"Itachi-kun! Itachi-kun!"

Itachi looked up from his books, and he saw the hopeful face of a young girl. Dark eyes were alight with playfulness, much like his brother's were. She was one of the youngest Uchihas.

"Oh, Koemi-chan, what do you need from me?" Itachi asked, folding his hands over his texts. When the children of the clan approached him, Itachi would give them his undivided attention.

The little girl fidgeted. "Are you busy?" Her eyes stayed low, remembering to mind her manners in front of her senior. Itachi smiled and pushed his work away from him, and Koemi looked up hopefully.

"I'm never too busy, Koemi-chan." He said softly. Koemi blushed. That's what was so nice about Itachi. Unlike the other seniors, who became serious and busy as they became ninja, Itachi was always seen making time for others, especially Sasuke and his friends. It was this gentleness that the Uchiha children found so inviting.

"Can you play hide and seek with me?" Koemi asked, bouncing slightly.

"Hide and seek? Why don't you ask Sasuke?"

"He's not as good as you, besides, he's playing with the boys." Koemi huffed as though she were annoyed, but truthfully she liked the chance to play without them. The boys in her clan were too rough sometimes, and Koemi disliked violence, or the sight of blood. "So can you? Please? Pretty please?"

Itachi laughed and nodded. "Alright." He agreed, getting up from his slightly cluttered mess of scrolls.

"Yayyyy!" Koemi's face lit up, and she started running away. "You'll never find me!"

"Hey! I didn't start counting!" He called after her, but it didn't matter. Her energy was boundless. It made Itachi feel happy though, and he closed his eyes to begin his countdown.

Koemi ran around the Uchiha compound, keeping an eye out for one of her favorite hiding spots. She found one in a log, which she was small enough to crawl into. Laying on her belly, Koemi waited for Itachi to find her, while her heart beat wildly in anticipation. He'd never crouch so low to find her!

Koemi didn't have to wait too long. A pair of feet appeared in front of the open space in her log, and Koemi held her breath. The feet made a few turns, as the person attached to them scanned the area.

"Hmm. I wonder where Koemi-chan must be hiding?" Itachi mused out loud. He took a few steps away, and Koemi thought he was walking away.

Aha! Success!

Suddenly, Itachi's face was in front of hers.

"Waaah!" Koemi squeaked and hit her head off the top of her log. "Oh... ow..."

Itachi offered to help her out. "I'm sorry Koemi-chan, it was just a joke. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Ow... ow... no... it's okay..." Koemi rubbed her head, and Itachi looked over her seriously.

"You're bleeding a little." He looked concerned. "I'll fix that right away, come with me."

"I'm... I'm bleeding?" Koemi shivered, but followed Itachi. She shyly took his hand as he led her back to his house. "I don't like blood..."

"It's only a minor cut, there must have been a sharp piece of wood where you hit your head." Itachi explained calmly. "It's not a lot of blood, but you still want to get cleaned up."

"Okay..." Koemi's fears eased away slowly. When Itachi had taken her to his house, they were the only ones there. He sat her on their table and cleaned her head where she had hit herself, and applied a mild healing ointment. It stung when it made contact with her scalp, but Itachi continued to speak softly to her, and Koemi remained calm and didn't cry at all. It didn't take long at all.

"Sorry about this trouble." Itachi helped her back down. "I do it to Sasuke sometimes, he takes my jokes a little better."

"It was a funny joke." Koemi looked away. "I'm just a big fraidy cat." She sighed. "I'm even scared of just a teensy bit of blood. And I'm no good at hiding." She looked enviously up at him. "How am I ever gonna be a good ninja like you, Itachi-kun?"

Itachi sighed. "Don't be down on yourself. You want to be better at hiding?" She nodded, and he continued. "It helps if you don't breathe so heavily. Just remain calm, and you'll be harder to detect. Fear or restlessness can give away your position."

"But... how can I not be afraid?" Koemi asked. She was always so nervous, it was hard for her to control her feelings. The others made it look effortless to her...

"Just think of them as being me." Itachi said warmly. "Pretend you are playing hide and seek, and that I'm the one trying to find you. You won't be afraid of me, will you Koemi-chan?"

Koemi shook her head aggressively. "No! I could never be afraid of you! You're my best friend, Itachi-kun!"

