Waking with a yawn I grinned at the memory, heart alight with joyful remembrance. There were many occasions where I struggled with simple things but my old mind allowed me to pick things up quickly and advance faster than normal, though I'm as hesitant as Tō and Kā to classify myself and prodigal. I'd been here a little over a year and my family was amazing. Otōsan, who I now lovingly called Tō, was a bright and intelligent man; one who had seen his fair share of shinobi action but still managed to shine as brightly as the sun. He'd told me he was expecting to get a student soon, someone who should be graduating early in the spring…about six months away. It would be exciting to meet someone new, but I was also jealous. I didn't want my Tō being taken from me, he was my Tō and nobody elses.

"I'm so selfish…"

The thought lingered not a moment longer as Kā appeared to help me tug on a winter jacket, though the summers were blisteringly hot we got a couple months of chilling snow in the wintertime and the first snow for this year would be falling anytime now. Slipping into my shoes and tottered after her bright hair, her thin form gliding elegantly as she walked; turning only to lock the door behind us. Her hand gripped mine and began leading me away from the apartment we lived in, we would likely be going to visit Uchiha-san again today. Kushina had been off active duty for a while for me but now she relied on Uchiha-san to look after me whilst her and Minato did their duty to the village. It saddened me to see them go, but I also respected them for the job they did; vowing to follow in their footsteps and aid the village that they loved so much.

"Sorry Hochan but duty comes first, be good for Mikoto for me okay?" Glancing up at Kā I noticed the small smile on her face, worry creasing her features as I cringed at the nickname. Nodding at her I wrapped my small arms around her legs, hugging tightly and burying my head into her shinobi pants that bagged around her legs. Ruffling my hair she vanished and I turned around to see the Uchiha Matriach smiling down at me, her eyes closed in a wide smile and hands already holding a blue shoulder bag.

"Wait? A bag, I don't own one of those so why is she holding it…and now she is giving it to me?"

The bag landed gently in my open hands, heavy with contents but light enough to carry easily. The shock must have been evident on my face and Uchiha-san chuckled and turned me around once more, pushing me away and locking the door behind her as she stepped out. Hand on my shoulder she began to lead me around the town. I noticed that some of the buildings were more professional-looking in this area, and it was an area I hadn't been into before; having been more house-bound in the past year. From learning how to eat, to learning how to interact with other people I had struggled to grasp some of the finer concepts of social interaction and -as such- Kā and Tō didn't want to let me start at the academy until I had managed to learn how to fit in.

"But I'm not going to learn without interacting, it's so unfair"

Puffing out my cheeks in indignance I blew out hot air, white steam rising as the hot met cold. Smiling lightly I glanced upwards as we stopped, before me stood some iron gates; the bars decorated with strange swirls and twists that made it look more ornate and expensive. There were words etched into the wall beside it but I couldn't make them out, the bricks faded and chipped with time. As I was looking something bumped into my side, knocking me forward before Uchiha-san's hand grabbed my shoulder to prevent me from falling; the other person wasn't so fortunate. Glancing over I saw a black-haired child fall face-first into the dirt and pebbles, wincing as they scraped at his face. Immediately I dropped the bag in my hands and raced to his side, quickly helping him up and brushing the pebbles from his face. As he stood I saw a red tinge spread over his cheeks and quickly stepped back to give him some space.

"He looks like he might be my age? Maybe older, I'm not sure."

As I was stuck in my own mind the boy muttered an apology before adjusting a pair of bright goggles on his head, then racing off with a very choice selection of words. I just stared after him, he seemed like a nice boy and I kind of hoped I'd be able to meet more like him one day. It was at this point that the noise from the surroundings sunk in. There were shouts of joy from beyond the wall ahead of me, hollers and whoops of laughter resounded through the air and filled the world around me.

"This feeling…it's nice…"

I couldn't recall a time in this life that I felt the feeling I did now, it was a mixture of nervousness, excitement and fear of the unknown; but it was good. It felt good to finally feel something new in a long time. Looking back towards my 'steward' I grinned and allowed her to place the bag's strap over my body, the bag bouncing as its' weight fell onto me. It was as she took my hand, leading me through the gates that It all finally clicked into place.

"I'm going to school!"

The world buzzed with a strange energy, it was strong and, where I would normally cringe away from it, I found myself trying to divide it up into individual energies and tracing them back to the many sources. It was overwhelming to sense so many subtle differences and I doubted Uchiha-san was having the same problem, she moved on without a problem. As we forged our way through towards the building in the centre of the area I noticed how the noise was dying down, the swarms of energy vanishing back into it before we had even reached its walls. The big wooden doors were wide open, their surfaces faded with age but their structure strong. I allowed my hand to ghost over their surface, pushing the energy to my fingertips, allowing me to feel each nook and cranny. Every single dip and jagged edge felt amazing, it felt new and different…but good. As my hand trailed over its surface we continued into a long corridor, the walls covered in noticeboards that were covered in information and important notices; that's when I saw the word. It popped out at me and I was instantly aware of where we were and why all the energy collected in groups throughout the building.

"Shinobi…I'm at the academy! Am I really? Is this real?"

