It was her first day, that's it!

After checking her perfectly folded clothes on her dresser half a dozen times, it had been impossible for her to get any sleep until late at night. She was so nervous and excited at the same time! She had already read all the textbooks that were on the list, practiced countless times in kunai throwing, hand-to-hand combat and a whole range of ninja practices that she had seen in Konoha village since she had returned there.

In spite of all these efforts, she had no confidence in herself, she was afraid of how the other students would look at her... what if everything went wrong? What if, as she had been used to, she would be pushed aside and singled out because of the heavy burden her family had left her?The alarm clock had hardly rung when she turned it off, with the unpleasant feeling of not having been able to sleep at all during the night. She got up and went to rinse her face with fresh water. She looked at herself in the mirror for a moment and sighed. Who was she hoping to convince with such a small face? She brushed her teeth, cleaned herself up and put on the clothes she had taken so much care to prepare the day before: a short dark dress, edged with a red border, with a high collar and leaving her shoulders bare, a fishnet T-shirt that she would put on underneath, a bandage that she took care to apply every day on her left thigh before putting on her weapon pouch and the traditional ninja shoes, also black, that went up to the top of her knees.

She quickly nibbled on an old cookie as she grabbed her bag, before speeding out the door. She was so excited to start the academy! Learning new things, seeing people, and, why not, making new friends. She had started her apprenticeship in the school of a distant orphanage, but after some mischief, she had been sent alone to Konoha, her home village.

For a few weeks she had been trying to survive, under the benevolent wing of the 3rd Hokage who had accepted her return to the village. He had offered her a roof over her head, a small room to live in, but that was more than enough for her. When he had a minute, he made sure that she had enough to eat and did not lack anything, and it was also him who had pushed her to take up studying at the Academy, despite the fact that the orphanage was opposed to her taking the ninja path, which was considered too risky for someone like her.

It was difficult for her to find a place in Konoha, her bright red eyes were a constant reminder of who she was and the blood her family had spilled years ago, when she was just a baby.Nevertheless, out of respect for the one who protected her now, she vowed to pass the exam at the end of the year and become a genin in order to support him in the missions of Konoha. She hoped to become a great ninja later on and redeem the faults of her family, even if for that she would probably have to be content with acting in the shadows.

For now, as she arrived at the Academy, a crowd had already gathered outside the doors. Conversations were going well, and nobody seemed to notice her. She stood back, observing all the people.

"You must be Mitsuki," a voice called out to her.

She turned to a tall and tenebrous man.

"Yes," she replied succinctly, blushing at being so easily recognized, though it hardly surprised her, given that genetic attribute that was hard to miss.

"Hello, Mitsuki, I'm Aruna, your instructor," the man resumed warmly, "come over here, I'll introduce you to your classmates."

Mitsuki shyly walked up to the man's side until she was facing the group who were still chatting away, obviously having already spent a number of years together. Aruna cleared his throat, and silence fell instantly.

"Hello everyone, welcome to your last year before the Genin exam. Well, the last one for those who will manage to prove themselves, and that obviously starts with an unfailing assiduity, and all your attention!", warned the instructor, in a most serious voice, and guiding his glance with precision on some hotheads that he seemed to already know well, "Before letting you take place, I wanted to introduce you your new classmate: Mitsuki. I'm counting on you to give her the best welcome and make sure she finds a place among you quickly!"

All eyes had turned to the girl, making her extremely uncomfortable. She wrapped her arms around herself and looked away, trying to hide that glowing red that would betray her again in an instant. The silence was heavy and she could perceive whispers without understanding them, although she could only imagine the content, because of her ancestry. Oh no, she was not expecting a warm welcome!Aruna took her by the shoulders as if to reassure her.

"Well," he said to end Mitsuki's embarrassment, "it's time to go to class, get in line and settle in quietly.

He opened the door and stepped out of the way, still keeping a hand on Mitsuki. When everyone was inside, he knelt down beside her and ruffled her hair affectionately.

