Chapter: The first day

3. The first day

She felt something touch her cheek. Something gentle and warm. Yumi slowly opened her eyes, she was blinded by the light and blinked. Itachi looked at her, his hand caressing her cheek.
"Good morning Yumi."
"Tomorrow."
She mumbled a little more and sat up sleepily.
"What's the time?"
"It's six o'clock. You have to be at the academy by seven, that's why I woke you up, sister."
"That's right. Today is the first day."
"You are not very comfortable with it, are you? But Sasuke is also there, you are not alone there."
"But none of them know me at all, except for our brother."
He gently brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and brushed her cheek as he took his hand back. She looked him in the eye, a little scared and insecure. He smiled a little.
"You can do it. After school I'll pick you and Sasuke up. Now hurry up."
He got up and closed the window. Yumi noticed that he was already dressed and that his bed was also already made. She got up and left the room. Her old clothes were in the bathroom. Today it would get new ones, maybe they will soon be sorted out. She took off her top and sniffed it. It was mainly her own smell, but also that of her parents. She became aware again of what she had actually lost. She sank to the floor, the shirt still in her hands. The thoughts only with her family. Yumi thought of her mother. She was always there for her. Her name was Haruka, it means "far away", how true this was now. Yumi could always cry with her, could always expect help. Her father, Masao, also did a lot for it. But more when it came to handcrafted things. Once he built her a tree house so that she could play with her friends. Even if he didn't show his love for his daughter very much in public, Yumi knew how important she was to him.
Suddenly she felt something warm on her cheek, then how she was held in her arms. She noticed that she was crying again. She didn't care. Someone was there to take care of her, to comfort her. She hadn't seen who it was, but that didn't matter either. She let everything out now, let the tears run free. It would get better after that, she firmly believed.
After a few moments, she broke away from the hug and looked into Itachi's worried eyes. His hand was still on her shoulder. She noticed that his top was wet with her tears. She touched the spot with her fingers.
"I'm sorry."
"Yumi, you don't have to be sorry. Are you feeling better?"
"Yes, thank you brother. It's okay. I just had to think about her."
She looked down, stared at something. He lifted her face and looked her straight in the eye.
"If you need help, I'm here for you."
Yumi nodded and then got up again to get ready. Her brother walked slowly to the door."I'll wait in the kitchen."
Then he left the room. Yumi washed and dressed as quickly as possible. She had wasted too much time anyway. Hopefully she'd make it to the academy in time. She hurried to the kitchen where Itachi was waiting. Sasuke was also sitting at the table and waving cheerfully to her when she entered the room.
"Can we go then?"
He was quite excited, obviously looking forward to studying. Itachi waved his question off.
"Let her have something to eat first."
He pointed to the table, in one place there was still a plate with a roll and a cup of milk. She sat down and ate and drank quickly. She saw the clock on the wall, they had barely ten minutes until they should be at the academy. Itachi seemed pretty impatient too, it looked like he didn't know what best to do right now. Then all of a sudden he got up.
"Sasuke, you know the way to the academy. I have to go to my team now, I can't wait any longer. I'm sorry."
"But you will pick us up then?"
"Yes I will."

