"The beginnings and ends of shadow lie between the light and darkness and may be infinitely diminished and infinitely increased. Shadow is the means by which bodies display their form. The forms of bodies could not be understood in detail but for shadow. "

Leonardo da Vinci

Kakashi leaned on a lamppost as he observed the group with hooded eyes. He felt exhausted and irritated at the same time. Meanwhile, Kurenai was brainstorming with Ibiki, Asuma, Genma, and Raidō, who was holding a lunch box, it contents long gone. They were standing in a vacant lot at the edge of Konoha. Few visited this place and they had decided to make it their meeting place.

"I bet she doesn't even know what the problem is." Kurenai crossed her arms with a knowing smirk on her face.

Ibiki went silent for a moment and slowly nodded his head. "You… have a point."

"Now that you say that, Ayame-chan is the kind of person who's kind of dense about everything not related to shinobi life," Genma added, playing with the senbon in his mouth. "I remember when I told her a boy from my class had a crush on her."

Kakashi almost fell from the sudden jolt of surprise. He immediately composed himself and loosened the green scarf on his neck.

"What happened?" Kurenai asked, full of curiosity. The others also moved closer to listen with Kakashi being the only exception.

Genma blinked a few times at the sudden attention he received. "She waved it off and told me I was imagining things."

"That's what I thought she'd do. I knew it would be nothing yet I expected something to happen. Damn it." Asuma did not hide his disappointment and groaned.

The others nodded. They expected something dramatic, like Ayame falling in love or even just having a crush. They wondered if that was a possibility since both Kakashi and Ayame were quite the celebrities.

Unknown to Ayame, she was, in actuality, popular in the Academy and had gathered a number of avid fans. The group had known after befriending her. If they could create a popularity poll in the school, Kakashi would be on top and next to him would be Ayame. The brother and sister pair had been creating trouble beyond their knowledge.

Their admirers had the habit of fighting each other. Hostility reached a point where they would fight after class since Kakashi's fans usually bullied Ayame. Kakashi's fans would wait outside the Academy grounds for Ayame's fans and chaos would ensue. The two children had no idea about the trouble they were creating since their fans waited until the two had gone home.

Kakashi's fans were crazy girls that had the tendency to turn into a wild animal once you criticized the silver-haired chibi, while Ayame's admirers were varied in gender and age. If you were to compare them, the former were child psychos and the latter responsible adults.

"Getting back to the topic –" Kurenai halted when she noticed Raidō's hands were behind his back. The boy flinched under her stare and showed his two hand, holding dangos. "Goddamn it, Raidō. You're not an Akimichi. You can't use your fat as excess chakra. Don't eat as a hobby, for god's sake. No one is willing to drag your fat ass out of the battlefield when you're incapacitated."

"But we're not in battle—"

"Did you say something?" She glared at Raidō with her red eyes.

Genma, who was beside Raidō, patted his shoulder in a mild manner and confiscated the dango. It was done smoothly like the many times before; Raido was so persistent on sneaking snacks under Kurenai's watch. Asuma consoled Raido. He wanted to help but Kurenai had a point.

"Going back," Kurenai continued, "What can we do about Kakashi's situation?"

Contrary to Kakashi's belief, the group had noticed that he was avoiding his foster sister. At first, they were not bothered. They thought of it was Kakashi's way of asking for comfort but after a whole week they could not stand and watch. Rather, it was Kurenai who did not want to be on the side-lines.

If Ayame saw them, she would think they were making a fuss over nothing.

Earlier that morning, Asuma and Ibiki kidnapped the silver-haired chibi on his daily walk around Konoha. They dragged him to the vacant lot and forced him to confess. In the process, Kakashi found out how proficient Kurenai was in her genjutsu and he did not want to experience it again.

To be frank, the whole group was concerned. Kakashi rarely did something out of character; he was a composed young boy even at a young age (another reason for his increasing number of fans). Furthermore, he was a smart child and doing something as idiotic as ignoring his foster sister that was living in the same house rang alarm bells.

So they forced Kakashi to tell them what happened.

