There's a breeze in the air that drifts in from the sea, a common occurrence in coastal towns like this. The winds aid in the swaying of my hair, dark long locks flowing behind me like a sheet of black silk. The sun's bright, shimmering off of my hair that looks as lustrous as onyx stone.

Still, even with the wind cooling my skin, beads of sweat form at my temples.

My chest heaves up and down, deep breaths flowing in and out of my lungs as I bring my wrists up to my face in a crossed formation; blocking yet another attack from Masahiko. I don't miss a single step, swinging up my leg in an attempt to hit the side of his head.

Obviously he evades my leg with unmatched speed.

We've been at this for what seems like hours, dancing around one another in this taijutsu battle. In reality, it's only been a few minutes since I accompanied Masahiko into this private training arena. He didn't announce his first attack, taking me by surprise just like he did in our first training session back home.

This time however, all bets were off. Since no rules were announced, I assumed there were no rules at all! Therefore I wasted no time in activating my sharingan, feeling the rush of power flow to my head as everything became clearer, sharper, easier.

It's not to say that easier meant closer to victory, because it didn't.

I don't know how long it'll take me to surpass him, but Masahiko and I are light years apart in strength. We have the same kekkei genkai, but different chakra natures and drastically different levels of skill!

I don't mind though, not when I find myself quickly matching up to his speed. No matter how easy he might be going at me right now, he's ridiculously faster than any shinobi in my age category today. Which means that I'm currently faster than any other shinobi my age.

He's landed hits on me, it's impossible for me to evade all of them with my current agility. But with every blow I've taken, the more my urge to win has grown. It's an intoxicating, almost exhilarating feeling.

My spine twists and turns backwards as I swiftly dodge his gloved fist, flipping away from him and instinctively ducking to the ground; successfully missing a round of Kunai he's flung my way.

Yes! I've started to read his attacks accurately!!

He smirks at the subtle hints of my development. 'She's quick, similar to me' He thinks to himself, effortlessly avoiding the barrage of shuriken I flung his way as a tactic to win some time of my own.

When this fight first started, It was difficult for me to read his movements. Even with the sharingan, there's only so much I could do against someone like Hiko!

But with trial and error, I've started to get the hang of this quick paced fight; not letting nerves or questions cloud my mind.

Masahiko watched me rather proudly, though he'd rather drop dead than admit it out loud.

He saw me as an untouched vault of potential, a hidden treasure chest beneath layers and layers of rock and debris, the lucrative pot of gold people whisper about at the end of any rainbow- And he's right.

In his opinion, I'm faster than Haruki. Naturally that is. He noticed within seconds of this fight commencing. Although Haruki is currently far more agile than I am, she could only credit this to the years of training she's had in comparison to me.

Like him and Katsuro, Masahiko has always been the faster sibling.

However, with Katsuro's extensive training he's managed to catch up to Hiko's level. Somewhat at least.

Sometimes, raw talent just beats hard work.

I'm also a quicker learner, it's been clear from the get go. I've adjusted to his fighting style and adapted as rapidly as I could, a terribly difficult feat for many shinobi who are far more experienced than myself.

And despite the fact that I have such a premature understanding of the sharingan, Masahiko doesn't miss how quickly I adapt to actively sparring with it.

I don't know any of this, all I know is that I'm trying my hardest against the red eyed beast in front of me- And somehow amidst all of the flips and close calls my bodies endured, I've managed to avoid falling flat on my face!!

Of course, he isn't really trying to stop me. He's testing me, watching the way I react to certain attacks, analyzing how quick my reflexes are, scoping out my current range of abilities.

And really, he's gotten all of the information he's needed out of me.

"We're done." He calmly announced, his hand wrapping around my ankle- catching me completely off guard as I was trying to land a kick on his face!

I shriek in surprise, losing my balance and letting the weight of my body give out on my standing leg. Gravity takes its course and I instantly drop to the ground rather clumsily, a far cry from the sharp and quick moves I displayed earlier.

