I haven't disappeared. Really. I'm still here. I am however a full time University student with a double major and still working as well. I don't have a great deal of spare time to write anything that is not school related. I do apologize. I know people are waiting for a TINAG sequel. I'll come, eventually. This can piece can stand alone. I am going be adding to it in the future when I think of random snippets of their life to write, and the rating may go up.
Number 1: The Day It Began
On the first day of kindergarten, Kurama forgot his ninja turtles pencil case. His auntie Kushina had bought it for him special three days earlier on a frenzied school supply run at the local mall. She had also bought him new clothes that she declared adorable, and a matching ninja turtles backpack and lunch box.
But the morning of the first day of school, his uncle Minato slept through his six AM alarm, and woke up the rest of the house at seven twenty with his shout of distress. The morning was a flurry of activity. His auntie waddled around the house as fast as she could with her eight month swollen belly, throwing together lunches, gathering papers, and feeding all three of them to hurry Kurama's uncle out of the house at a reasonable time.
With his auntie busy, Kurama was left to pack his own bag and choose his own clothes. Before he could brush his teeth like he was supposed to, he was being ushered out the front door and buckled into the car.
So much to his dismay, when the teacher asked them to go find their pencils and return to the circle, Kurama couldn't find his pencil case. He stood sniffling, wide hazel eyes swimming with tears, until a soft voice beside him made him jump.
"Would you like to borrow one of my pencils?" a boy asked. He had dark, inky black hair, striking coal black eyes, and pale ivory skin.
Kurama sized up his classmate. Unlike Kurama's comfortable jeans and ninja turtle t-shirt, the boy wore crisp dress slacks, a pressed shirt, and a little matching tie.
Hesitantly, Kurama accepted the black pencil with little orange pumpkins and clutched it to his chest like prized treasure. He beamed. "My name is Kurama. What's yours?"
The other boy blinked at Kurama. "Itachi Uchiha."
If possible, Kurama smiled even brighter. "Thank you."
Itachi said nothing. He simply nodded, and wandered back to the circle of mats on the floor where the other children were gathered around the teacher. They were going to learn to write their names.
After a moment, Kurama chased after him, claiming the mat beside Itachi before anyone else could. Positively vibrating with energy, he watched Itachi begin carefully write out his name in shaky letters with his left hand, and tried to copy him.
The teacher quickly corrected Kurama, instructing him to write his own name. At the top of his paper, she wrote 'KURAMA UZUMAKI' in black marker for him to copy.
"Oh! Itachi, you already know how to write your name," the teacher exclaimed, clapping her hands together in excitement. "That's very good."
First finishing the final 'A' in his name, Itachi looked up at the teacher and nodded. "My father taught me."
The teacher finally moved on to help the other students struggling with their own names. Most, like Kurama, could barely make a straight line. One girl's pencil broke, and she burst into tears. The teacher took her outside for a drink of water and to calm down.
Underneath his name, Itachi made six strange squiggles.
"What's that?" Kurama asked. He abandoned his own attempts at writing his name and pointed to the little squiggles.
"My name in Japanese," Itachi answered, intently focused on finishing the last kana. It was a little messy, but still legible.
"Jahpoeze?"
Itachi pointed to each of the kana with the eraser of his pencil. "U-chi-ha I-ta-chi."
Kurama snickered. "You said it backwards."
"That's how it's written in Japanese," Itachi explained flatly.
"Oh." Kurama fiddled with his pencil, jiggling it so it looked like rubber bending around his fingers. "What's my name in jahpoeze?"
For several long seconds, Itachi stared down at his paper with his nose scrunched up and his eyebrows furrowed. His shoulders fell in defeat. "I don't know," he finally admitted. "But I'll learn."
"Okay!" Kurama grinned.
The teacher finally returned with the girl who had been crying. Her eyes were still puffy, but the tears had stopped. Kurama returned to the task of writing his name, all the while chattering away to Itachi, who didn't stop him, and very rarely added his own input.
After class, Kurama shuffled over to Itachi while the class was packing their bags. He offered the borrowed the newly sharpened pencil to its rightful owner, but Itachi politely refused with a small shake of his head.
"Are you sure," Kurama asked.
Itachi nodded. "You keep it."
Practically launching himself at Itachi, Kurama hugged the startled boy. "I'll take good care of it. I promise."
A small, shy smile crept onto Itachi's face, and a friendship was born.