Requested by woozivies

     Sorry there, I posted but then I read the request again saying that they wanted a happy ending ;w; so I unpublished it and added an alternate ending

     The training grounds were, either boring or a dangerous place. Everything is a little gray and a bit clinical, too formal for a kid. But, for an eight-year-old, you were relatively mature. You
had what the adults called an 'exceptionally great' potential that was extraordinarily adept at dealing with combatants above your age. You didn't have a solid idea of what a word or two out of those descriptions meant, but you knew it gave you a sense of purpose.

     You were trained, made to protect the people you loved, your clan. But the only thing you're worried about protecting right now is the neat ladybug you caught near the river you'd see your elder brother go to. It was your favorite place in the whole complex; it's the only place where you feel comfortable doing normal kid stuff like drawing in the dirt, skipping stones, and catching little animals and setting them free later.

     You had the creature cupped in your tiny hands. It's crawling around a little and tickled your skin, but doesn't seem too keen on escaping. You've got a spare habitat - which was technically an unused spice jar - in your room and were currently racing there to give your little friend a house. You round a few trees and, much to your wittol red bug's dismay, you smack into somebody hard.

     "Hey. Watch where you're going!"

     You gasped, too busy realizing you dropped your bug. "My ladybug!"

     "Your lady... bug?" the person asks. He must be around your age, and had a head of incredibly unkempt dark hair,

     "Whoa! You mean you caught one from the river? Cool!"

     You frantically search for your little friend. "Yeah, and you made me drop him!"

     He blinked, surprised and maybe a little apologetic. He scanned the ground around you and perked up.

     "He's right there!" you glanced down to where he's pointing. Sure enough, there's your little red friend. You scoop the creature up gently, and the dark-haired boy practically
stuck his nose into your hands to have a look.  

     You yelp. "Hey, careful!" you warned, and then a softer, "You're gonna scare him."

     He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry," he leaned back a little to give your ladybug a respectable distance and watches with great interest as it crawls around on your palm. "Can I hold it?"

     You frown. You're inclined to say no, given the fact that he almost made you lose your friend, but you felt sorry and grabbed his hand anyway, letting the bug crawl over to him by its own will.

     His eyes sparkled happily.

     "Who are you?" you asked. Your eyes were drawn to his messy hair which was tempting you to fix it.

     "That's for you to find out :)"

     "Aw, really? >:(" you pouted,

     "Yes >:)"

     "Aw, ok, then :("

     The two of you were inseparable after that. You sat across the river after training, and on days when you didn't have any of those, you always found each other in the same riverbank during your free time, during which you do whatever seems interesting, like catching bugs, skipping stones, or just sitting and chatting to each other with your preferred quiet activities. Drawing on the dirt for you and watching the fishes roam free in the river for him.

     Before you know it, you've both turned eleven years old, and you discovered his name was Izuna Uchiha. When your elder brothers and dad found out you were out with an Uchiha, they weren't happy. 

     They wanted you to kill him.

     It scared you sometimes to think about it, how you probably won't have a friend quite
like Izuna ever again. Even though you had two elder brothers, unfortunately, one's too stoic for you, and the other one was too much of an idiot (according to your father) for his own good. This moved you to a fresh fit of tears, knowing that the next time you'll meet him, he'll either be fighting against you or dead.

-×-

     Years passed and you haven't heard a word from him. Your father had died and you were grateful the war was over and the two clans had made up. You thought you'd meet him on the battlefield but the one you were in back then, you didn't spot a single sign of Izuna. 

     You were coming back from a mission and you passed a river, the same one you and Izuna first crossed paths with. That's when you spot it:

     A lonesome old-looking gravestone with some parts covered in moss. And what was carved on it was the name of your childhood friend.

Happy Ending:

      Years passed and you haven't heard a word from him. Your father had died and you were grateful the war was over and the two clans had made up. You thought you'd meet him on the battlefield but the one you were in back then, you didn't spot a single sign of Izuna.

      You were coming back from a mission and you passed a river, the same one you and Izuna first crossed paths with. That's when you spot it:

     A fair-skinned man with spiky, black hair that had a blue tint to it. His bangs parted down the center of his face to frame both sides of it. He wore the standard Uchiha outfit which consisted of a high-collared, blue shirt with the Uchiha crest on his upper back and blue pants which were wrapped up in bandages at the ends. 

     Excitement began to bubble up in you as you stepped closer to said person and your hand instinctively reached out, 

     "Izuna?" you whispered.

     The man turned around to you and began smiling, you did too. It was him.

     "Hey, (Y/n)."

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