My first day continued to drift slowly on after lunch ended, and I idly realised that most of what was being taught was simple common knowledge; even to a once-poor orphan like me. Obito kept me entertained throughout the afternoon, continuing his little doodles on various scraps of paper and quiet whispers of jokes with added comments about sensei made me smile constantly.
"He's so sweet, a bit loud…but sweet in his own...Obito kind of way."
I giggled silently at my errant thoughts, earning a strange look from Obito and an even stranger look from the small grey-haired child to his left. Straightening up with a slight tinge of red to my cheeks I continued to face forward finally taking note that Sensei seemed to be wrapping up the last lesson of the day. Glancing at the clock I wondered idly if Kā and Tō would be back from their missions yet, though Tō had told me his was a long placement, unsaid was that it was likely due to the stewing war. Kā hadn't really said much about her assignment; only that she had one before dropping me off with Uchiha-san this morning. My sigh caught in my throat as the bell rang loudly, jolting me from my thoughts. A sea of children flooded from the room bustling past me as I tugged on my coat and grabbed my bag; racing towards the open door. With only a few steps to go before I crossed the threshold I jolted backwards suddenly caught by the back of my coat and moved towards the center of the room. Glancing up the stern face of Sensei entered my vision before I glanced to my left and noticed that in his other hand was the dark collar of one Uchiha Obito; moving erratically as said boy squirmed to try and escape his grasp.
"Sensei! Please, I really wanted to go get some ramen at this new place today!" His whine was high pitched and his energy bubbled in annoyance, a slight tinge of anger marring its surface; telling me that this was not the first occasion he had been hoisted by his collar in this manner.
"I don't care what you were going to do, you gave up your plans when you decided to act the way you did. Now take your seat, Akane you too. You were just as guilty for indulging him, and on your first official day here. I expected better of you." Quickly he pushed us towards our seats and Obito grumbled as he sat, arms crossed back in his designated seat. I cast one last longing glance at the door before sitting beside him, meekly looking down at the surface of my desk whilst using a finger to trace the many dents and other markings on its surface. "Now then I think you both owe me an apology, seeing as it's Akane's first day I'll give you both the benefit of the doubt but in future you won't be so lucky. Now what do you both have to say?" His voice was stern and exasperated at the situation, somehow, I now knew that this wasn't the first detention garnered by Obito.
"Sorry Sensei," Obito huffed out a weak apology and crossed his arms even tighter over his chest, signalling that he wasn't really at all sorry to the man before us. I took a moment to look at his body, the way he held himself told me he wasn't very confident despite the bravado I'd seen from him already in my first day here. Body language had been something I'd picked up early on, it was a way of communicating but most people never knew how to look at it; even if shinobi were taught some aspects of it most never took it to heart other than the instinctual side of things.
"I wonder what happened to make him like that?I wonder if he really is an orphan, it's not something socially acceptable to ask of someone according to Tō and Kā; sigh...I still have so much to learn about this social stuff."
A muffled cough sounded from the front of the room startling me from my observations, my eyes met sensei's. His grey eyes looked at me expectantly and my heart began to race.
"Has he not been told?!"
"Sensei, Akane-chan ca—" Obito began to talk but was immediately caught off as Sensei's cool and stoic energy began to form raging waves, before spreading out across the room causing a suffocating atmosphere to ensue. I almost choked as it felt like my lungs were clogged, almost as if I was drowning in water. I began to cough as the energy continued to congregate around both me and Obito, and I could feel my own energy trying to push away at the foreign one.
"Akane-chan is perfectly capable of answering on her own Obito-kun, I would like if you would not make any excuses for her. She is not an invalid and is perfectly fine to respond on her own!" His voice was cold and calculating, very unlike the lazy but warm demeanour I'd witnessed through the day; my heart sank.
"He doesn't know! What do I do…I can't…please someone make this stop!"
I felt tears prick at my eyes as the pressure never let up, my palms were sweaty and I could feel my head beginning to fog with confusion.
"Do not fret, I am here and that 'man' will not harm you."
As soon as the voice spoke something wrapped around me, a calm familiar hum of energy that I knew but couldn't pinpoint to a specific person. It pushed away at the energy of my Sensei, cocooning not only me but Obito and shielding us from the oppressive aura filling the room. It was only for a moment but then both the friendly and oppressive energies vanished, as an angry one entered the equation. Snapping me out of my reverie and into the present, both mine and Obito's heads snapped over to face the doorway and our eyes rested on the outline of a seething Uchiha Mikoto.
"What do YOU think you are doing? I could feel that intent from outside of the building. That is not something you should be directing at students let alone someone who is mute and unable to defend themselves!" I cringed at the blatant outing of my disability, my hands coming together and face creasing in distress as the tears that had welled in my eyes spilled over and dripped from my cheeks. Ducking my head, I hastily wiped away the tears and their trails; dropping my bag to quickly get up from my seat and race past a still fuming Mikoto. "Wait! Akane-chan!" Her voice faded away as I ran following the path that lead to and out of the academy gates, tears still falling and heart still beating rapidly as the last remnants of killing intent faded from memory. As I slowed from my run I began to notice that I'd ran somewhere I was completely unfamiliar with, all around me were the familiar Hashirama trees that made up the majority of the village area and its surroundings; however that was where any familiarity ended and confusion began.
"Where am I?"
Looking around idly through my short crimson locks I spotted movement to my right side, glancing cautiously to my side a large nose entered my vision; startling me. Falling to the floor I landed harshly on my rear, cringing at the pain that shot through me. As I continued to cringe I dared to glance back up at the owner of said nose, stilling when I saw a large stag tilt its head sideways, staring at me with obvious intrigue. I found myself frozen as the stag lowered its head, heavy with large antlers, to inquisitively nudge my small body with its large nose. It breathed out and its steady breathe tickled me so much that a silent giggle racked my small body, the feeling continuing as the stag kept inspecting me. Through my continued giggles the animal before me silently pressed its nose carefully to my forehead and snorted, pushing my bangs in all kinds of directions and causing a broad smile to rise on my face. Gently I raised my hands to cup its head and began stroking its large cheeks gently, my small fingers stroking through its course but soothing fur. It nudged closer to me leaning its head on my left shoulder, its breathe tickling my ear and allowing me to lean against the side of its face. My heart slowed to a steady beat in the moments that followed as the stag sat curled to my side, head continuing to rest on my shoulder as I caressed its fur. My tears dried up and I finally felt the turmoil inside of me soothe, my thoughts quieting gradually till all that existed was me and the stag.
"Thank you…"
The thought echoed clearly in my mind and the stags head nudged me gently, almost as if it had heard my unspoken words. With a sigh too heavy for my age I smiled and moved my tiny body to gently lean into the side of the stag, its soft pelt rising and falling in steady even breaths; urging mine to begin to match its calm pace. Curling in on myself the stag allowed me to finish falling into my own steady pattern of breathing…until I slipped into unconsciousness and allowed my mind to finally rest. The gentle breathing of the animal beneath me giving forth to a restful sleep, the events of the day momentarily forgotten in the wake of a gentle beast.
Hey sorry for the long wait, and for this slightly short chapter.
I know I owed you all something, and this is a bit of character building for the upcoming character relationships stuff!
Anywho enjoy and I will be sure to update more regularly!
Best regards,
Wolf.