"Remember mother loves you always." The faces of his parents were a blur now but he clearly remembered the events that happened that day. That day replayed on loop showing his mum and dad fighting through neverending waves of Hidden Cloud shinobi. He never knew the reason why they suddenly got attacked. It felt unprovoked and worse, betrayed by the place he called home only to be sent to fight in their war not soon after without a chance to mourn.

"MUM DAD! HELP!"

"Remember mother loves you always." The day kept on looping and no matter what he tried the result was always the same, his parents whose faces he could hardly remember now would die fighting, their last words of their love for him.
The day kept on repeating and his parents' faces were then replaced by the thoughts of Granny Izuka and Emi. The thoughts that they too would die being betrayed by the hidden leaf and how he would be too late to help. Only left to witness their deaths as he had once done less than a year ago. It was all too much and the stimulation sent chills down his body and caused his body to run into a sweaty panic.
'Huff, huff, huff!'
"It was just a dream" Andrew looked down at his hands, they weren't bloodstained as they had been in his dream as he held their unresponsive bodies in his arms. Both his current and blood related family.
"It was just a dream."He tried to sooth his rapid and uncontrollable breathing by repeating himself, trying to emphasise that it wasn't real. As the sun shone through the window it was evident that it was morning and that he was no longer dreaming.

He had been having the same dream for months but only now has it gotten as bad as it is now. He hadn't been able to have a proper night's sleep since he had gotten closer to Emi and Granny Izuka. He just hoped that his dreams wouldn't come true. Could he handle losing another family? He tried to shake off those thoughts.
"Today's my first day at school." A week had passed since he went out shopping and he finally got some clothes he liked, and not that red dress. The thought of it alone made his cheeks red and eyes dart around the room for something else to distract himself.
He performed his daily routine then donned the clothes he had gotten himself.

It was a black hoodie with a white button up shirt underneath paired with black trousers. It was a fairly basic combination but he felt comfortable in it.

"It's your first day. How are you feeling?" Granny Izuka was seeing off Emi and Andrew as they both left on their way to the ninja school. Emi had begun to slowly adjust to the new environment and for the past week was coming home more and more excited with each passing day. Her confidence grew and the once shy girl was more outgoing and expressive. On the other hand it was Andrew's first day, he just hoped that no one would recognise him after wearing that dress.

"You've asked me that all morning." Andrew just looked up and Granny Izuka, hands in pockets just wanting to leave already.

"Well can't a mother be worried for her son?"

"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not your son."

"Oh come on, you're breaking my heart here." Granny Izuka smirked as she knew she was irritating his nerves. It was like she found her new fun hobby but in her own way she was helping humanise Andrew after all he had been through. While Emi had also been to the battlefield she was more easily consolable and opened up more freely than Andrew who blocked himself off to others until his Sensei Karasu began to teach him.

"Let's go or else we'll be late." Fleeing the taunting he took Emi by the hand and left.

"Bye you two. Have good days." waving both of them off with a smile on her face. They were becoming more like an actual family.

"Thanks, you too!" Emi left with a smile reaching from ear to ear while Andrew just raised his hand to give a half hearted wave goodbye. On her way to school she was happily skipping and humming as she refused to let go of Andrew's hand. Though he took it on a whim he couldn't escape her grip as they made their way to school.

They didn't talk much but they enjoyed each other's company. And although Andrew wanted to hide it he was happy to be in her company too.

"We're here." Standing outside the gates to the school Andrew took in the sights. All the parents dropping off their respective children and all the smiles. It was truly a place that let off an air of joyful youth and blissful ignorance. It was the only place that felt like the war was a million miles away. The kids could be kids and not have to fight though the older kids were eager to graduate so they could do their part in the war effort.

"Now can you let go?" Andrew looked down at Emi's face, her eyes full of curiosity and excitement and her smile still as wide as ever. It was practically contagious. She looked at Andrew and then pouted. Her cheeks grew puffy and pinchable and her stare that was full of intrigue glared at Andrew.

"You held my hand first so you let go!"

"Ok." Andrew let out a sigh and turned back to face the school. It was his first day. He knew it was a trial period and didn't really care what happened by the end of it. His thoughts went back to his training regime and what he would eat for dinner.

As they made their way past the gates Emi suddenly let go of Andrew's hands and rushed to a group of kids who he could only assume were her friends.

'At least she's happy.'

Andrew had been told what class number he was in and slowly made his way to the classroom.

And by slowly…

"You're late!" The teacher scowled at Andrew as he just stood at the entrance to the classroom.

"Sorry sir." Andrew lazily gave his apology and was waved into the classroom by his teacher who began to introduce him to their class.
"Now class, from now we will have a new student with us, please introduce yourself." The teacher took a step to the side to give Andrew room to give his introduction.

"I'm Andrew, I don't care about you and I damn well don't care about what you think of me." He didn't really care about formalities and expressed his displeasure to get to know his classmates. The students muttered amongst themselves and wondered why he tried to push them away before he got to know them. Others were disgusted by his behaviour, mainly those from the clans, while the commoners took it with a grain of salt. The teacher intervened before the class could get too rowdy.

"Not freckles." Andrew muttered under his breath but the glare at his back from the teacher prompted him to move.

If you haven't seen already I've made changes to Chp 7 - rematch. I felt that the fight didn't unfold as how i had planned it so if you want you can go back and reread it. The changes start from when the fight begins the rest before remains unchanged. Thanks for reading