, and then turned his back again until he disappeared from sight.

Hanako turned to look fully at Shisui. "What's this about?" she asked.

"Hanako," Shisui frowned. "Since when do you have the Mangekyou?"

Hanako looked up at him in surprise. "Man—gekyou?"

"Yes," Shisui said slowly. "The jutsu you used against the Tsuchikage, the Susano'o, is a jutsu that can only be performed by users who have the Mangekyou Sharingan in both eyes."

Hanako looked away from Shisui. "I..." she swallowed. "I don't know what to say..."

"The truth might be a good way to start." Hanako didn't say anything. After a minute or two of silence. Shisui sighed exasperated. "What? Now you're going to tell me that you learned about it from some old scroll you found at the library, huh?" Shisui raised an eyebrow looking at her expectantly. "Because this time I might believe you." Shisui glowered at the girl in front of him. "An important scroll went missing last week, and casually, it mentioned details about the Mangekyou Sharingan and how to obtain it." Hanako snapped her eyes shut. "You haven't been inside the restricted area of the Uchiha Library, have you Hanako?"

"Shisui..." Hanako opened her eyes to look up at him.

"Have you?" he repeated sternly.

Hanako looked away from him.

"How could you?" The look on Shisui's face showed more than betrayal. It showed disappointment.

"I can explain..." Hanako looked back at him with pleading eyes.

"Sure, you stole one of the most sacred transcripts from the Clan, how are you going to explain that?!" Hanako looked away with tears already filling her sockets. Shisui's glare softened a little. "Have you been sneaking out of the village?"

"No."

"Don't lie to me."

Hanako pressed her lips into a thin line. "Yes."

"Where to?"

"It doesn't concern you," Hanako furrowed her brows, pondering how Shisui could have found out about it.

"It does concern me," Shisui frowned. "I'm responsible for your training, Hanako, and I—"

"Only for my training," she replied with gritted teeth. "Besides that, my life is none of your business. You're not responsible for me nor do I want you to be." Hanako looked up at him, Shisui's features had softened with sadness.

"Is this because of your father?" he asked, Hanako felt like her stomach fell. "If it is, I want you to know that I'm here for you and I can help you..."

"You're not my father," Hanako hissed with tears falling down her cheek. "No one will ever replace him. Not you, not anyone."

"You're straying from your path, Hanako," Shisui muttered loud enough for her to hear him.

"My path?" she asked chuckling dryly. "You don't even know which path I want to choose. I haven't picked one yet."

"Be careful," Shisui said. "The life of a Shinobi isn't easy. Many lose their path and walk in darkness. I don't want you to be like those who do, I want you to have something to protect so you never lose sight of light."

"Why are you suddenly telling me all of this?" Hanako looked at him questioningly.

Shisui took a deep breath. "You can tell a lot about an Uchiha just by looking them in the eye, Hanako."

"What do you mean?"

"The Sharingan reflects your emotions. It isn't awakened as a self-protection reflex as many believe. It is awakened by a strong emotion, but unfortunately, in most users that emotion is a negative one."

"Emotions?"

"Yes. Hatred, love, stress, loss. All these emotions release chakra in our brains that affects our optical nerves. When enough chakra is released, this causes our body to activate what we know as the Sharingan." Shisui was speaking seriously until now, Hanako was almost surprised at how much he really knew about their Doujutsu. "With a certain amount of chakra, the eye evolves and becomes the Mangekyou Sharingan." Her eyes widened.

"You mean..."

"Your Mangekyou is a product of your mixed feelings," Shisui said. "I know that the loss you experienced after seeing your father die was even greater than that of your sister and your mother. Your eyes tell me so." Hanako almost sobbed, but remained composed. "I know how important he was for you, he meant everything for you. But you have to move on, or you'll be stuck with his ghost." She looked at him sadly.

"Is the Mangekyou a bad thing?" she finally voiced her thoughts. That question had been lingering in her mind for a while.

"It isn't." Shisui shook his head. "But it's pretty rare now to find an Uchiha that possesses it. I only know of three people who have it." Hanako looked at him with wide eyes. 'Three people?!'

"You are not that different at all." Shisui closed his eyes for a moment before opening them with the Sharingan activated, although with a different design. Her jaw dropped. Shisui also had the Mangekyou.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it's considered a Kinjutsu within the Clan, in other words we are not supposed to have it. You can't tell anybody."

"But why?" Hanako frowned. Shisui sighed.

"The Uchiha believe that in order to obtain these eyes you must kill the closest person to you. However, you and I have proven that it isn't precisely true, we only experienced the loss of such person, without having to kill them."

"You awakened your Mangekyou after your father died?" Shisui sighed while deactivating his Mangekyou. "Not exactly, but if it makes you happy, you can believe so."

Hanako frowned. "Who did you see die?"

Shisui stared at her. "There are some things I'd like to remain secret."

The girl pursed her lips and looked at the ground. "What will happen to me?"

For once, Shisui didn't know what to say. He observed the brunette with cool analytical eyes and then said, "You are a Chuunin now. You are considered an adult within the Clan. Now, you are allowed to assist to our secret meetings. Itachi has been going, but normally they only allow Chuunin level Uchiha to assist."

Hanako looked at him. "Secret meetings?"

"It's about time you knew the truth." Hanako could notice the sudden downfall in his voice, as if whatever happened in those meetings wasn't something to be excited about. "From now on, nothing will be easy anymore. But please remember that you are not alone."

Hanako nodded.

"Are you ready?"

"I was born ready."

"You are the clan's lethal weapon."

-5"