I pinched at my arm with my freehand, moving it away from the walls and lockers adjourning it. Wincing at the pain and the red patch now forming on my lower arm I knew this was real. We stopped outside a sliding door, beyond it were many bright signatures. Some were warm, some were dull and oozed boredom, others had obviously sensed me too and were directing their energy towards me. The door slid open and a man stood before me, his face was weary and a scar ran the length of his face, from his chin it curved up around the outside of his left eye, before finishing at the centre parting of his brown hair. His grey eyes stared into my own before he signalled for me to follow him, glancing back I noticed Uchiha-san had vanished, leaving me alone with the man and the energy before me. Stepping forward I slid the door gently shut behind me, gulping down nerves that I hadn't noticed building. My eyes shot up as I heard a chair fall over, followed by an indignant shout of shock.

"IT'S YOU!" The shout came from a black-haired boy, the bright goggles on his head reminding me of where I'd met him before. "AH, sorry Sensei," he sat down and the rest of the class giggled as his face tinged red; his ears were glowing as he hid his face in his crossed arms.

"Well then, seeing as you know Obito-kun I suggest you sit in the seat beside him. But first! Class this is Uzumaki Akane-chan she will be your new classmate starting now, be sure to make her welcome! Akane, if you could take a seat beside Obito-kun then we can begin the lesson anew," glancing up at him I briefly walked up the middle stairs before moving to sit at the end of the third row up, beside the black-haired 'Obito' who still had his head hidden in his arms. Shrugging off my bag and placing beneath the desk I faced the front but couldn't stop myself from glancing over at Obito, he had begun to doodle on a piece of paper; obviously droning out the teacher with his thoughts. Leaning slightly I watched him draw a slightly crooked and odd version of our Sensei, there was a large cloud of something coming from him and as I deduced what it was I became glad that I couldn't make noise; holding in a laugh that threatened to surface.

"He obviously isn't on good terms with the teacher, that's so funny!"

Smiling broadly he turned his head to me and laughed at the expression I gave him.

"You look constipated!" Those words shocked me and immediately the class went silent, the teacher, Sensei, walked over and quickly snatched up the paper with the doodle before giving Obito and me a pointed look. Shrinking in my seat I blushed as the class laughed, Sensei already in the process of scolding us.

"Detention tonight, both of you!" As he walked away I saw the indignant look on Obito's face.

"Not like there is anyone waiting for me anyway!" He shouted back, but everyone ignored him and the teacher continued with his previous sentence; something about how shinobi should never show emotion. Not that I wasn't interested, but I was finally processing what Obito had said.

"He's an Orphan too? Or is it that his family isn't at home right now? I mean…Kā and Tō are on a mission at the moment soooo, it could be similar for him."

"I doubt it."

I physically jumped, the voice deep but gentle shocked me and made me disturb the young boy sat next to me, however I immediately looked around; expecting somebody to be whispering in my ear.

"Nobody is playing tricks on you, I'm right here."

"Who are you?"

"Time will show all."

"What, when, why? Please tell me?"

There was a silent pause, the world moved slowly before I realised I wouldn't be getting an answer. It was now that I looked up to see the teacher dismissing everyone, children giddily running out the door with bento's in hand.

"It's lunchtime, want…yyyyou wwwant to join me? I mean you don't have to, but I kinda got you in trouble so thought maybe it'd be best if we got to know each other before detention. Though you don't have to…I mean…ugh," Obito rambled on and my eyes widened at his muttering before gently averting to the open side of the desk, standing up I saw his eyes fall in sadness. "It's okay, I didn't know why I'd thought you'd want to so don't worry about it…I mean—"I quickly grabbed his hand and began to lead him out the door, moving through the corridors I tried to ignore the feeling of his hand in mine; hiding my face by facing forward. I heard spluttering from behind me as we left through the back entrance of the academy, moving to a shady spot under a large tree before dropping down to sit with my back to its trunk. "You…you didn't have to do that. I'm sorry if I made you, I mean you haven't said anything to me so I assumed you didn't want to be around me like the others…I'm a failure so it's normal but…" I looked up at him, wondering desperately how I could tell him that it was nothing like that. I wanted to be his friend so badly, I don't know if was me latching onto the first person I met but there was this magnetic pull, a need to be around this boy. Quickly my hand shot out to the dirt and drew out symbols, carefully ensuring they didn't get smudged. I saw his eyes glaze over and he rubbed at his eyes, pulling down the goggles he grinned brightly at me and held his fisted hand out to me. Cautiously I raised mine and he bumped it softly, his smile never faltering.

"Arigato! Friend!" His words washed over me and I grinned before his loud stomach interrupted the moment, causing me to silently laugh at him. His ears glowed and I stopped before moving to open my own bento, hands deftly splitting the two layers before passing him the top half with a wide grin.

"My first friend huh?"

"You deserve it."

This time I didn't jump but embraced the old voice and grinned as Obito began to shovel rice into his mouth, turning to begin consuming my own food; a silent smile never leaving my face at the thought of my life taking another step in the right direction.

Alright finally got the next chapter sorted, also please let me know if my writing style is too strange now or that things are not right at all.
I've got this random paranoia that something isn't right with my writing at the moment.

But anywho,

Enjoy!

And yes Akane is opening up more, she has grown a lot since being around Kushina and Minato, opening more to the world around her.

Anywho,

Wolf.