This made Itachi smile, so the corners of his eyes creased. He rustled her hair affectionately. "You're cute, Koemi-chan." This made her blush, but instead of yelling defensively as she normally would, Koemi giggled.

"Stop it, Itachi-kun, you're messing up my hair."

"Sorry." Itachi took his hand away.

"Hey! Hey!" Both of them looked to see another of the younger Uchiha running towards them.

"I think it's time you play with them now." Itachi said, gently prodding Koemi towards the boy. "I've got some studying to do, but it was fun playing with you."

"Oh... alright..." Koemi looked a little disappointed. She was having fun, but it would be selfish of her to keep Itachi away for too long.

She followed the other young boy to play tag with the rest of the children, while Itachi went back to his studies. It was a beautiful day outside for them to play.

xxx

A cold shock of fear struck through Koemi, forcing her awake. Her room was dark, and for a moment she sat upright in bed, wondering if she had just had a nightmare, and then she heard another shrill scream. This was not a dream.

"Koemi!" Her mother screamed from down the hall, and in a flash she was in the room with her. "Koemi! Quick! Hide!"

"Momma!" Koemi was too terrified to move. "What's happening? Who's screaming?"

Her mother didn't answer her, but scooped Koemi up in her arms. Koemi clung to her mother's chest as she was taken to the family room, where her older brother and father were already waiting. The two men were dressed in ninja garb, and at the sight of them Koemi's mother began to sob.

"Don't go out there, please!" She begged them, falling to her father's feet with Koemi still in her arms. "Please, we need to stick together! He'll kill you!"

"Nagisa, we must stop this madman or else he will hunt us all like dogs!" Her father's voice was stern, but Koemi could tell he was afraid. "He's gone wild, and we need to put him down while we can still at least outnumber him."

"Mother, we'll be alright." Koemi's brother, Osamu Uchiha, was barely a genin, but he stood as tall and brave as he could by his father's side.

There were shrieks outside. Nagisa wept, and put a hand around her husband's ankle. "Please... please..." She choked between ugly tears.

"Momma, momma..." Koemi began to join her mother's crying. It was difficult to remain calm when there was so much going on all of a sudden.

Their pleading was selfish. They all knew this. Koemi's father and brother left them to join the battle outside, and left her by herself with her distraught mother. Nagisa was trembling, but she regained enough composure to speak.

"Hide, Koemi." Her voice warbled, but her tone was grave. Koemi hesitantly let go of her mother's blouse.

"Momma, will you hide with me?" She asked, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes.

"I can't hide, Koemi." She said, standing up on wobbly legs. "I have to stand strong, to protect you. I'm your mother. Now do as I say, and hide."

Koemi hid herself in her mother's cleaning supply closet. She packed herself inside of a bucket and placed rags over her head, so even if someone quickly looked inside, they might mistake her as a bundle of laundry. There was a small crack in the closed door,which Koemi peeked out of to watch for the mysterious assassin. Her mother stood guard, and Koemi saw that she was carrying a katana from her days as a ninja. Her eyes were activated, and they waited for her enemy to arrive.

Koemi watched breathlessly, shaking as the screams outside grew and overlapped each other. When one of the shrieks came from inside the house, and Koemi gasped sharply. Blood sprayed across the room, and in a single strike her mother fell to the floor as limp as a doll. Koemi wanted to scream, but knowing that the killer was only a few feet away, she held her breath.

Koemi could see this person's chakra now, through the door. It was a very calm, precise, and powerful chakra. She tried to control herself, and remembered the days she would play with Itachi, and he taught her how to hide.

This was just like hide and seek, Koemi told herself. And Itachi was looking for her. Only Itachi, no one to be afraid of, no one who would actually hurt her.

Heart pounding, palms shaking and sweating, Koemi tried to clear her thoughts. She imagined herself outside in the sun, hiding on her belly in a hollow log, and Itachi was standing a few feet away...

The chakra was beginning to walk away. Koemi felt relief, as she had not been noticed. She was safe.

When suddenly, the door was pulled open, and a hand shot towards her and snatched her by the hair. Koemi screamed with relentless fear as she was dragged into the open, her fingers clawed at the hand that gripped her so roughly, and she looked up with her red eyes to see his staring back.

"Itachi-k-!"

Unable to finish her exclamation of surprise, Koemi slid to the floor to rest by her mother. The game had come to an end.