I don't know where, or maybe even who I got my investigative streak from. All I know is that I've always had it, the urge to have the answers to everything, and the need to know more.

I couldn't have possibly gotten it from my mother, I think to myself. She's far too dismissive to look into things the way I do.

Maybe I got it from my dad? I don't know...

All I do know is that this investigative streak is going to get me killed one day!

That day being today.

I woke up extremely early, so early that I beat the sun in getting up from the bed. I wasn't hasty in the way I moved around although I definitely had a plan in motion.

I went through my regular morning routine. Washed hair? Check! Made my bed? Check! Got out of my pj's and put on my daily outfit? Check!

It was all going to plan, nothing was out of the ordinary. Well, nothing excluding the fact that I'm the only person in this house who's awake.

Haruki's still snoozing away in her room, clueless as to the scheme I've conjured up in my head and Katsuro was sleeping like a log in his own room, not one to wake up very easily or early at that.

My mom didn't come home last night, opting to spend the night by Daisuke's side and Isamu followed suit.

Thank god for that! There's no way I'd be able to pull this off with them here!

I abandoned my bedroom and walked out into the hallway, cursing whatever gods out there that was in charge of the small 'creak!' sounds my wooden floors would make whenever I would take a single tentative step.

Was I being paranoid? Most definitely, but I couldn't help myself!

If my mom figured out what I'm doing then-

Yeah, I'd be so grounded!

I scurried down my second-floor hallway, cursing my house alongside the creaky floor gods for being so huge. It makes sneaking around that much riskier!!

I almost felt lightheaded by the time I reached my destined location, absolutely pooped from sliding around in my fluffy socks, avoiding the deathly old wooden floors, and holding my breath all at the same time.

I let out a deep breath when I look at the small steps leading up to the attic.

Haruki and I haven't gone up to the attic ever since we went the first time. Riddled with homework and school projects, the attic and its contents ended up being a figment of the past, a forgettable topic, a useless memory.

Well, at least for Haruki it was. She didn't know about the picture of my father and that mystery woman, at least not yet.

I on the other hand? Every time I passed by the steps on the second floor leading up to those enticing doors, I felt a surge in curiosity try to lure me in.

My mom had to have been hiding something huge, and seeing all of those unexplored boxes last time I was in there made me think that I have yet to uncover what that 'huge something' really is.

I've scraped the surface, having the small picture of my father and that woman together, but maybe there's more! Maybe there's proof of something I'm not too sure of yet...

I waste zero time in gently opening the doors, paranoid out of my mind that my mom and Isamu are going to just pop out of nowhere and appear behind me with their spooky red glowing eyes-

Okay, they aren't that scary. But whenever my mom gets pissed I could swear her eyes start to glow a little!

To my absolute relief (And to the health of my heart), my mom and Isamu do no such thing as popping out of a horror film, the both of them are still tucked away in Daisuke's hospital room so I could safely say the coast is clear.

I turn on the lights and slowly close the door behind me, tip-toeing over to the stack of boxes that have been haunting my mind since the moment I set my eyes on them a couple of days ago.

Okay, those two Haruki and I already looked through... I think to myself before gently taking two of the familiar boxes and setting them down on the floor gently.

I then turn back to the rest of the boxes, wondering just which one I should pick. I follow my gut and randomly choose one that's smaller than the rest of the other boxes and off to the side.

However, my eyes widen a bit when I go to pick it up, this one's heavy!!

I grit my teeth a bit and lift it off of the other boxes regardless, gently placing it on the floor. Crouching down so that I'd have better access, I slowly open the top of the box, fully expecting a shitload of pictures just like the contents of the other two boxes from before.

However, to my surprise, I see journals?!

One of my eyebrows raises at the sight of my mom's handwriting neatly lining the covers of each notebook, each with separate titles and differently colored pens.

There are at least a dozen journals in here, and I find myself stuck between which one to choose.

