Ivara stared across the room at her friends. She had been late so she hadn't been able to sit with them. Izumi would randomly send her smiles, but then she would go right back to chattering amiably with Itachi, who hadn't spared her but a single glance since she had walked into the room. There was a boy with spiky light brown, almost brown hair sitting in the row below her. He kept looking up at her curiously and she kept turning to look out the window. She had no idea who he was, and she wasn't interested in introducing herself either. She frowned and looked out the window, her eyes locked on the sky.
Jinn placed a packet in front of her and she glanced down at the packet and she flipped the top page open. It was mainly about the things they would be learning in the classroom and how the parents and guardians could assist them in practicing. "Miss Hyuuga, did you hear what I said?" Jinn asked and Ivara slowly looked up at him.

Her cheeks flushed red as she noticed everyone was looking right at her now. Jinn sighed and she fiddled with her fingers. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head. "Alright," he sighed and she jolted to look at him. He placed a hand on his hip and he raised the other one to point at her.
"Here's what we are going to do. I want you to come down here and demonstrate something for me." he said and she cringed and pulled her coat tightly around her. "Come on. I promise it isn't going to be too hard." He said and she slowly slid out of her seat and made her way down to him one tiny slow step at a time. When she finally made it to him he had an unamused look in his eyes. "Ivara, I want you to show the class your fire jutsu." He said and she opened her mouth to object but the look he gave her made her clamp her mouth shut once more.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She didn't want to do it in the classroom... she had been practicing with the jutsu since Dozu and his friends chased her into the woods. That was about six months ago. Every day she had been training until she wore herself ragged. She didn't want to show her jutsu to the class. It wasn't fair. This was her secret accomplishment. This was the first day of their academy days and she didn't want to be here anymore. She resisted the urge to sigh and focused on the jutsu.

She imagined the chakra swirling within her puffed cheeks and once it actually began doing so, she leaned backwards and released the fire. It wasn't as big as the one she had seen Fugaku or Mikoto doing, but it was much bigger than the one she had hit Dozu with. It was about three feet in diameter and emitted such a massive heatwave that she felt the sweat bead on her brow. She killed the chakra supplying the fireball and stumbled backwards only to sit on the floor and rub at the sweat pooling on her brow. The classroom was in silence for a moment but then someone spoke up from the middle row to her left.
"That's it?" his voice rang out, "Well, I suppose that's what happens when you try to let a baby demonstrate something to the class."

His voice was a combination of amusement and a taunting bite. She forced herself her feet and dusted her pants off lightly. She looked to her teacher and smiled softly, only to turn and attempt to make her way back up to her seat by the window. Before she could get to the top something tripped her and she fell face first into the floor. She didn't move at first, seeing as she felt the tears pooling in her eyes. She looked up slightly and saw both Itachi and Izumi staring at her in horror and disbelief. They moved to get up, but she shoved herself to her knees and offered them a smile. Their sad eyes didn't leave her even as she leaned backwards to attempt to shove herself to her knees.

When she did lean back, there were two boys crouched in front of her with their hands held out to her. She stared at them in confusion, but the strawberry blonde only smiled at her softly. She took their hands and they pulled her to her feet. "Hey, Sensei, Ivara-san is going to come sit with us up top." He called down to the teacher, who was scolding the two boys that had tripped her, and the group of girls that had laughed about it. Jinn looked at the blonde and then to his darker haired friend. "Alright, let's just make sure an incident like that doesn't happen again." He said and then escorted the five students from the classroom.

"I will be right back, Itachi let me know if anyone else acts up." Jinn said and Itachi nodded hesitantly. Izumi stood and made her way to the back of the classroom with Ivara, having shoved a girl out of the way in the process. "Are you alright Ivara-chan?" Izumi asked and Ivara nodded at her as she rubbed her eyes with the back of her fists. Izumi frowned and hugged her friend tightly. "I'm going to tell your daddy if sensei doesn't." she said and Ivara giggled softly despite her sniffling. "They're just jealous of you." The darker haired male said and Ivara looked up at him in confusion.

"They are older than us." The blonde said and Ivara looked at him with saddened eyes. "Don't worry, they thing just because they are older that they should be priority. The Hokage believes that it doesn't matter how old you are, if you want to start your career early then you should be able to." The blonde boy said and she rubbed her fingers together. "However, that's not the only reason they would choose to bother you..." Izumi said as Itachi walked up to them. "The civilian born students tend to harbor ill will towards those born from a famous clan..." Itachi said and they looked at him with frowns. "My father warned me about that much..." he sighed before he turned to face Ivara. Itachi crouched in front of her and held out a hand to her. "Are you alright?" he asked softly and she nodded as she took his hand gently.