Masahiko's grip on my ankle doesn't waver, resulting in me awkwardly dangling in the air and upside down. The tips of my ravenous locks graze against the hardwood floors and I gulp in suspense, sheepishly peering up at Masahiko.

"So...did I do good?" I squeak out, blood rushing from the tips of my toes down to the crest of my head. Masahiko sighs at me.

If he was going to give me any extra praise, I already managed to change his mind.

"You did fine." He states this blandly, letting go of my ankle and letting me drop to the floor in a giant slump, ignoring my shriek of terror as my face nearly pancakes onto the wooden grounds beneath us. Luckily, I have the reflexes of a cat and managed to avoid dropping flat on my face.

"Would it have killed you to let me down gently?!" I groan, laying down like a starfish with my hair fanned out all around me. I stare up at the ceiling, deactivating my sharingan and waiting for the room to stop spinning. Oh god- What if I have a concussion?!

"Yeah, it would've given me a stroke." He mutters sarcastically, hand resting on the handle of his katana languidly in his usual pose. Funnily enough, I've seen enough pictures of my father as an adolescent to know that the two even stand the same way.

Lord sixth, also known as my uncle Kakashi, always marvelled at Hiko and his similarities to our father. It's no stretch to say that Hiko's always been the former hokage's favorite, as Kakashi took it upon himself to train Masahiko personally.

Just like he had with my father, apparently.

It's not to say uncle Kakashi doesn't love all of us, because he does! Masahiko is just the one who clicks with him the best, I remember it clearly growing up!

Kakashi was still serving as hokage at the time, as Haruki and I were only around four years old. Our mother had just recently woken up from her two year long coma, and it's been around a week since she's been dispatched from the hospital.

It's been a little hard for our mom to adjust to life ever since she's woken up.

All of her kids are now older, and she had a new baby to bond with! Plus, she had to cope with the fact that she lost two years of her life, and was struggling with the fact that she couldn't remember what happened within those two years.

There was one bright side to her newfound situation though....

Finally...Her precious Runa wanted to spend time with her.

It was true, I had grown a bit more receptive to my mothers affections from the second she had woken up. In return, I clearly remember her telling my father 'I won bastard!! She's mine now!!' But that's besides the point.

Her arrival back into the world meant that she had to re-learn many firsts. And that meant letting Masahiko and Katsuro go back to class for the first time in her life.

And It was a total mess! Katsuro complained about having to leave home as well, citing that he already knew everything at the academy and that he wanted to stay home with mom. Masahiko on the other hand was more silent with his complaints, gingerly holding onto mom's dress as he asked his parent's to stay home.

Haru, of course, gave into their pleas without a second thought. She was not mentally, emotionally, nor physically prepared to let the boys go off to school quite yet. Our father however has always been quite the realist, and he sent the boys off anyway.

"The more you go, the faster they'll let you graduate." And so the boys had left.

It was fair to say that my mom was going through the motions, tears quite literally in her eyes once she realized they were actually gone for the day. I remember pouting at her sullen expression, following her around the house curiously as she tended to baby Daisuke.

"Mama!! Can we go visit grandpa Kashi? Pretty please??" Haruki suddenly appeared like a little rocket, her pink sparkly skirt bouncing about as she ran up to us. My mom's eyes widened, and a small smile grew on her features.

Yes!! Perfect!! They could go and visit Kakashi while the boys are at school, that way she could distract her mind a bit!!

Finally, it's now time that she's gotten out of the house to go out and greet the world once more! With my father's supervision, of course. He was extremely paranoid and always held her at an arm's length, terrified of losing her again.

So here we are now, at the sixth hokage's office.

"Grandpa!!" Haruki squealed excitedly, waving at the silver haired masked man with her tiny hands as the small jewels on her bracelet jingled and sparkled with every movement she made.

She was perched in my father's arms, whereas I was clinging on tightly to the fabric of my mom's dress. Daisuke's with us as well, nuzzled up in my mom's arms.