I sift through the box, eyes gliding through the different titles in confusion and curiosity before reaching one that caught my immediate interest.

This journal didn't have a title but instead had a heart drawn on it, but the heart had a bunch of scribbles all over it as if the heart were broken.

Mind absolutely blown with curiosity, I pick up the journal amidst the rest of them and lean back on my heels to eye it properly. There's a thin layer of dust covering the book, leading me to believe that it hadn't been touched in years.

I naturally wipe the dust off and gulp a bit, curious as to what I could find inside.

What could possibly have my mom draw that broken heart like that? Hmm...

I open the book and frown a bit, stumped by the empty page.

Did she just not write in this?

I flip through the book, only finding small doodles and notes all over the place, nothing of great significance at all!

Just as I'm about to give up on the book and go to the ones with actual titles (Unbeknownst to me, the ones my mother was terrified of me finding) I find one singular page in the middle of the book, absolutely flooded with my mother's written words.

It's a random page, and the words were messily written as if she were in a hurry writing them.

The page read as follows

I hate him. I hate him. I HATE HIM SO MUCH! God, he brings out the absolute worst in me!

My eyes widened even at the first line, despite the book's old age, the writing was very deeply ingrained into the page, showing just how much pressure my mom must've exerted writing this.

What the hell is this about?!

Undeterred, I continue to read.

I hate even looking at him, why did Pain-sama force me into this stupid mission?! I have no chakra left, why do I have to be with Sasuke and his fucking groupie while all of this is going on?!

My eyebrows knit together, never having heard of the name Pain ever come up in my mom's stories. But that isn't what catches my attention.

Sasuke, is she talking about my dad?!

My dad was the one she hated?! And his groupie?!

God even thinking about that red-headed asshole makes me want to scream, she acts like a bitch in heat whenever he's around and he just doesn't even reject her!! IN FRONT OF MY FACE! UGH seeing her all over him like that only fuels a new type of hell in me!

My jaw drops as I read along my mother's angry handwriting from years ago.

I sit in stunned silence because one, I never knew my mom even had it in her to write, much less speak like this (Bitch in heat? Holy shit)!! And two, Redheaded bitch?!

She has to be talking about the same lady from the picture!

My eyes skim through the pages of the book in a flurry, barely processing the words as my mind goes numb.

"I know Sasuke and I are broken up now but-"

They broke up?!

"Does he even love me anymore?"

B-but why would my mom lie to us like that?!

"Karin always gets in the way she's so annoying-"

Her name was Karin?!

"He doesn't even care about the baby-"

The baby?!

I don't know how much time passes as I sit there on the floor, possibly hours, reading over the same page over and over again. I can't even turn the page out of complete shock.

I don't even know if my brain processes all of the words accurately, I could only get bits and pieces of the angrily written texts whilst trying to make sense of it all.

My mom and dad broke up, and he was with Karin? And there was a baby involved?!-

"Runa? Are you up there again?!" Haruki's voice echoed from downstairs, eliciting a panicked state from me.

Somehow her voice managed to snap me out of my stupor, and as a result, I quickly shoved the journal back in the box and pushed it to its original location.

Clenching my jaw wearily, I stand up and straighten out my outfit.

That baby she was talking about....who was it?

What if the baby wasn't my mom's?! It'd make sense, my dad really cares about Katsuro and Masahiko so her saying that he doesn't care about 'the baby' doesn't add up...

I then tense up, slowly coming to my own conclusion.

What if that baby she was talking about....was me?!

The baby my dad didn't care about...when I was little he'd always leave me alone with that woman, Karin. Sometimes he'd leave Haruki with her as well but for the most part, I remember being alone with her.

Oh my god....what if I'm really not my mom's daughter?!

Is that why she doesn't like me as much as the others?!

It's why nobody recognizes me as hers!

"Runa?! Hellooo?" Haruki's voice echoed from downstairs once barely managing to snap me out of my stunned state once more.