In a nutshell, Kakashi was being sensitive for the first time and Ayame didn't understand – that was what Kurenai thought after hearing the story. Kurenai wanted to laugh out loud but knew it would make matters worse. The problem was only one-sided.

Kakashi stood silently. That day, he panicked because it was already midnight and his foster sister was still not home. Sakumo had told him to calm down but he knew Ayame was someone who could not keep track of time, especially if she was immersed in something that interested her. He wanted to turn Konoha upside down just to find her because he was so worried even if he did not admit it.

When Ayame returned she didn't even bother to tell him where she had gone. The next day, it was like nothing had happened and he was rather upset. He thought Ayame would know what the problem was if he ignored her but she was really an idiot. He could only bury his face in his hands and think about what to do next.

Thankfully, Yūhi Kurenai couldn't keep to herself and decided to help.

"Maybe we should drag her here to explain?" Asuma suggested, out of ideas.

Ibiki scoffed, "I'm pretty sure she knows what's up but thinks that it's not that big of a problem."

"You know, I think we should talk to Kakashi-kun instead of trying to talk to Ayame-chan," Kurenai informed the group. She raised one of her eyebrows at the lone silver-haired boy under the lamppost. "Because, you know, if you just talk to Ayame-chan then you wouldn't have a problem in the first place!"

"Yeah, you're acting like a child," Raidō added with annoyance.

"I am a child, dumbass," Kakashi reflexively replied, head bowed. He could not raise his head to look at Kurenai's triumphant look. He knew that what they said was right but he could not make himself talk to his foster sister. It was awkward for him, if not for both.

Asuma silently observed his friend and decided to interfere. "Perhaps we should plan this out?"

Genma pursed his lips while he removed the senbon from his mouth. "You have a plan?"

"I do." Instead of Asuma, Ibiki was the one who surprisingly answered his question. They all turned to him as he showed a small smile.

Ayame jumped off the wall with a huff. She had run around Konoha's walls to find a familiar silver-haired chibi but failed. What she got for her effort was exhaustion and an extra person she had not asked for.

"IS THIS THE WAY YOU SPEND YOUR YOUTH, AYAME-CHAN! AS EXPECTED OF MY RIVAL'S SISTER!"

Might Guy, who she found while searching for Kakashi, decided to accompany her when Ayame told him she wanted to run around Konoha. The energetic boy decided to raise it up a notch by suggesting he sprint using his hands. Ayame thought it would be unfair if she did not expend the same effort as Guy so she announced that she would dash on the walls using chakra.

She regretted her decision but would not tell Guy in case he blamed himself. As a medic, she knew the definition of chakra exhaustion and she was definitely feeling it now. Unlike physical exhaustion, exhausting chakra would cause twice the pain since both spiritual and physical energy were drained. In worst case scenarios, it could lead to death.

"Guy, could you try to lower down your voice?" Ayame dizzily found her balance. Her hair was messed up and so were her clothes. "It's starting to destroy my eardrums and we're gathering unwanted attention."

"BUT AYAME-CHAN—"

Ayame wanted to heal her fatigue with chakra but there was none left. She could place pressure on her acupuncture points and hope for the best. "Lower… your voice."

Ayame was worn-out, and Guy's loud voice was of no help.

"I understand!" The bushy-browed boy's eyes showed concern when he noticed how she was having a hard time breathing. They had run for a mile now and he had no problem with sprinting with his hands. He did not understand why she was panting exaggeratedly after running such a short distance.

She wanted to tell him what the problem was but breathing was becoming difficult. Fortunately, they landed in a place where people were scarce, and only a few had seen her sorry state. Unfortunately, there were no shinobi nearby who could rush her to the hospital. The girl could only tough it up and rely on Might Guy.

"Guy—" Ayame had only spoken one syllable when she heard the boy's loud reply.

"What is it, Ayame-chan!" It was no question. If the four-year-old girl could imagine Guy's words written on paper; it would be full of exclamation points.

"—can you… whisper?" The purple-haired girl's heart slowed down while it constricted on its own. If she could turn back time she would never suggest walking on the walls with her measly chakra reserves.

"Is this alright?" he replied, using a normal voice. Ayame did not know if she should cry out of gratitude or cry because she was sure she was going to die. Although experiencing another death was no big deal, she was sure that Kakashi would curse her to death if she actually died because of chakra exhaustion.

