She was given a small apartment of her own. Right next door to Ibiki, who frequently left interesting books on her doorstep. Sometimes he'd invite her over for lunch, because he knew she couldn't cook to save her life, he claimed. She knew better. It was to continue playing their little game of ask and answer. The questions were different now, more concerned with her progress and how she liked Konoha, and less with what had happened to her in Orochimaru's care.
Haruka didn't quite understand that Ibiki was actually concerned for her wellbeing until Weasel took the time to explain it to her. After three months he also told her that he no longer had official orders to watch her and wouldn't be able to visit as often. It made her sadder than she could reasonably explain. Weasel was one of the few guards that bothered talking to her at all. Most, like Hound, had perfected the art of using the least amount of words necessary to give instructions and generally kept at a distance, and some, like Cat, never made a sound at all.
Weasel though would sit at a table and read books with her. He'd discuss the theory and explain what she didn't understand, so that she might catch up to the Academy kids her age faster. She wouldn't actually be allowed to go to school with them, but the Hokage had promised she could take the graduation exam at the same time. Her exam wouldn't be the same because she would have to demonstrate all the things the other children got tested in over the years as well, but if she managed she would receive a hitai-ate like everyone else.
Learning with Weasel was very helpful. He knew a lot of tricks the books never even mentioned. For example, when one was pretending to be a civilian it was important not to completely suppress one's chakra. That would make other shinobi suspicious because even people without training had a certain amount of chakra. Weasel was usually polite and friendly, sometimes he would even joke around or laugh with her, but under all that he hid a deep sadness. Haruka had asked about it once, but he'd told her not to worry. Apparently the information was classified, so he wasn't allowed to tell her, but it would be fine in the end.
She trusted him, he'd never been wrong before. So when one day—about three months before her ninth birthday—a note appeared on her desk that said to become strong enough to keep herself safe, she promised the empty room she would do whatever it took. It was the last time she heard from Uchiha Itachi.
The paper called it a tragedy. The Uchiha Massacre. The sad tale of a young prodigy who had snapped under the expectations of his clan, who couldn't handle the pressure and rebelled in the only way he knew how. Haruka had snorted derisively at that particular phrase. Murdering a whole clan was not something a rebellious teenager just did to cope with life. Especially not Itachi who hated nothing more than violence.
It was a little as if the journalists couldn't quite decide whether to mourn the loss of one of the founding clans at the hands of its brilliant heir or whether to pity the boy himself. Apparently the Uchiha had been blamed, only in whispers of course, for the attack on Konoha and the death of the Yondaime Hokage a little over eight years ago. Haruka hadn't even been a year old at the time, so she didn't know what had actually happened and records on the matter were few and far between. Whatever the Uchiha did or didn't do to deserve their death, it was buried deep beneath a mountain of classified files.
One day, Haruka promised herself and Weasel, she'd be high enough in the ranks to uncover all the hidden truths. For now however she had to learn enough to become a genin.
***
Both Hound and Cat, as if in silent agreement, began visiting Haruka the day after Itachi was officially declared a nukenin. Cat, as was her habit, never said a word. Sometimes she'd nod in greeting when she passed Haruka and other times the ANBU would escort her home after a long day in the library. The visits were short and occurred in irregular intervals. The time in between lengthening over the course of a year until they stopped completely.
With Hound it was the opposite. He was silent and reserved at first. Never acknowledging that he was even aware of her presence. He just happened to be there whenever she got lost exploring the village or ran into people of dubious reputation. She knew better of course, was familiar enough with his chakra signature to notice it trailing her without even trying.
She made a game out of slipping the tail and then attempting to surprise him. The first worked often enough. Itachi's tips and her ability to sense and manipulate chakra made it quite easy. The second though was harder. It turned out Hound had some actual hounds and hiding scent when sneaking up on someone was a lot more difficult than getting lost in a crowd at the market.
The first time Haruka couldn't sense Hound for a whole month she'd been afraid he had grown tired of the game and decided to move on like Cat, but then one of his ninken had found her. A grumpy little pug—Pakkun was his name—let her know that Hound had been on a mission that landed him in the hospital. He'd also snuck out, which was apparently a common occurrence. The pug asked her to deliver some food because the dogs could only help so much and Hound was being a stubborn idiot. That was how she learned Hound's real name was Hatake Kakashi and that he could play dead quite convincingly.
Pakkun helped her break into the flat without killing herself by setting off any traps. He also explained that suffering from chakra exhaustion wasn't a rare thing for Kakashi, but that it usually wasn't quite as bad either. She lived in his flat for a week, getting food and keeping watch until he was strong enough to take care of himself again.
He never thanked her, just claimed he was an adult and could look after himself. He did, however, come to her flat instead of crawling into his own when he escaped the hospital the next time. One of his dogs also just happened to run into her whenever Kakashi would be gone for more than a handful of days.
Curiously enough, Hound, or any of the ANBU really, was one of the few topics Ibiki never brought up when they had lunch together. It was possible he didn't know how long they had been around, or in Hound's case still were, she supposed. Haruka had never been under the illusion that her flat being right next to Ibiki's was a coincidence. He had clearly been under orders to keep an eye on her as well, but those orders had only lasted for three months according to Itachi. Now when Ibiki asked how she was or if she needed anything it was because he wanted to know, not because it was his job.
The head of T&I wasn't as good a teacher as Itachi had been, but they managed. The first thing he made her learn was Konoha Standard. A simple encryption that wasn't classified. It could be used in many ways, for example tapped out as an audible code or written down as encoded messages. Ibiki insisted the best way to learn codes was to use them, so sometimes they would have whole discussions without saying a single word.
Kakashi thought it was too annoying when there was no actual information that had to be kept secret. His ninken indulged her though. The ones that couldn't speak the human language were more than happy to in fact.