I feel like I'm gonna faint

Numbly stepping away from the pile of boxes and consequently, the books stored in them, I barely react when the attic door opens revealing a curious Haruki.

"Runa! You know being up here is illegal! At least you're ready, I cooked up breakfast-"

"I'm not hungry." I bluntly say, turning to her almost robotically as my mind works on overdrive. She falters a bit, and as someone who always plasters her emotions all over her face, I mentally sigh at her look of hurt.

"Are you feeling alright?" She asked, eyeing the pile of boxes behind me curiously.

"Did you find some ugly baby pictures or something? Cuz trust me, I'd lose my appetite too if I saw some of my ugly baby pics right before eating-"

"Haruki." I Interrupt, barely in the state of mind to go along with her lighthearted attitude.

"I'm fine," I state before quietly walking past her, our shoulders barely brushing as I leave the attic. I could feel Haruki's eyes follow my figure analytically, but I don't care enough to reassure her that I'm okay.

Because I'm not.

My heart races as the thoughts in my head become louder and louder.

All my life I knew something was up with my mom and me but, am I really not hers?!

Is my mom really not mine?

School went by like a blur, I can't even remember half of the things Shino sensei droned on about, and to make matters worse, absolutely everything reminded me of my parents.

"Alright, so who could tell me what they know about the Uchiha/Senju feud during the warring states period? Shino sensei asked, pointing his marker around the class to see if anyone was up to the task.

I couldn't ignore the stares that were sent my way from just about everybody.

Well, not only because I an Uchiha and a Senju (Or at least I thought I was), but normally I'm the first one to raise my hand and answer history questions since I normally excel in that subject.

The eyes of my peers darted between Haruki and me, and I could tell by Haruki's sheepish smiles that she was probably just as uncomfortable with the situation as I was.

She however must've been uncomfortable out of embarrassment, I on the other hand was uncomfortable because I could hear the little whispers of "Whoah I forgot Runa was from that clan too! Haruki is way more obvious!" Coming from the back of the class.

Of course, we're all enduring this lecture outside since our class is under construction, but the thought still stands.

Shino-sensei noticed the tension that arose amongst his class rather quickly and took control of the situation, clearing his throat and going on to speak of the basic history regarding the first and even second Hokage.

A picture of the second Hokage was pulled up on the whiteboard, and again, the entire class turned to Haruki. There were little exclamations of excitement shifting throughout the class about how it was so cool that she was his direct descendant.

Haruki again smiled sheepishly and blushed at the attention.

I received zero looks, zero comments, zero acknowledgments.

Frowning a bit at myself, I glanced down at my manicured nails and started picking at the polish, trying to distract myself from the situation at hand.

All of this only pressed into my brain how I'm nothing like my 'mother' and that the general public barely even acknowledges me as such.

Sigh, this is such ironic timing for a class on this topic! I find out that my mom probably isn't my real mom and of course we go over my lineage in front of the rest of my peers!

Shino sensei then moved on to the Senju clan as a mini-lecture because we needed to learn the basics of all of Konoha's major clans.

"The Senju clan are also known for their distinctive wood style, I'm sure many of you are aware of one of our most prominent Konoha Kunoichi, Haru Oshiro Senju as she was formerly known. She's a modern-day example of somebody who has the Senju Clan's rare kekkei Genkai."

Shino sensei pinned up a standard picture of my mom right next to the pictures of the fifth Hokage, second Hokage, and first Hokage.

My shoulders sagged a bit when once again, the class turned to Haruki in awe, asking if she inherited it from our mother as well.

It's a family secret that she has it for now since my mom's always been worried that enemies would want to hurt her for the sake of obtaining usage of her wood style.

So of course, she would shyly smile and shrug when the whole class started swarming her with questions.

"Whoah Haruki you look just like her!"

"Ooh, maybe Haruki-hime will unlock it in the future! She's just like her mom so who knows?!"