The girl could also see how the White Fang would scold her once she met him in the afterlife.

They were standing in the middle of the street. The few civilians were staring weirdly at the boy beside her. She guessed it was because of his get-up and promised herself to teach Guy how to colour-coordinate if she got out alive. Ayame would have laughed but she needed to regain her strength.

"Ayame-chan?" A voice called from afar.

She knew that voice; it was the same energetic voice that used to bother her in the orphanage. Ayame blinked a few times before her dizziness cleared. Her eyes landed on a smiling face, tousled brown hair and greasy cheeks.

Ayame returned the boy's smile. "Toshiyuki-kun."

The Academy was large but that was not the reason why she never encountered Toshiyuki – it was simply because she was avoiding him. Ayame knew that the chances of a civilian child from the shelter graduating from the Academy were scarily low. Even if they graduated, by some stroke of luck, they would be a part of Genin Corps at best. Attaining the rank of a chūnin would only be a distant dream.

"I've seen you around the Academy, but I didn't have the chance to talk to you, Ayame-chan. How are you?" Toshiyuki smiled at her with a full set of front row teeth.

Guy tilted his head. He had seen the boy a few times at the Academy but Toshiyuki associated himself with many people. That was why he never tried talking to him despite his friendliness – Guy was not fond of crowds. In addition, his father told him to never befriend shady people and Toshiyuki had this creepy aura around him. After musing for a short time, he realized that he would choose Kakashi – his amazing rival – over Toshiyuki any time.

Ayame was distracted by Toshiyuki's bright smile when Guy called her. "Ayame-chan?"

Ayame realised Guy had whispered without her reprimanding him. She was about to reply when Toshiyuki intervened.

"Ah, is that Might-san?" the brown-haired boy emphasized the last syllable.

Ayame narrowed her eyes. Toshiyuki never called anyone by their last name, being the social butterfly that he was. What's more, the boy never referred to any child his age using 'san' and it made her suspicious. Her intuition told her the situation was not good. It had never failed her when she was Arabella and she knew it wouldn't forsake her now.

"Ah, right." Ayame began with a lazy wave. "It was great to see you again, Toshiyuki-kun. Really, really great. But we're trying to find someone so we will excuse ourselves."

Guy, with all his might, tried to prevent himself from asking 'WHO ARE WE TRYING TO FIND AYAME-CHAN?!' and settled for a confused expression. Ayame had forgotten to tell him that she was trying to find the missing Kakashi. She was grateful that the loud-mouthed boy did not voice his concern and followed her as she left.

They did not hear Toshiyuki's farewell. Ayame had no intention to listen to it anyway.

The citizens of Konoha would be amused if they knew that their much-adored White Fang wanted to bash his head against a wall out of frustration. It had not even been half a day and he realized it was a large mistake to force his foster daughter to reconcile with his son. The jonin was lounging in the living room enjoying his free time when a messenger Genin appeared at his doorstep.

The Genin told him that his foster daughter, Kurosawa Ayame, was hospitalized because of chakra exhaustion.

"What I don't understand," he started, his left eye visibly twitching, "Is how a four-year-old could –"

"I'll be five years old in two and a half weeks."

"– experience chakra exhaustion," Sakumo sighed. He did not know how to feel. It was the first time in Konohagakure's history a mere four-year-old was hospitalized for something big like chakra exhaustion. It was commonly experienced by chūnin and jonin in life-or-death missions.

And now a four-year-old… Hatake Sakumo would never get over it.

"YOU SHOULD NOT BLAME HER, SAKUMO-SAN!" Guy bellowed beside the hospital bed. "SHE WAS SPENDING HER YOUTH MEANINGFULLY!"

The White Fang pursed his lips. "You should go home, Guy-kun. And please say hi to your father for me." Then he sat on a chair while contemplating what to do.

Ayame felt sorry for her foster father. It was not her goal to make him worried or stressed. On the other hand, the experience was enlightening – she'd never had asthma but there was no doubt that was how a few asthmatic individuals felt.

