Hey guyyys, so, I still exist. I know I haven't updated in like half an year, and I'm sorry for that. I had a series of hardcore exams at the end of my preclinical years during the summer and my first clinical semester isn't going that great because of the pandemic. But I now have a course in emergency medicine and pharmacology as well, which are the bread and butter for the medical side of this fanfiction. So I have some fresh new ideas for the future, but till such a moment may arrive, Juno has to go through Academy first. And let me tell you, this chapter DID NOT want to be written. However, I got to introduce two important characters so I'm not completely unhappy with it. Hope you enjoy it !


'You and I, we don't wanna be like them' - One Direction, You&I


A few short days after getting discharged, I finally received the summons from the Hokage for a hearing regarding my abduction and the inconclusive information gained from Mizuki before his untimely death. I had to recount the events again, all the time being regarded by the old man with an air of calculated curiosity from behind his stapled fingers. All in all, it seemed to me like he had been expecting this, in which case, did I just get used as bait for Orochimaru? See, exactly this kind of things made me doubt Genma's statements, even though I knew that logically, he didn't have to share the same ideas with his military dictator. The Hokage was just like an old winter fox.

Aside from the Anbu team, there were also a few other officials present to this hearing, that contained rather…sensitive information. Huh. So these are the people in power that rule with the Hokage? Like elders? They were ancient like the man himself, all wrinkles and folded in themselves from age. But all three perked up at the part about the fight. I could see it in their eyes. Yearning, hunger for power and recognition. They saw a weapon to further their ambitions when they looked at me. Interesting. But I'd need more information to determine whether they knew about this middle-man that had tipped off Orochimaru about me.

Meanwhile, I just smile placidly at the Hokage and bowed.


Training with Itachi proved to be fruitful, even if my pride took a beating every day with it. Still, for all the times he drove me in the dirt with utmost poise and grace, he corrected my stance, adjusted my punches to fit the the close quarters of hand-to-hand combat, improved my balance. And made me practice the same katas over and over again.

Also, got me stared on throwing weapons, which was just weird. I never had to let go of my sword before and so, I was used to the comforting weight in my heads. The ninja stars tho… they were even lighter than kunai, and worked with different aerodynamic principles when thrown.

The one part I enjoyed, were the few spars where I was allowed my katana. There we were evenly matched, with him being quicker and more combat savvy, but me utterly attuned to my weapon. It made me feel like I was standing on equal ground with him at least in something. And the slight smile he would give me at the end of the day, before departing for the Uchiha compound, made the hell he put me through every day worth it.

Eh, hero-worship indeed.

And so, on a sunny day at the beginning of September, I took the placement exams and was directly drafted to one of the upper-intermediate classes. The words genius and prodigy were thrown around a few times that day, with Genma smirking like a Cheshire cat over Namiashi-san's slumped form, as he passed him the ryo. 'He bet on you starting from the middle years, I said it would be either the final or the pre-final one' he explained while pocketing the cash. Then he spirited me away from Itachi to go eat ramen, before the chuunin could take me training, to the older boy's rather subtle displeasure. 'You kids can go brawl after we celebrate' he drawled around his senbon and so, Itachi ended up tagging along. It was a nice lunch, with the adults making easy conversation and Itachi giving input from time to time. Even Kakashi-san and Tenzō-san dropped by for a quick congratulation and another scroll with notes from the wood user.

My Mokuton had come along in the last month, and the roots I was able to sprout from the ground now could be directed and bent seamlessly to form small walls or to restrain somebody. Tenzō-san was positive soon I'd be able to learn the wood clone jutsu. Which according to him, was one of the most amazing advantages of the wood release. A separated, fully sentient construct made from an element that was alive and malleable in ways the original five weren't. But to give such a construct a mind of its own… I wasn't sure I could wrap my mind around that just yet.


The next day I woke up early to squeeze in some of Itachi's training regimen before the classes started, and then I did a full workout sprinting to the academy when I realised I was getting late. And so, I got to my class at the last moment, drenched in sweat and red as a tomato.

And was promptly made fun of. On my first day. Great.

In hindsight, I don't know what I should have expected, these were all kids and, in training or not, a couple years older than me or not, they were all bound to be stupid and bratty.

I ended somewhere in the middle of the classroom, next to a kid with red fang tattoos on his cheeks and one with very dark hair and eyes and fair skin. They both stared down condescendingly at me. I stared back. Red fangs started growling. I stared back. After a couple of minutes of glowering at each other in silence, our teacher entered the class and started the roll call. Huh, I had Achimichis, Inuzukas, Hyuugas and Uchihas in my class, if I recalled Konoha clans' history correctly.