"Hi Uncle- I mean Grandpa Kakashi." I greeted him too, a small blush on my features when my mom released a rather mischievous smile.

Growing up we always referred to Kakashi as uncle, but ever since mom's woken up she's insisted that we refer to him as grandpa instead. Citing Something about him being an oldie and deserving the title of a grandfather.

Our papa merely rolled his eyes in the background when he heard her giving us those instructions.

"Girls, how many times do I have to tell you?! I'm uncle Kakashi, not grandpa." Kakashi groaned, a gloved hand on his forehead as my sister merely giggled and hugged my father tighter.

"But mama told us that you're our grandpa!!" She exclaimed, to which Kakashi sharply turned to my scheming mom. "You haven't even been awake for a week and you're intoxicating them."

"Calm down grandpa, where are my boys?" My mom snorts, giggling herself when kakashi rolls his eyes at her and ruffles her hair.

"They're in the training grounds in the academy, look."

My mom takes a hold of my smaller hand once more and guides me over to the large window panels overlooking Konoha. From here, the hokage has a view of the entire town, but he has an even closer look to the academy that's just below his office!

From here, we all immediately recognize the boy with white hair from a mile away, accompanied by my eldest brother and older cousin Reiji. They were sparring, throwing all sorts of intricate jutsu at each other, a grand showing considering the fact that they're a group of tiny kids.

To my surprise and intrigue, Masahiko weaves a series of hand signs, and his entire hand engulfs itself in a bright blue light. He seems tired though, too tired to maintain the jutsu for very long.

"You taught him lightning release?!" My mom gasps, watching as Masahiko huffs air out of his cheeks, seemingly bothered with his own performance.

"Sasuke and I agreed that the earlier he learns the better, soon he'll be able to do the Chidori." Kakashi spoke, a subtle pride when he spoke of the second Uchiha child.

I didn't notice at the time, but my mother sported a concerned frown, her eyes narrowing when she noticed just how tired Masahiko looked. Katsuro was equally as tired, but that didn't stop him from creating an array of hand signs and slamming them together.

Before I knew it, he announced a certain jutsu and I gasped in surprise when a bright red substance escaped from his lips with clouds of steam floating off of it. My eyes sparkled as I watched him spar with our cousin Reiji, entranced by his fighting and cool jutsu!!

"God, why the hell are they still in the academy? I couldn't do half of that shit at twelve!" My mom scoffs, turning to the hokage with narrowed eyes. Bitterness from having to let them go off earlier was coming back with full force, and in the background I could hear my father sigh.

"Well...They are graduating in two days," Kakashi noted, bringing a hand up and holding his own chin as if he were thinking. My mom's jaw drops at the sudden news, but before the conversation could go any further, I gasp at the sight of Masahiko using a water style jutsu.

"I wanna do that!" I announced rather shyly to my mother, peering up at her with my big dark eyes. My mom smiled down at me, ignoring Kakashi for a moment to lean down and press a chaste kiss to my forehead. "When you're a little older maybe papa could teach you too, alright?"

Swiftly, I turn to look at my father curiously. He's already watching me, but smiles gently when our eyes meet. "You want to be a shinobi Runa?" He asks, to which I blink in silence.

A shinobi so I could be big and strong like my brothers!!

I then nod slowly, a small smile on my face when he chuckles; clearly amused by my behavior.

I glanced back out the window just in time again to catch Masahiko angrily slam his hand into a tree with his lightning release, making a loud clashing noise and a bright beam of light. My mom and the rest of the adults in the room sharply turned to the sound of the noise.

Instantly, her red eyes narrow and the muscles in her arms subtly tense at the sight of Masahiko's little outburst. She's always known him to be a calm boy, a bit grumpy sometimes and serious mannered, but a calm boy nonetheless.

Ever since she's woken up Masahiko has reverted a bit into his old self, but the eye of a mother is the sharpest of all. She caught on to the changes in him within an hour of being home, and she sent my father a stern glance after what they just saw.