"You'll see, everything will be fine" he reassured her, "Master Sarutobi told me a lot about you, he was very complimentary about your abilities and I can't wait to see you in action! If you need anything, don't hesitate to come and see me, I know how intimidating the first days can be when you arrive in a new place, but you'll see the other students are quite welcoming, despite what you may have seen.

Mitsuki, her cheeks still a little pink, gave a small grateful smile, which was warmly returned by her sensei. She couldn't trust blindly anytime soon, but in her heart, she hoped she had found an ally in this kind man.

"Come on, go sit down, I think there is a place waiting for you in the third row, near the first aisle", he advised her, allowing her to avoid facing again the inquisitive looks head on.

"Thank you...", Mitsuki said in a very small and shy voice.

She entered the classroom without looking up and sat down at the place indicated by her sensei, which was indeed free. She sat down without looking at her neighbors, and turned her concentrated gaze to the teacher who started a reminder lesson about the different jutsu.Mitsuki relaxed little by little when she realized that she had already mastered the subject, but still refrained from participating when Aruna was questioning them. Aruna was careful not to intimidate her further and spared her from any questions on her first day.

After a quick history lesson, the bell rang for lunch, and the students hurried to collect their things.As Mitsuki put her notebook away, someone rudely shoved her and disappeared with a sneer. The force of the blow knocked her bag out of her hands and her things were strewn about on the floor. Overwhelmed, she wanted to rush to pick them up, but her head suddenly hit something. She sat up under the pain and rubbed her forehead, and turned red as a peony when she saw the boy in front of her do the same.

"I... I'm sorry..." she stammered.

"I'm the one who's sorry.", the young dark-haired boy replied kindly, smiling at her in a friendly way, "Let me help you pick up your things!".

Mitsuki didn't dare to answer him, touched by this burst of kindness, and at the same time embarrassed by this situation. She gathered up the things the boy handed her, not daring to bend down anymore at the risk of them bumping into each other again, and stood up to let him out of their row in turn.

"Thank you very much," she whispered.

The boy smiled at her again, grabbing her bag as he passed.

"My name is Itachi! Itachi Uchiha!" he introduced himself.

Mitsuki gave him her best smile and answered awkwardly :

"Mitsuki!"

The boy let out a small laugh and the girl stared at her shoes. Of course he already knew her name after her quick introduction at the beginning of class... She had not dared to reveal his name, too well known in the village, and the boy did not even seem to note this detail, which relieved her greatly.

"I have to go home to eat, my mother might get angry if I'm late, see you later then!", Itachi greeted her before running off.

Mitsuki stared at the door for a moment when a sound pulled her out of her thoughts. Aruna cleared his throat to remind her of his presence and offered:

"How about we have a little picnic in the courtyard so we can get to know each other a little better?"

Mitsuki's stomach answered in the affirmative for her, and the girl was relieved, not having planned to put anything in her mouth that noon so nervous had she been before starting the day.The sensei grabbed her bag and invited her to go out first before closing the door behind him. He led her to a tree with a swing on it and set up a blanket for them to sit on. He took out two bentos and handed one to his guest. She did not hesitate and discovered with wonder the delicious meal that was offered to her.

"I don't know your taste yet, so I put a little bit of everything," Aruna explained kindly.

There were small cubes of salmon with sesame seeds and a thin layer of soy sauce, a small cabbage salad, some rice, slices of cucumber, half an egg and another portion of fried chicken. It was all very tempting!

"Thank you Aruna-Sensei! But ... you had planned all this just for me?" she questioned him, in her little shoes.

He scratched the back of his head and smiled, not sure what to say:

"Well... The Hokage had warned me that you sometimes forgot to eat when your mind was elsewhere, and I assumed that a day back home would be one of those moments of forgetfulness. Also, I wanted you to feel comfortable in our Academy, and, I admit, I also wanted to know a little more about you too, so this was a good opportunity..."

Mitsuki blushed again. Master Sarutobi had said that... what else could he have revealed? He knew her way too well in just a few weeks. And, of course, he was one of the few who knew ALL of her history...

"You must know a lot about me already...", Mitsuki sighed, trying to assess her situation in this village she was just getting to know.