The moment my named was called, the class went quiet and everybody turned to stare at me with looks varying from wonder to animosity. Even the teacher paused for a moment and gave me a weird look before continuing. All around me I could hear them murmuring.

"I heard she's the great, great grand-daughter of the First Hokage"

"And great-niece of Tsunade of the Sannin"

"She can control trees like the First, my brother saw her in a training ground"

And it went on like that for the rest of the morning. Classes were surprisingly engaging, but that might be because I had skipped a few years after the admission exams and I wasn't that far yet in my individual studies. But I couldn't fully focus on them with all those whispers going around me. I couldn't decide if I was pissed, scared or humbled by the attention I was receiving and there didn't seem to be an unitary opinion about me. The dark eyed boy kept glaring holes in my side profile the entire time.

After lunch we had physical training and chakra control, kata and weapons throwing lessons and sparring matches. Since most of the kids were nearing the end of the academy, they weren't full out brawling anymore and most used what I assumed it was their individual clans' fighting styles while facing off against each other. Watching them it was easy to distinguish the clan rivalries, based on who was insulting whom, who was putting just that much bit of extra effort in besting their opponent; and it made me question a bit the unity I presumed these people would have based on what Genma had told me about Konoha.

In this village we believe in the Will of Fire, a conviction inherited from the First, which dictates that everyone living here be treated and cherished like family. That's why we don't leave teammates behind and try to help those in need.

Huh, maybe it doesn't apply to everyone, I though while a Hyuuga and the growling Inuzuka from earlier were squaring off against each other.

Finally my match also came. What a peculiar boy, I thought, while standing in front of the dark eyed kid. He was taller than me, probably a few years older judging by the typical prepubescent lankiness in his posture. But his black eyes haven't left me for a moment the entire day and, even though I would never admit it out loud, those eyes were unsettling me. Because he was looking at me with anger, and greed, and a notable amount of fear. All emotions I could have blamed on the reputation that had slowly been building around me the entire day. However, I somehow got the feeling that his problem with me was of a more personal nature. Or his problem with whatever I was representing in his eyes. And that thought really set my teeth on it

We stepped forward in the circle created by the others and the teacher called out our names. An Uchiha, huh? I could see that he definitely had something of their fighting style in the way he attacked and blocked. It was a hybrid leagues inferior to Itachi's elegant approach, of course. It was so slow and clumsy. He had a good foundation like most clan kids but was uncoordinated and emotion driven, which made evading him easy, despite my inexperience with hand-to-hand combat. The more I eluded him, the more his movements became erratic as the anger got the better of him. And that provided enough opportunities for me to swipe the feet from under him after sidestepping a punch, and twist his arm behind his back when he came down on his knees, thus ending the match. We were both flushed and breathing hard, but overall for me it had been... decidedly underwhelming.

The teacher announced me as the winner and I heard a few polite claps from the crowd, but i didn't want to take my eyes off my opponent just yet, whose eyes were burning with suppressed anger and embarrassment as we did the Seal of Reconciliation. When we got back among the students, I heard one booing at him.


The rest of the matches passed by me in a blur. My way back to the training grounds as well, I was too caught up in the events at school. I didn't know what I had expected, maybe a different kind of challenge, maybe a safe space where I didn't keep feeling like everything was changing too fast for me to follow... anyway, it just hadn't been it. If anything, today served to show me again just what kind of things were expected of me already and how removed I was from other people.

I tried to reach for that inner calm, that would let me set my insecurities aside and focus, but the only thing that actually woke me up from my musings, was Itachi's sandaled foot firmly planting itself in my face. I was promptly send to the ground in a cloud of dust.

' It serves you good. You're distracted today.' he replied tonelessly when I scowled at him, hand firmly planted on my aching cheek.

I got up quickly to avoid another kick and the next few minutes I forgot all about the pain as I had to use every ounce of concentration to dodge his attacks. The difference between him and the Uchiha from earlier was so painfully obvious to me, especially considering that they were around the same age. Itachi sent me flying back down for good with a rapid series of flying kicks.

I stayed there trying to catch my breath for a few seconds. Damn, I was done in what? 2-3 minutes at best. Yesterday I had reached four.

'How was your first day at the Academy?' he asked me, folding down cross-legged to sit next to me, uniform immaculately black and not a speck of dust on his hair. A pang of jealousy crossed me at that.

Instead of answering I asked him about the boy I fought there. They were from the same clan after all.

'He's an orphan, his parents died shortly after his birth on a mission' he replied. I couldn't read his facial expression to determine how he felt about it.