I hear the whispers of exclamation all around me, the raving of Haruki and my mother, not once is my name mentioned.

I glance at Haruki watching her dodge certain questions and smile at her peers. I then glance back at the board where the pictures of the Senju clan Hokage were pinned up alongside my mother's picture.

I instinctively frown a bit, seeing as even though Haruki has never even shown interest in being Hokage, she somehow already seemed better suited for the future position than I did.

I don't know, I just feel like her picture would fit in with the rest of theirs, mine wouldn't...

"Hey, what about you?" I nearly jumped out of my own skin at the sight of Boruto who's been sitting next to me this entire time (My brain was so foggy and messed up I didn't even notice!)

"W-what?" I ask, so shocked that I ended up stuttering.

Boruto raised a brow at me and leaned in closer, analyzing my face as if there was something wrong with me.

"I said, what about you? Do you have wood-style or whatever?" He asked. I pause at the question.

This is the first time anybody's ever considered me inheriting my mom's Kekkei Genkai! Ever since we were little, all eyes were on Haruki since she unlocked her crystal style when we were only toddlers.

To everyone else, she was a big candidate for also receiving wood-style since she already looked so much like my mom and had all of the perfect chakra natures in place.

I on the other hand....yeah nobody ever batted an eye in consideration.

And he doesn't even realize how much of a big deal that is to me, but it doesn't matter.

I flush a bit at the question, blinking at him almost dumbly. Normally people would address my sister whenever it came to things like this so...

This felt...new.

"Oh, no I don't," I admit softly, turning away from him in no mood to childishly bicker like we always would. His face contorts into one of confusion and slight concern.

"Are you good? You look weird." He admitted, somehow hoping the little comment would wake me up a bit and snap me back into my usual self.

However, it doesn't, and I mindlessly nod. "I'm fine," I state, too lost in my own world of conflicting theories to even notice how close he is to my face.

He would rather die than admit it but he's been eyeing my side profile for a while now, and he noticed how out of it I looked from the second I joined the class with Haruki by my side.

He's about to say something else in hopes that I'd spruce up a bit, but Shino's voice caught his attention once again, and he was basically forced to look forward and continue class.

I did as well, face the whiteboard and stare up at the picture of my mom plastered there.

I sighed a bit before dropping my gaze back to my lap.

The more I think about it, the less I feel like her daughter...

"Runa? Runaaa?" My eyes widen a bit at the sound of my sister's voice, and I turn to her with raised brows.

"Hn?" I ask silently, watching as she narrowed her eyes on me.

"You've been staring at the Hokage mountains and stabbing your ice cream for a while!! You're lucky it's a chilly day outside, or else your ice cream would've melted." She chastised before taking her red velvet ice cream and enjoying a spoonful of it.

Ah, that's right, class ended a couple of hours ago leaving Haruki and me to go out and grab some food together like we usually would.

My eyes zero in on the red ice cream scoop in my sister's cup and mentally sigh. Of course, she likes red velvet. Just like mom.

God, even ice cream reminds me of her!

"Oh sorry," I mumble uncharacteristically, running a hand through my hair and sighing.

My ice cream's relatively untouched in comparison to Haruki's, and if it weren't for the blatant stare she was sending my way I probably wouldn't have even noticed.

"No appetite again?" She asked worriedly, glancing between the cup of dessert in my hand and my face.

I shake my head honestly "Yeah I'm not too hungry."

"Was it the lady who sold us the icecream?! Ugh, I hate it when people do that! It was so disrespectful." Haruki exclaimed before taking another spoonful of her sweets.

My brows knit together in confusion "Huh?" I ask, barely recalling the events leading up to getting the ice cream in the first place.

Seriously, my mind has been in such a daze ever since I read that journal entry from my mom I could barely think straight!

Haruki pauses and looks at me suspiciously. "You don't remember? The icecream lady was being so rude, she didn't even speak to you!" She frowned.

I sigh, returning to my uneaten cup of ice cream.