Before the girl had realized it, Might Guy had left. She was at loss on what to do since usually he was so loud (and ran all over the place destroying vases, making the nurses around scream louder) and would ask her questions non-stop. Ayame had never found it boring; it was like having a television at full volume constantly. Even though she felt like her ears were now impaired, it was a good distraction inside the silent dull hospital.

Sakumo's gaze landed on Ayame's little body above the hospital bed. "You're grounded."

The Kurosawa girl wanted to retort that she never wanted to go out in the first place. It was her dear foster father who kicked her out. If she had a choice, she would never be with people she considered a drag. There was a particular luxury in silence after all. It dawned on her after constant paperwork, job meetings, and arduous graduation speeches.

As Arabella, she used to give speeches directed to different kind of individuals with the aim of inspiring them. But to be frank, she wanted to discourage them, given that some of them would turn into competition later on.

It was like training your own enemy; the disadvantages were all on you.

The White Fang stared at her blankly. "Wait— you never go outside of the house to begin with." The man widened his eyes with the sudden insight.

Ayame felt that there was a need to congratulate Sakumo but held back. "Surprise, surprise," she replied with a small smile behind her mask.

"You're getting more sarcastic by the day," he deadpanned, his hand combing his spiky hair.

Ayame only shrugged. She glanced out the window and thought it would be nice if she could get out as soon as possible. However, it would be hard to escape seeing that the nurses would restrain her if she tried. Most of them had the ability to strangle a bear with pure strength so she wouldn't tried her luck.

Her foster father left after an hour. A messenger genin arrived to inform him that the Hokage needed his presence. Ayame was all by herself once again. While alone, she tried to think of possible ways to entertain herself. There were no books or any type of reading material. The room was plain white and it made her drowsy so she ended up doing all sorts of things.

By the time she found out that she could walk on her two hands, balance herself using her head, braid her hair in numerous styles, peel the paint off the wall and wiggle her ear, the door opened.

A dark-haired boy wearing orange goggles peeked inside the room. His black eyes scanned the area and he froze when he saw Ayame. He blinked his eyes a few times, his spiky hair bounced as he did so. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes in desperation.

"Do you need something?" she asked with an indifferent expression.

The boy seemed awfully familiar.

He panicked when he heard her voice. It took a while before he replied, "Eto… I entered the wrong room?"

"Is that so?"

"I really entered the wrong room!" he hastily replied and immediately closed the door.

The scene left Ayame pondering on why the boy felt there was a need to defend himself.

Before sunset, Kurenai arrived with Ibiki, Genma, Asuma and Raidō. The red-eyed girl had an amazed look on her face while Genma was wearing an incredulous one. Asuma was behind, heaving a sigh while Raidō was indifferent and nibbling on his bland crackers. Ayame raised one of her eyebrows as she watched the group enter the room.

"You managed to land yourself in the hospital?" Genma snorted with mirth in his eyes. It hadn't even been a full 24 hours since he last saw her. "The last time I was hospitalized was when I was born."

Kurenai sneered, "You remember?"

"Of course! I even remember the time when I was in my mother's womb."

Behind him, Asuma snickered and Raidō smiled. The future genjutsu mistress only rolled her eyes and coughed, clearing her throat. "Soooo," she dragged, "Why are you here, Kuro-san?"

Ayame slowly shook her head at the new nickname. It was coined from her surname "Kurosawa", where 'Kuro' means black. She did not know if Kurenai wanted to call her black-hearted or just wanted to shorten her name.

"Chakra exhaustion," she nonchalantly replied while she watched her friends find their seats.

Asuma blanked out for a moment, his eyes staring at his hospitalized friend. "Chakra… exhaustion?" It took a long time before the words he absorbed it. "You—you exhausted your chakra?"

Kurenai had no knowledge of this subject. She never knew what chakra exhaustion entailed so she was a little annoyed that Asuma did not explain.

Raidō decided to ask once he finished his crackers. "Now that I think about it, I remember our Academy instructor told us about it, right?"

"From what I can recall, he told us only jōnins and chūnins experienced chakra exhaustion," Genma furrowed his brows while muttering in a low voice.

The red-eyed girl felt left out of the conversation and with a cough, she decided to go straight to the point. "Asuma, just tell us what 'chakra exhaustion' means."