"It's going to be great at the academy."
Sasuke smiled all over her face as they walked down the street. The sun shone against them. It was still a very fresh spring morning, but the sunshine promised a warm day.
"Do you really think it will be as great as you think it will be?"
Yumi was unsure, she didn't know what to expect, whether she would be liked.
"Yes, I am. What will we learn?"
She didn't answer his question, she preferred to keep quiet because she just couldn't share his enthusiasm. Maybe that would come, maybe not. At the moment she had no idea. If she was being honest with herself, she would rather lie in bed and sleep through the day. Until now her life has always been a regular one and everything was familiar to her. Only now everything was different. So many strangers. She knew everyone in the Hiroshis village, but now nobody. She herself was a nobody here. The fear of not being accepted grew the closer they got to the academy building.
"Ouch!"
Yumi suddenly found herself on the floor. Confused, she looked around, when she looked up she saw a blond boy standing over her.
"Oh, I'm really sorry about that, really now. I didn't mean to."
He held out the hand that she took. Then she stood on her feet again, though still a little unsteady.
"II-it's okay."
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki and what's your name?"
The blond boy with the blue eyes looked at her curiously, but he also smiled broadly. Apparently he seemed as happy as Sasuke. Maybe it wasn't as bad as she thought.
"My name is Yumi Hiroshi."
"We took her in because she lost her family," added Sasuke.
Yumi looked sadly at the floor.Actually, she didn't want to mention that, didn't want to be sad again. Naruto's smile disappeared. He too looked sadly at the floor.
"I know how you must be feeling, Yumi ... I lost my family too, just try not to think too much about it."
Naruto lifted his head again and his grin spread back over his face. Then he ran quickly to the academy, surely they were already running late.
"Come on Yumi, we should go in too."
She ran after Sasuke until they arrived in a large room with many tables and chairs lined up. Many new students were already sitting at the tables, Sasuke and Yumi took the last available seats. In front was a young man who must have been the teacher.
"So. Now that everyone is finally here, I would like to introduce myself briefly. My name is Iruka and I am your teacher when you are attending the academy. Here you will be taught the basics in Nin-, Tai- and The jutsu, however, are all of grade E. That means they are the easiest, which is enough for the basics. At the end there are practical and theoretical exams. If you fail them you have to wait until the next exams are They are usually every six months and the exams are held by the teachers.
You don't have to do too much today. I'm just going to show you a few ninjutsu and then we'll start using kunais. "
Yumi had listened carefully to what Sensei Iruka had to say, but she hadn't fixed her eyes on him too much. Still, she noticed that her teacher had tripled. One of the three Irukas continued.
"This jutsu is called 'Bunshin no Jutsu', you create shadow duplicates of yourselves, so the opponent does not know who the real one is."
Now he let the doppelgangers fizzle out again in a white cloud. Yumi watched intently. Now she understood why Sasuke and Naruto were so excited. She too wanted to learn all these incredible things, even if she had only seen the Bunshin no Jutsu until now. The other Justu would be just as great, if not better.
"Now we come to the next Jutsu. The 'Henge no Jutsu'. Can someone tell me what it does? Sasuke you maybe?"
Iruka looked at him friendly, Sasuke's eyes shone. He knew the answer, you could tell that clearly. The whole class had now turned to him and waited eagerly. Some looked questioningly, apparently not knowing the answer, just like Yumi.
"With this jutsu you can transform yourself into someone else."
"Exactly. I'll demonstrate it to you in a moment."
Again he formed finger marks and immediately transformed into Sasuke. If the two had stood next to each other, then one would not have been able to tell them apart.
But he quickly resumed his form to explain more jutsu."So now I would like to explain two other Jutsu to you, but not yet present them. On the one hand, you will learn the technique of swapping bodies. You can swap your position with, for example, a piece of wood, in order to be protected from enemy attacks Because this then gets off the piece of wood.
As the last theoretical for today, I will now explain the technique of bondage removal. The user has to dislocate the joints in order to free himself from the restraints. Sounds very painful, but with the right technique it isn't.
So now everyone comes outside with me. We'll do a little more practical training and then you'll have survived the first day. "
To the right of the teacher's desk, Iruka opened a large door and stepped outside. The academy students did the same. The sun was a bit dazzling at first, but the children quickly got used to it. It had also gotten a lot warmer. The morning sun's rays kept their promise. Iruka instructed them to stand individually across from targets. He had set himself up in front of one and picked up a kunai. He took some momentum with his arm and shot it right into the red dot in the middle. All the students looked at him in amazement, he just smiled.
"So that's your job for the next half hour. Practice it a little, of course it doesn't have to be perfect. Then you can go home and enjoy the beautiful day."
Yumi looked over at her brother. He was pretty sure about dealing with the Kunais. It almost hit the middle of the target. He must have practiced with Itachi. Maybe Yumi should ask her older brother for practice lessons too. Uncertainly, she took one of the kunais lying next to her in her hand. She had never held anything like this in her hands before. She tried to see how the others thought.
"I will do it."
The little girl tried to encourage herself. Then she tried her first litter. The throwing knife just hit the edge of the target and didn't go completely wrong. She