I didn't notice them as such a small child with such an innocent view of the world we lived in, but if I looked closely enough, I could see the streams of blood running down my older brother's cheeks.

My mom saw it too and maintained her panic solely for the sake of us kids, but before I knew it she was racing out of the room in order to get to the academy training grounds.

She held onto my hand with an iron grip, if any tighter she might've bruised me! My father and Kakashi followed closely behind, and within a record time I found myself standing atop of the training grounds lush grass.

At that point mother let go of my hand, she even handed Daisuke to my father. She looked so focused on Masahiko at that point that she could barely look at anyone else.

My memory blurs then. I don't remember how loudly she was screaming or what the words were, but all I remember was the look on her face when she took Masahiko in her arms and held him tightly to her.

She looked furious with both my father and Kakashi, I can't remember why. And Masahiko was barely conscious from how badly he overworked himself! His arms were wrapped weakly around her neck, and the blood from his eyes had Haruki squeaking out in fear, only to burrow her face in the crook of our father's shoulder.

I watched with wide, innocent, curious, and maybe even scared eyes as the ordeal went down. I was unable to tear my eyes away, unlike Haruki who couldn't bear to watch. It was the first time I ever saw my mother like that, but the memory is so hazy that I could barely recall any specifics!

The last thing I remember was seeing my mother picking him up and walking away, anger coursing through her veins as she left the rest of us behind.

"I don't want him to end up like any of you! Don't you dare touch him!! Don't train him any more, don't do anything!!" Her petrified voice rang through my ears.

Wait, what?

"Runa?" Masahiko's voice is startling, and I squeak out in surprise at the sight of him standing right there. "You were zoned out." He raised a brow, eyeing me curiously.

I clear my throat, looking away from him in an attempt to re-arrange my thoughts. "Heh yeah sorry, that happens a lot. What were we talking about again?"

His brow remains raised as he eyes me, and I feel myself averting my eyes from his when they meet out of reflex. My Kami, why must he be so intrusive without even trying?!

"We were talking about your training." He says after a moment of silence.

I think for a moment, blinking owlishly at my older brother who's none the wiser at the thoughts stirring in my head.

I have this raging curiosity in the back of my head, I want to ask Masahiko if the memories I had just gone through were accurate. I wanted to ask him just why our mom blew up like that all those years ago; but something holds me back.

It doesn't feel like the right time. It seems so personal and so dark, that small piece of our family's past, that I bite my tongue and shake myself away from those thoughts. Maybe another time he'll open up about it, but not today.

Right, let me focus on our conversation. Act normal Runa.

So, If my dad won't be able to train me because of his work like he once thought he would, and if Hiko won't be able to when he goes back to his busy missions, then who can I rely on?

For a second, I'm reminded of my mother yet again.

I love my mother dearly, I do. But we quite literally have no abilities in common. Originally I had thought that the Crystal release I displayed weeks ago in the fight with Shin would be enough to be trained by her and learn more of my maternal heritage.

And well, that's just not gonna happen.

Sticking to my Uchiha side it is.

I've attempted using my Crystal style a couple of times on a smaller scale, but it just never worked! It was like my worst fears were coming true! Was my kekkei genkai just a one hit wonder moment? A fluke?!

She promised that after this field trip she and Shinji would help me try activating my Crystal release once more. But with the amount of broken promises she's sent my way throughout the years when it comes to things like this, I still can't help but have my doubts.

Therefore, there's one reliable, perfectly sensible option!

The sixth hokage!!

The image of my mom glaring at both my father and Kakashi instills a sense of unease in me, but mentally I digress. Maybe I just got it all wrong! Those memories were from years ago! There's no way I remember everything accurately, I barely even remembered what she said at all!

With a newfound courage, I turn to Masahiko.

"Hiko, do you think uncle Kakashi would wanna train me too?" I wonder out loud, turning to my brother who's pale brows raised at my question.