> “They say time heals all wounds, but that presumes the source of the grief is finite”

> ― Cassandra Clare, "Clockwork Prince"

Naruto and Noramori approached the school together. Noramori was filled with a sense of dread at facing her brother. She didn't think that she could keep the secret of her nightly training away from him anymore. It had already been incredibly difficult to mask it before she had run away and with her current mindset she felt she would crack the second Sasuke started probing deeper.

Just then A keening sound came from far up ahead.

"Moriiiiiiiikkooooooooooooooo!!!"

*Thoomp*

"Oof," Noramori had the wind knocked out of her as Sasuke Bear tackled her to the ground.

"Where were you last night? You never came back after Father's training. I was so worried, " Sasuke gave her puppy dog eyes, he only showed this side of himself to her. For everyone else, he was more reserved. Sometimes he was outright mean, but mostly he just focused on his training and it was difficult for him to turn his attention elsewhere.

"Sasuke, come on, " Noramori whined, " You are getting Naruto's clothes all dirty!"

"Naruto's clothes, " Sasuke sounded confused, "Why would you be wearing Naruto's clothes?"

Noramori pushed Sasuke off of her as he was currently staring at Naruto with a look that had been slowly turning into a glare. She stood up and dusted herself off while surreptitiously glancing at the two boys that even now were locked in a staring contest of sorts. Naruto wearing a face of utter bewilderment and Sasuke was slowly donning a mask of imminent war.

"Why yes. His clothes, " Noramori hid a vicious smile behind her hand, " When a man and a woman love each other very much—"

"I'll kill you, " Sasuke launched himself at Naruto, "Keep your hands off my sister!"

"What? I didn't touch her! I only helped her into them after helping her out of the shower," Naruto dug his grave deeper.

"I'm gonna bury you!" Sasuke whiffed a punch while on the ground and began angrily attempting to clobber the other boy.

Noramori looked down fondly on her two boys as they rolled around on the ground.

'Ah, spring is in the air.' Noramori giggled at the image they portrayed.

"Careful now you wouldn't want anyone to get the wrong idea, " Noramori smiled at the sight of Naruto pinning her brother to the ground, "Public displays of affection are frowned upon."

"What? Wait... no! He attacked me first!" Naruto was blushing as he tried to get up.

Sasuke took this opportunity to throw sand into the other boy's eyes and turn the tables on him.

*slap* a sharp crack rang out as Sasuke open-hand-slapped Naruto and rolled over on top of him.

"Kinky!" Noramori was having the time of her life messing with the two of them.

"Sister I must defend your honor," most of the wind had been knocked out of Sasuke's sails and both boys were currently blushing profusely.

"You might need to defend your own," Noramori gestured around them to the small crowd of students that were watching the scuffle, " The way you're sitting on him. Hmm, scandalous."

Sasuke pushed himself away from Naruto who was fuming on the ground and Naruto followed him up only to be stopped from attacking Sasuke by a light hand on his shoulder.

"Let it go, he's an idiot, but he's my idiot little brother, " Noramori beamed at Naruto.

Naruto looked back at Noramori and huffed, crossing his arms he looked away, but she didn't miss how flustered he was by her words.

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Sasuke tried to run forward with a punch but stopped at the sight of Noramori's glare.

"But... but he dared to touch you. I can't let a boy like him defile my LITTLE sister, " Sasuke whined at her.

"Aren't both of you the same age? I don't see what the big deal is?" Naruto was still pouting as he interrupted the two siblings.

"Shut up Naruto," The siblings spoke in unison as they stared at each other.

"Whatever, I'm heading to class, I'll see the two of you there," Naruto gave one last glare in Sasuke's direction as he walked toward the academy entrance while dusting himself off and rubbing his face.

"Come back here you bastard!" Sasuke screamed at the retreating boy's back, "This isn't over!"

Naruto just raised a middle finger and continued to walk away.

"Sasuke, did I ask you to stand up for me? I can defend myself, " Noramori wore her patent sweet smile.

"Well... No, but you're my sister and he's, well he's Naruto, " Sasuke wore a chagrined expression.

"I appreciate the show of affection. It feels good to know that you care about me that much. Still, when I need you to defend me I will ask for it, " Nroamori was annoyed by her brother's antics, but it did make her feel good to know she had two people who cared so much about her, " I mean what would people say, the older sibling should be the one to protect the younger sibling, not the other way around."

"Yes, Moriko," Sasuke grimaced

"I'm sorry... HEY wait I was born first!" Sasuke finally caught on to what Noramori said.

Noramori grinned at the boy, she was glad that they could have this moment of child-like buffoonery. It was nice to not have to care about the side of her she was bottling up. It kept her grounded. Kept her from disassociating as a defense mechanism. Sadly it couldn't last. Sasuke needed answers and Noramori wasn't sure that she was ready to give any.

"So, if nothing happened, why?" Sasuke gave her an inquisitive look.

"Father's training was... hard," Noramori's face instantly shut down, "I — I don't know if I can get into it right now."

"That bad? What could have been so bad that it made you run away and stay with that boy?"