"Oh, nothing more than what your form indicated. So I know that your name is Mitsuki Hata, and that you are 6 years old. I can also imagine that you have exceptional abilities to be sitting in this class at your young age, but you see, that's all I know, and it's still very conventional."

Mitsuki smiled at him, he had a way of relaxing her when she was so uncomfortable in conversations.

"I don't know what else to say," she apologized.

"Let's start by eating, I'm starving, aren't you? The conversation will be done by itself, do not worry! "He reassured her by grabbing his chopsticks.

Mitsuki did the same and swallowed his entire meal in an instant.

"Well, that was quite a hunger! I'm glad to see that everything was to your liking", Aruna said with a smile.

"Thank you again Aruna-Sensei, it was delicious, I have never eaten anything so good!", exclaimed the little one.

Sensei didn't ask about her past at the orphanage, figuring that she would talk about it on her own if she wanted to. He guided the conversation to a completely different topic:

"Did you get to know Itachi?"

"You could say that... I mostly hurt him from day one...", Mitsuki hiccupped.

"It's nothing you know, he took it very well, Itachi is not of a talkative nature, and if I'm not mistaken, he looked rather expressive after that little incident!"

Mitsuki blushed instantly.

"He's very talented too, you're the same age," Aruna continued. Your generation is going to surpass us if you all continue like this! It will not be necessary that we let ourselves go "

He burst out laughing, then continued:

"He often isolates himself from the other students, it is not always easy when you are like you, it sometimes arouses jealousy in the class."

"Is that why you put me next to him?", Mitsuki questioned suspiciously.

"There wasn't much room left and I knew there was bound to be one next to him, that said I didn't think he would introduce himself to you so quickly. He can't stand injustice, and the rush must have made him reach out to you."

Mitsuki looked away to the sky to admire the clouds that were rolling in.

"I sincerely hope that you will soon find your way among us, I know that nothing has been easy for you, and that nothing will be easy for you in the future. I am your Sensei, but also your ally, and if the Hokage gives you his trust, you have mine too."

A small tear nearly ran down Mitsuki's cheek, and she suddenly stood up before declaring in a voice that was a little too high to be natural:

"It's time to go back to school! So Aruna-Sensei, what have you got in store for us this afternoon?"

Aruna sketched an understanding smile and picked up the things before standing up in turn.

"Well, you'll see when we get there. In the meantime, I'll let you join your classmates, they should be here any minute. See you soon."

He disappeared at once, allowing Mitsuki to regain her senses without having to hide. She wiped her eyes and looked up again. Her sensei's words had touched her a lot, apart from the Hokage, he was the first person to show some interest in her, and as unbelievable as it seemed to her, not to judge her.

After making sure that no trace of her sudden emotional weakness showed, she walked back to the entrance of the academy, where the students were starting to pour in. She stood quietly in the background until the bell rang for their class to resume. Aruna arrived at the same time and invited them to follow him to the outer grounds. He had quickly prepared the practice targets for what would most likely be a class on kunai throwing.Aruna arranged them in a row behind each of the 4 shooting locations.

"We will proceed in a tournament style. You will each take a turn and throw your kunai at the target. Whoever is farthest from the center of the target will be eliminated. The winner ... will be rewarded with these delicious botchan-dango! Give it your best shot!"

Everyone took their seats and the first throwers took their places. The kunai came out, and one of them failed to hit its target, eliminating the thrower. The next row came forward and Mitsuki saw Itachi concentrating on making a perfect shot. He would not be easy to eliminate!As he turned to go back to the back of the line, he met her impressed look. He gave her a big smile as he tilted his head slightly to the side, and Mitsuki recovered by shaking her head, her cheeks rosy from the moment of absence. Her turn came, and as she took her seat, a voice called out:

"This is not a game for kids!"

Soon she was followed by more sarcasm:

"You're so small, you'll never hit the target!

"Pass, whiner!"

Mitsuki flinched at these verbal assaults, but just stared at the target she had to hit.

"That's enough! You three, eliminated, go back to class and copy all the pages about Konoha's values, it will make you think!", Aruna intervened.

"Tsss... obviously, the Sensei's little protégé...", the boy hissed behind Mitsuki before leaving.