Asuma smiled at the girl's impatience. "Chakra exhaustion simply meant exhaustion of chakra. Now from what I heard from Orochimaru-san, if someone exhausts their chakra, they would feel exhausted and out of breath. However, if someone completely depletes their chakra, it would mean death."

The atmosphere around them turned stale in a matter of seconds. Death was a touchy subject for anyone who would want to be a shinobi. They came to terms with it at an early age, given that war never gave people the chance to glamorize losing a life. It was nothing like what Ayame had experienced: dead people would go to heaven, the souls of the dead would be relieved of the burden of life, and God would grant them eternal life. In the shinobi world, death simply meant the end. No other meaning – zero, zip, zilch, nothing, nada.

In war time, a shinobi's life could only be categorized into three different kinds of fate: incredibly lucky, lucky and not lucky.

If a ninja was incredibly lucky, then they would survive the war. If they were lucky, then they would be fortunate enough to keep their body whole and in good condition – albeit without a life. The only thing that the family of the dead would have is a lifeless body. There would be no inspirational eulogy about their heroic past or seven days of mourning. Then it would be buried straight away to prevent the corpses from piling up. If a shinobi was not lucky then the family would not have a chance to see the body.

Such was Ayame's case, where her parent's bodies were not even retrieved.

The four-year-old understood that her near death exhibition was not a simple case. So when Kurenai stood up, grabbed the nearby pillow and smashed it into her face with full force, she did not complain. Thankfully, the rest settled on watching and never attempted to join the fray. Unfortunately, that did not mean that the group was willing to stop the rampaging future genjutsu mistress.

The pillow fight ended after a few minutes with Kurenai gasping for her breath and Ayame in a defensive position. The red-eyed girl giggled and loudly heaved a sigh of relief as she sat beside the Kurosawa girl on the hospital bed. She became scared the moment the word 'death' escaped Asuma's mouth. Ayame understood: death was a terrifying topic for anyone, much more to a child.

From her perspective, she was not that worried about chakra exhaustion since she knew her limits. Furthermore, she had experienced death once and even though an additional one was not welcome, she could deal with it. In any case, she would never tell the group that the weights on her feet contained chakra (the more chakra you add on the weights, the more it would become heavier) and she could use it if she found herself in dire straits.

The group stayed for a while longer before they bid their goodbyes. Genma and Raidō told her they would visit tomorrow. Kurenai had to visit her cousins, Asuma was tasked to train by his father and Ibiki was helping with chores. Ayame nodded and asked them to bring her books if they happen to pass by.

Kurenai rolled her eyes at her friend and dragged the others out of room to give the girl some rest.

"I told you to never visit me when I'm in the hospital, Obito," Rin huffed in faux disappointment while her eyes glanced at the dark-haired boy. A smile formed on her face.

"But when I asked Kyoko-san where you are, she said you're in the hospital! There was urgency in her voice so I thought…" The Uchiha suddenly became interested in the ground. He scratched the back of his head with a sorry expression.

They were at the back of the hospital. They could not discuss inside since Obito had the tendency to shout. He would disturb the rest of the patients and they didn't want to be screamed at by irritated nurses.

Nohara Rin pursed her lips while she listened to the boy's story. Their Academy instructor, Kyoko-san, was pregnant and would be on maternity leave soon. From what she learned, pregnant women have sudden emotional changes. She was probably exaggerating.

But Obito felt guilty. Only one girl could endure his enthusiasm and that was Rin. She was one of the first to acknowledge him as a shinobi. She soon became his best friend and told him that one day he would become Hokage. It was his lifelong dream after all and Rin always supported him and even hoped to be beside him should it happen.

"Which rooms did you intrude this time?"

Obito grimaced when he tried to recall the room he hastily entered. "Ano… room 2234, 2235, 2236—"

Rin had to blink a few times after hearing the room numbers and abruptly interrupted him. "Did you just say room 2236?"

"—I did?" The Uchiha was puzzled. He was just reciting the room number by memory and now the girl appeared a little incredulous.