He glanced at her and noticed the various bandages that graced her body.

Noramori crossed her arms and attempted to shrink into herself.

"Please, I want to tell you, but I can't... give it time," Noramori shivered as she clutched her arms.

'Tell him, make him hate Fugaku. The man deserves it, we should kill him.' A voice whispered in her ears and Noramori got a far way detached look on her face.

She jumped at the sound of her old voice, her mind shutting down and pushing against the wall of emotion. She wasn't ready to confront the darkness. It hurt and she didn't want to let anyone know how much.

"What? What did Father do to you?"

"P—Please, Please not now. I can't handle it, " Noramori was shaking and a few tears rolled down her otherwise blank face.

Sasuke looked at his sister in concern. He had never seen her like this. Sure he had seen her upset, but usually she was so happy. He didn't know what to do.

He simply reached out and hugged her.

"I don't get it, but I don't need to. I love you and I just want to keep you safe so, just please don't cry, " Sasuke spoke into her hair.

"I know, I promise I'll tell you eventually, " Normaori gave a few sniffles, " Just please give me time."

"Okay, well, Naruto didn't do anything weird did he?"

"No he was a perfect gentleman, " Noramori smiled at Sasuke as he held her shoulders and looked into his eyes, "If anything you should thank him. If he hadn't been the first person I ran into I might have done something terrible."

"I see, " Sasuke glanced over at the academy entrance, "Well that's good at least."

"Yes, he is good, " Noramori smiled fondly, " You should give him a break."

"I'll think about it," Sauske looked at his sister with a raised eyebrow, "Do you like him?"

"What? NO!... Maybe... I don't know, he's the only one I trust besides you, Mother, and Itachi, " Noramori's words rushed out, " I think I'm too young to think about those kinds of things."

"Hmm, well alright. I'll let the matter rest for now, " Sasuke smiled at his sister and let her shoulders go, " Are you going to be alright?"

He didn't miss how she left out father in her list of trustworthy people.

"I think so. I'm honestly just really confused right now, but I think I'll be fine, given time, " Noramori reassured her brother.

'If Fugaku was dead then you wouldn't have to worry about him anymore,' Noramori grimaced at the cold sadistic voice that ran through her mind.

'Shut up you! Me? Everyone just, be quiet!'

"Okay..." Sasuke could tell there was more that was bothering her but he chose not to push, "Well we should probably get headed into class."

"Yeah, I think we should," Noramori meekly replied as the two of them began walking toward the academy.

She didn't know where to begin with unpacking her emotions so she just chose to not feel them. They weren't a part of her, they were a part of the old her. She couldn't accept the cold unfeeling side of herself and this was leading to a separation between her two selves.

Her past life had always been at the back of her mind. She had pushed down the trauma and tried to live a new existence free from pain and suffering. It had worked... for a while. When her father had changed and showed a side of himself that Noramori didn't expect and wasn't ready for it had cracked open the seal on her old memories. Sure she thought about them, but before it was always in a detached manner only really affecting her when she was in a relatively vulnerable state.

In the past, this presented as little bits of her old self leaking out and she did things as if floating in a dream. Feeling like she was watching herself act from a movie theatre behind her eyes. It felt strange, but she never thought anything of it, chalking it up to some sort of defense mechanism.

Now it was different. The memories and emotions threatened to spill over into her new mind. Noramori kept compacting them and pushing them back, but this was only leading to a terrifying development. The more she pushed, the more defined her previous life became. She was unknowingly creating a separate compartmentalized version of herself that was beginning to develop into an entirely new personality.

"Noramori? Are you coming?" Sasuke called out to her.

She hadn't realized it but she had stopped as if in a daze before entering the academy.

"What? Oh yes, sorry, give me one moment. I'll be right there?" Noramori mustered a smile as she looked at her brother.

"Okay, just don't take too long, our sensei won't be happy if you are too late, " Sasuke called back to her with a concerned look.

"Yeah, don't worry, I'll be right there, " Noramori replied.

She turned around and looked at the woods at the edge of the horizon. Her eyes swept over the treetops and scanned across the edges of town. It was a wonder to look upon this world. Gone were the concrete jungles and technological advancements of her old life. It made it so easy to try and pretend like that world had never even existed. To act like it was all just some nightmare, a fake that didn't have any hold in this new world.

'It is a fake, I like this me more, I don't want to be her anymore,' Noramori's thoughts pushed back against the approaching memories.

'But I am you, ' a faint retreating whisper brushed past her mind as she shoved her memories back into their box.

Shivering Noramori began to turn around but saw something flash out of the corner of her eye. She stopped and glanced up at a building down the way, but she didn't spot anything.

"Weird... I could swear I saw a cat up there," Noramori whispered to herself, "I guess it was nothing."

She took a deep breath and let it hiss out between her teeth and then with a brave face on she strolled into the academy building, ready to face to the other children. Hopefully, she wouldn't be able to stay unnoticed, but she found that rather unlikely.

"Oh, shit! I'm late. Sensei is gonna be soooo mad!" Noramori screeched as she started rushing toward her classroom.