"You've been through worse..." he sighed and she looked away from him with a small nod. "Some things I would prefer to forget..." he whispered and glared out the window. "Why don't you come train with my father and I this afternoon?" Itachi asked and Izumi grinned at Ivara. "Please? Pretty please?" she begged and Ivara blushed lightly. "He was going to teach me how to walk on water." Izumi whispered loudly and Ivara giggled at her excitement, despite her having tried to whisper she was still loud. "If Uncle and Daddy don't mind I would l-like that..." she said and Itachi smiled softly at her while Izumi bounced up and down on her toes excitedly.

Jinn returned to the classroom and walked straight back to Ivara. He motioned for the rest of the students to head out for lunch, but crouched in front of Ivara. He opened his mouth to speak to her, but he caught movement in his peripheral. "Itachi... Izumi..." he began and they moved closer to them. "I understand why they bother her sensei..." Itachi said softly and Jinn frowned at him. "They used to do the same things to me, sensei... it was mainly my fault though..." he said and Izumi frowned. "It wasn't you..." she said and he frowned at her.

"It was right after the war ended, sir... I was preoccupied with my training and they thought I was being a pretentious jerk because I didn't want to play." He said and Jinn frowned. "It's still no excuse." Jinn sighed and Itachi nodded. "I understand sir... it's really not." Itachi said and Jinn turned back to Ivara. "They are going to be appropriately punished, I promise..." he said and she frowned and rubbed the back of her hand with her thumb. "S-sensei... there's something else... isn't there?" she asked softly and he nodded, a small smile crossing over his lips. "Your father and uncle said it was ok if you went with Itachi and Izumi home today. They said they figured it would be easier on your mother if you all weren't training noisily near her." Jinn chuckled and Ivara stared at him in confusion, she Izumi and Itachi had only just discussed this.

He seemed to have understood why she was confused and he smiled. "Itachi asked me if I would ask your father and uncle when I got the chance. He asked before you had actually gotten to class." He said and she blushed softly. He took a look at the clock over the door and waved at them. "You three can go on to lunch, if anything happens while you're out let me know so I can handle it." he said and the three of them nodded. Izumi ran out of the classroom, only to stop in the doorway and grin at Itachi and Ivara. "Come on!" she said and they rushed to follow her. They followed her all the way to the playground where she jumped on a swing and grinned at them. They played on the playground until they heard Mitarashi-sensei calling for everyone to come back in. The three of them raced back to the classroom, Ivara coming in last because Itachi and Izumi attempted to squeeze through the door at the same time.

They all filed into the classroom and took their seats. Ivara sat right back beside the window where she had been sitting before, while Izumi sat beside her and Itachi sat on the outside. She turned around to see the blonde boy and his darker haired friend from earlier sitting behind her. They smiled at her and she offered a small smile back. "Alright everyone. I am going to hand out your books and I want you all to start reading through them." Jinn said and they listened intently as he gave specific instructions. Itachi and Izumi looked at each other and furrowed their brows. "We already know this stuff..." Izumi whispered and she stared at their teacher in confusion. "Our parents taught us early I suppose." Itachi said softly and Izumi smiled. Ivara was just watching the two in silence.

"Doesn't hurt to refresh it every once and a while." She said softly and Ivara flipped through the pages, reading over the chapter titles. Her eyes scanned over the pages carefully, taking in each word they crossed over with ease. Izumi tilted her head to look at her curiously. "Ivara-chan... you seem so interested in this stuff." She whispered in slight awe. "I l-like to read..." Ivara whispered and Izumi smiled at her. "We can read some while we are here, then some more when we get to the compound. How about that?" Izumi asked and Itachi offered a small smile, then he nodded. Izumi's gaze turned to Ivara, who was once more staring out the window in a sort of daze. "What about you Ivara-chan?" she asked softly. "Are you good with that?"
Ivara blinked as she tore her gaze from the window. Izumi was still smiling at her, so she smiled back shyly.