Rin ran her fingers through her hair. Earlier, Rin's aunt, a nurse, had told her that Kurosawa Ayame had been hospitalised due to chakra exhaustion. She had kept her room number in mind so she could visit her. Ayame had left quite a favourable impression on Rin so there was no way she would forget her.

Along with Hatake Kakashi, Ayame was one of the model students that they looked up to. The silver-haired boy was famous because of his the aptitude in everything. Conversely, the Kurosawa was admired because of her prowess in academics, even though she was also good in taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu. Both of them wore a mask over their face and the mysteriousness actually increased their popularity.

Naturally, Rin was also at an age where she would admire someone. Rin, in fact, had a growing adoration for the silver-haired chibi since day one.

"Did you see someone you recognised?" A grin appeared on Rin's face, the marks on her cheeks moving as she did.

"I did see Kurosawa-san," he replied, not really sure of his answer.

He doubted his eyes when he barged into her room. He recognised Ayame at first sight but couldn't believe it. He knew she was somewhat famous from her growing fan-base but had never met her until he saw her in a verbal fight with Kakashi.

Obito's one-sided rivalry with Kakashi was one of the reasons he wanted to be the Hokage. Kakashi was so full of himself that Obito wanted to beat the crap out of him. He hated people who looked down on others – he would rather choose someone like Might Guy as a friend.

When he was punished to run around the school grounds, he saw a familiar group in the distance. They were known for being loners. The two famous geniuses, Hatake Kakashi and Kurosawa Ayame were part of this group. Incidentally, a prodigy in genjutsu and the Hokage's son was also in it, Yūhi Kurenai and Sarutobi Asuma. As was Morino Ibiki, who had an aptitude for taijutsu. An upperclassman that was treated like a celebrity named Shiranui Genma recently joined the team along with his friend, Namiashi Raidō nicknamed 'glutton'.

When he got a better look, Ayame and Kakashi were fighting. He had already forgotten what fight is about but the emotions he witnessed were vivid.

It was widely known fact that Hatake Kakashi was an uncultured swine who didn't waste time by being polite – or that was what Obito wanted to think. That was why even children in the other years had to think twice before creating a skirmish with him.

That was why Obito felt awed when he saw Kurosawa Ayame spar with the White Fang's son. They would taunt each other from time to time with harsh words. Even Obito would have the urge to cry if he was verbally assaulted by Hatake Kakashi. Ayame spouted neither personal nor disrespectful words however she still hit where it hurts. Obito mentally noted to never clash with her.

The memories sent shivers down his spine. "Rin-chan, are you… familiar with Kurosawa-san?"

"No." The reply was instantaneous. "But you're aware I'm part of her group, right?"

"Now that you mention it, why did you join her group if you're so lovesick with the Hatake boy?" The last part was muttered in a whisper that it made Rin furrow her brows in confusion.

"Sorry, can you repeat that?"

"Nothing!" Obito beamed at her, so much that it made the girl with the purple marks on her cheeks dazzled by the light.

"To answer your question," she sighed, "It was because the girls in Kakashi's group were too scary to be with."

The children in her year were all good-mannered but she was afraid of the senpais. Those older girls that created a faction dedicated to Hatake Kakashi were too obsessed. They would attack any girl that admired him – excluding the members. In the end, she decided to join Ayame's fan club since they were strangely in search for peace.

It made Rin think that the factions inside the Academy were not about shinobis anymore. It was not even about the people they admired. Kakashi's fans were too outrageous while Ayame's were a group of smart-alecks: the contrast was so great that she had to choose the latter or she felt she would get infected by idiots.

Rin was still the sweet and friendly girl everyone knew but the situation forced her to think for the better. She glanced at the boy before her. Obito was too good-natured and an optimist at heart – that made him a victim in many cases. She recalled when Obito was fooled by merchants. They forced him into labour (she did not even know if it was really forced, given that he was too willing to help) without him knowing.

She needed to be the tough one since Obito could not. Rin needed to protect the ball of sunshine even if everyone thought he was very un-Uchiha.

What Rin never expected was that she and Obito were thinking the same thing.

"You want dango?" Rin smiled sweetly while waiting for him to answer.

Obito's black eyes glistened under the sun. "Let's go!"