An orphan, too, huh? like me. But not by choice, unlike me.

After that we went through all the mistakes I had made during the spar and he had me practice fighting patterns and shuriken for the next hour.

Just when he was about to explain the technique behind the curving trajectory of the projectiles, a figure materialised itself between the trees. No puff of smoke, no sound, no nothing. He was just there all of a sudden. I had no idea how I even realised he got there to begin with.

Bigger than Itachi, but the same dark, high-collared Uchiha uniform. And curly hair. Weird.

Itachi also turned towards him and seemed to smile in greeting. 'Shisui' he called, and the teenager made his way towards us.

'Good to see you're playing around with other kids your age from time to time' he said by way of greeting.

Instead of taking offence, Itachi just nodded and added, gesturing towards me. 'This is Juno Senju.'

Shisui's eyes lit up hearing that and a huge smirk stretched on his face. 'So you're the newbie they picked up in Frosty Land. Man, Itachi here wouldn't stop gloating about that mission' he divulged, causing said boy to avert his gaze uncomfortably. That...didn't really sound right. Who is this guy ?

'Is it true a shrimp like you almost skewered everyone when you heard a wild animal?' he inquired curiously. I closed my eyes and nodded hesitantly, suddenly overcame by a sizzling wave of mortification. How did he hear about that? How did these people find out everything about me so fast?

Shisui didn't seem to mind at all the unintentional attempt at his friend's life and burst out laughing. 'Tenzo must've shitted his pants at that' he chortled. 'Well, this one was quite impressed by your performance there' he added, patting Itachi on the shoulder, who pursed his lips and tried to look markedly not annoyed. 'Heard you also kicked some chuunin ass a while ago, which may or may not have involved skewering, again. Am I sensing a pattern here, shrimp?' he teased bowing down closer to my eye level 'Do you also like beef skewers or dango? What about hedgehogs? Your hair sure looks like one'

I jumped a step back at that, patting my hair in indignation. It didn't look like that, did it? Why did everybody pick on it. This guy is too annoying.

Shisui smirked unapologetically at me and turned towards Itachi, his demeanor serious again 'Lord Hokage gave us a mission. We leave tomorrow at dawn. You have the details here' he gave him a sealed scroll, which Itachi took, regarding Shisui somberly.

'And the meeting?'

Something seemed to pass between them, the air growing tenser by the second.

'Looks like we'll have to skip it. Cannot let the Hokage down, can we?' Shisui answered unbothered. Itachi pinned him with a hard look but just nodded tersely.

Shisui gave him a weird smile, like saying he made the right choice, and then turned towards me. 'I gotta steal him for the next couple of days, if you don't mind, shrimpy' he winked at me.

'Only if you drop the nicknames, they are demeaning' I frowned at him, sensing the opportunity for a compromise.

Shisui barked another laugh 'No promises there' and then he vanished out of thin air again.

Man, that's so cool...He's definitely annoying, but kinda cool as well.

Itachi sighed knowingly. 'You'll have to forgive Shisui, he's... excitable, for one of my own clan' he added then 'Since I'll be on the mission for a while, practice all the forms we did till now, and yes, that includes shuriken throwing' he gave me a pointed look, when I opened my mouth to protest, since it really was my least favorite part of training. 'And go to Genma for more reading material. He told me you took special interest in his medical library' he posed it as a question at the end and I nodded. 'Excellent, the manual precision from fighting with a sword will help you there, it's a field where control and finesse are paramount. They will do you good in the future'. Well, that's all the confirmation I needed that going in that direction was the right decision.

Itachi me goodbye and turned to leave.

'Be careful on your mission. I still require somebody to train me when it's over' I called after him, before I lost my nerve.

He bowed his head with his back still at me and then disappeared between the trees as well.


Later in the evening, I found myself yet again on Genma's couch, listening to his not quite so brief introduction on basic chemistry and the mechanisms behind his poisonous senbons. I was captivated, hooked, and I could hardly stop myself from reading the book he gave me for the rest of the night.

But sleep refused to come even when I was lying down in the dark. I was unsettled by the boy I had sparred with earlier and the conversation between Itachi and Shisui in the training grounds. So much stuff I didn't know yet.

On my nightstand, next to the rattling fan, were an information flyer and the application forms for a trainee program at Konoha General that Genma had given too me.


Hope you liked this chapter! I'd like to mention that since she got used to Itachi lately she dropped the -san with him, at least in her head. I want her to start off as very polite with everyone and grow more comfortable as they get closer. And Shisui ... let's say he's just an exception.

Till next time ~~