"S-sure..." she said softly and Izumi grinned at her. "It's like a sleep over except we get to do more than doodle." She squealed softly and Ivara muffled her soft laughter with her hand. Itachi just smiled softly. Ivara looked back out towards the window, her lips twitching down into a frown. She knew that the only reason that Itachi was around them all the time was because Izumi was adamant on him hanging out with them. She could tell that Itachi was a loner who liked to be left to his thoughts.
She envied how smart he was. She pursed her lips as she glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes. Every time those dark eyes landed on something else, she could see the gears turning in his mind.

She wished she were as intelligent as he was. A small sigh escaped her lips and her eyes slipped over to see if either of the Uchiha had heard her, only for her sideways glance to be met with onyx eyes watching her from the side as well. He had heard her. She slipped her eyes back to their sensei, who was currently explaining chakra systems to the class.
Upon seeing her staring blankly out the window, Jinn sighed and shook his head. "Miss Ivara." He called and she looked over at him.

"Can you explain the connection between chakra pathways and their purpose?" He asked and Ivara sighed as all eyes were once more on her. "Y-yes sir..." she said softly and he folded his hands together in front of him politely. "Alright, would you care to explain?" he asked and she nodded. "The chakra pathways are c-connected by joints in the pathways called t-tenketsu." She said softly and took a deep breath. "What is the difference between a Tenketsu and a chakra well in the body?" he asked and she took another breath to try and calm herself.

"T-tenketsu are the joints that branch off and s-send chakra elsewhere in the body... a chakra well is a pocket of stored chakra hidden s-somewhere in the body for use l-later." She said and he nodded and tapped his chin. He appeared to be trying to find another question to ask her. "Alright..." he began and her shoulders drooped slightly. She only wanted to sit back down and be ignored by the class once more. "One more question and then I will let you be for the moment." He said and her lower lip trembled noticeably. "Can you explain to the class why the gentle fist technique used by the Hyuuga is so dangerous?" he asked and she swallowed softly. "The ge-gentle fist is dangerous to shinobi because Hyuuga have the ability t-to cut off chakra flow to the pathways at a r-rapid pace. There are certain tenketsu, t-that if hit..." she started but then took another breath to stabilize her nerves.

"If c-certain tenketsu are hit, they can shut down organs. S-such as the lungs or heart..." She said and took a deep breath. Her eyes scanned over all the students in the room, seeing the interest in their eyes she decided to continue to elaborate, of only slightly. "I can get up to 32 palms, while m-my father and uncle can reach 120 palms and above..." she whispered and Jinn smiled at her.

"Alright, Ivara, forgive me; but one last question, alright?" he asked and she nodded. "When you say palms, what does that mean? I already know, but I would just like for you to explain it to the class seeing as you are Hyuuga and I am not, which means you could probably say it in a way they can understand it better." He explained and she nodded slightly.

"W-when I say palms, I am t-talking about the amount of hits I c-can land in a single turn. A t-turn is basically the a-amount of chakra I can e-expend at once particular moment." She finished softly, encasing her left hand in the palm of her right; seeing as it had begun to tremble noticeably.
Itachi's eyes were on her, but they seemed to be staring straight through her. She slowly sat down and his eyes followed her movements. She could practically see the gears turning in his mind.

He was interested and he wasn't hiding it. "Alright everyone, come in tomorrow prepared to work with stances and channeling." Jinn said and everyone replied with a unanimous 'Yes sir.' One by one the students began filing out of the room, leaving only Ivara, Itachi, and Izumi in the room with their teacher. The three of them bowed to him politely and made their leave.

Itachi walked at his own pace, which was a leisurely stroll. Izumi, however, had an excited bounce to her step. Ivara followed behind the two in a reserved silence. "Hey Ivara-chan..." Izumi chirped and Ivara blinked at her owlishly. "Y-yes?" she asked and Izumi pursed her lips as she tried to find a way to word the question. "Is your mom ok? She's gotten kind of... uh..." Izumi began and sighed. Ivara smiled softly, her small muffled laugh not going unnoticed. "Momma has gotten big because she will be having my baby brother soon." Ivara said and Izumi's face lit up and she bounced excitedly towards Ivara.

"Really? A little baby?' she asked excitedly and Ivara nodded. "Can I hold it when it's born?' she asked and Ivara smiled softly. "Maybe." She said and Izumi grinned and then continued her happy skipping down the street. Ever since the Uchiha clan had been moved to the outskirts of the city, the walk was more dangerous for the young shinobi coming and going from the compound. Not that Itachi had much to worry about, but Ivara and Izumi could end up hurt if they were coming and going on their own.