She did not take her attention off her target and waited for the teacher's green light before deftly throwing her kunai, which planted itself in the middle of its target. She turned around without glancing at the other students and took her place in line.

"Nice shot," Itachi whispered a few steps away.

She smiled at him, grateful, and the exercise continued without further inconvenience.

"Well, what a final!" exclaimed Aruna as the last two participants took their places.

Mitsuki cocked her kunai and glanced at Itachi, ready to make her throw. The tension was at its highest, the shy smiles were gone and the botchan were waiting for their winner.All at once, the kunai shot out and landed in the center of the target. Aruna had no choice but to move to examine the shot more closely, and after a moment's thought, declared:

"Mitsuki wins!"

Itachi turned back to her, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, if I expected it! Congratulations, Mitsuki," he congratulated her and held out his hand.

Mitsuki took it gently and humbly told him:

"Congratulations to you, it's obvious that it was only a stroke of luck!"

As everyone went back to the classroom to get their things before going home, Aruna proudly handed the 2 precious botchan to the winner, while whispering in her ear:

"I think I know that Itachi likes them particularly".

Mitsuki thanked and greeted him before hurrying to her belongings. She had understood Aruna's message, but how could she apply it with all those students around?Itachi was already leaving and she was finishing picking up her bag. She was stamping her feet waiting for her turn to go to the crowded exit. After reaching the street, she looked for the young Uchiha, but he had already disappeared. She pouted and walked forward, ready to go home, but then changed her mind. She took her courage in both hands and walked towards the first shop she found, and asked where the Uchiha clan was located.

"Is something wrong with you, little one?" the florist worried, "Do you want me to go with you?"

Mitsuki didn't understand this proposal and assured her that everything was fine, she was just looking for someone. The pretty blond florist showed her the road she had to take, and she hastened to follow it. The further she went, the more she regretted it, what were the chances she would find him? What if he had already gone home?As she slowed down, hesitant, her heart skipped a beat. There he was, sitting on a dock by the water, deep in thought. She approached shyly, and he didn't seem to notice her. She in turn sat on the ledge.

"It's soothing here, and so beautiful..." she breathed, not knowing how to open the conversation and fearing to embarrass him, "Is this your place? Do you... mind if I stay here for a while?"

"I really like coming here, but it doesn't belong to me though, you're free to come as you like," Itachi reassured her.

"Actually... I wanted to share this snack with you...", Mitsuki murmured shyly as she opened the box of botchan.

Itachi looked at them with undisguised greed. The girl held the box out to him and he grabbed one of the skewers before biting into it greedily.

"Thank you Mitsuki-chan, I love botchan!"

Mitsuki blushed at this sign of affection associated with her name, and ate in turn, relishing it.

"I can see why!" she exclaimed, her mouth still full.

"You've never tasted it before?" Itachi asked.

"Oh...no...I just hadn't had the chance...", Mitsuki evaded, preferring to avoid the subject of orphanage.

"You'll never be able to do without them again!" the young boy laughed, "And let me tell you, I don't intend to let you win them every time! I intend to train even harder for our next duel!"

They stayed for a while laughing together, talking about everything and anything, getting to know each other a little.

"By the way..." began Mitsuki, "When I asked a florist where your clan was to find you, she looked worried and offered to take me there, do you know why?"

Itachi went off into a fit of laughter before answering her:

"My clan is basically known for being the head of the Konoha police station, she probably thought you were in trouble."

Everything became much clearer for the girl who would be careful not to repeat this misunderstanding in the future!The hour advanced and it was time for the two new friends to go home. They greeted each other with an eternal smile and went back to their respective homes.Mitsuki ate quickly, took a well deserved shower and lay down in her bed. She thought about the day, difficult and not so unpleasant. There were certainly some hostile students with her, but she had found a great ally in Aruna, and a budding friendship with Itachi. Her heart seemed to be exploding with these new feelings of well-being that were unknown to her until now, but part of her was nipped in the bud. She was so afraid of being disappointed...She finally fell asleep peacefully, choosing to believe a little in her fate.