"This is stupid. School is stupid."

"Don't say that, Julia." After weeks of spending practically every day together, she finally managed to get Itachi to just call her by her name. It still weirded her out at times to think that her best friend was a 6-year-old, granted an incredibly smart, gifted, and mature one, but still. "The academy is where young Shinobi-to-be are given the tools they need to excel. It is very important for our development-"

She tuned out the rest of his speech. That was just another weird aspect to her life now she supposes, having a child lecture her on the importance of education. Seriously, she spent 20 years in the U.S education system and was working on her Ph.D., she soo did not need to hear how wasting her time listening to some dude fumble around a classroom full of kids and attempt to teach basic math was important to her development as a person.

Although to be fair, the kids were incredibly annoying and unruly, plus it didn't help that most of them had access to the magical "fuck you" to physics known as Chakra so Julia guesses she could cut him some slack. He was still a shit teacher in her opinion.

A crumpled ball of paper promptly impacted the side of Itachi's head and bounced off the table they were sitting at until it landed in front of her. The boy didn't blink an eye, already used to the childish antics of his classmates and mild-mannered as he was. Julia was half tempted to toss her textbook at the dumb kid's face which threw it, however, Itachi wouldn't have liked the act of violence, especially on his behalf so she just held in the anger. Well, this time she did at least, last time she wasn't so accommodating.

It might've been beneath her as an adult to stoop so low, however, she wasn't feeling particularly magnanimous, mature, or kind after the 37th time the brats tested her.

Besides, Ninja kids, academy students or otherwise, were made of sterner stuff. A bloody nose or two wouldn't cause much of a problem, and as Gai, and a certain Firelord in another show, would say pain made an excellent teacher indeed.

She took a deep breath and did some light meditation to pass the time, a dozen coins sticking to the underside of her arm without anyone's notice besides her deskmate. Soon Itachi would see how pointless wasting their time in the Academy truly was and she could convince him to just graduate early with her.

In Cannon, it should've taken him a year or maybe less, but now however she was hoping he would see the light within the month because she was already sick and tired of this within the last two weeks.

"Hey, isn't that Itachi?"

"What? Where?"

"Itachi? You don't mean of the Uchiha Clan, do you?"

"No way!"

As soon as classes ended Julia had all but physically dragged the shorter boy. She might've physically done it too since she thought she could faintly hear the squeaking of his rubber sole against the floor. They both ignored the whispers and looks pointed their way, it being a common occurrence by now.

The duo soon met up with the rest of class for the daily Taijutsu lesson, which was more along the lines of sparing than anything else, but it was loads better than sitting in the boring classrooms in Julia's not so humble opinion. They sat down while watching the other kids fight. It was rather pathetic and she felt intense second-hand embarrassment just watching them fumble around.

"Match! The round goes to Renji. Good job you two."

In a show of sportsmanship, every fight was to be ended by using the sign of peace. They'd first use raise their right hand in front of their face before making a fist and leaving only their index and middle finger standing. Afterward, they would walk towards one another and link fingers, forming something akin to a pinky promise.

It was a traditional symbol of putting differences aside and a willingness to work together.

Julia had closed her eyes and simply enjoyed the evening breeze on her tanned skin, it was nice to be outside and not covered in dirt or grime as she was used too now. She was content tuning out the world until she heard Itachi's name being called. With mild interest, she peeked an eye to watch the fight, if it could be even called that.

"M-match! The round goes to Itachi!"

The teacher was clearly surprised and bearly managed to get his voice to work properly to call the match. She didn't blame him, after all, it ended within seconds.

She didn't know the name of the kid, although she probably didn't know the names of even a quarter of her classmates, but he was pretty sloppy. He had rushed in for a strong haymaker, and ended up with his wrist grabbed before being sent flying over Itachi's should in a Judo toss. Thankfully the clan heir wasn't as willing to hurt his classmates as they were to him because he softened the blow and used his foot to protect the other's head from hitting the ground.

Julia didn't even know why Itachi bothered anymore, after the first week the other teachers had already bluntly stated that they were too far ahead and didn't have to partake in the spars if they didn't want too. It wasn't even good practice since the other kids weren't even suitable target dummies. Their forms were awkward and weird and it would only build up bad habits if the two were to use them as a training practice.

"You two think you're hot shit, huh?"

A gruff voice came from behind them, but the two kept walking. They didn't recognize it. The voice couldn't possibly be addressing them after all, they barely spoke to anyone and were pretty antisocial even at the best of times.

"Don't ignore me, you little brats!"

Sensing something coming from behind the two ducked out of the way of a big meaty fist. Julia's eyes widened in shock, not because of the unprovoked punch, the world was full of violent idiots, but at how much bulk the kid had. Seriously, he looked like he was over 200 pounds!

"Heh, freshmen like you should know your places. Who the hell do you think you are to be acting all cool and stuff?" He was flanked by two other boys, although none had the quite the...impressive girth that their leader did. Standard bullying tactics it seems.

"First of all, we don't need to act to be cool, we just are. Secondly, who the fuck do you think you are fatty to be randomly attacking your fellow school mates, ya dipshit."

Itachi seemed content to allow her to talk for both of them, although there was a slight hint of disdain and boredom in his eyes while watching the bullies. The other boy seemed to have caught it as he only seemed all the angrier. Or it could've been her insults. Who knows?

"What did you just say, you bitch?!"

"Oh? My bad, I didn't realize all the lard in ya didn't just block your arteries, but your ear canals too. Or maybe you're just too stupid to understand what I'm saying..? Let me rephrase. Take a hike fatass, it'll do you some good before I feed ya a knuckle sandwich."

One ass-kicking later and she had gotten an earful for beating up one Yaki Akimichi and his group of friends. She couldn't help being slack-jawed the entire time in the principle's office. What kind of half-assed punk tells the teacher on someone after failing to gang-up on them? On a younger little girl half their size? She was the victim here damn it! So what if they had ended up with bloody noses and some bruised ribs? It was legitimate self-defense and they started it!

Julia was pretty sure it was because Yaki was part of a clan and she wasn't.

She'll get him back for this bullshit. Maybe she should subtly complain to Mikoto about this..? The woman did like her after all, being one of her eldest son's only friend and who helped him get out of his emotional withdrawal. The public opinion wasn't too great for them after the Kyuubi attack, but they were still a founding clan and ran the police force.

It may be petty, but... Actually, yeah it was just petty, but she was totally going to do it anyway.

"Yo, Itachi, can I come over later?"

"Why do you even bother asking when we both know you're going to do so regardless of my answer?"

"It's called being polite."

"You? Polite? Kai!" A burst of Chakra was felt as he attempted to break a Genjutsu that wasn't there. Itachi slowly slipped a hand into his thigh pouch and pulled out a box of Pocky. He slowly unraveled the packing with deliberateness, making sure to maintain eye contact with her the entire time.

"Hmm, what a realistic illusion I've fallen into, even I almost fell for it, but the real Julia wouldn't even know the meaning of the word "Polite."

Their banter was interrupted by a shout of pain. They both shared a look before heading around the corner to check out the disturbance. It was Yaki and his gang again, this time however picking on some other younger kids who couldn't actually fight back.

"Please, stop, it hurts. I'm sor-" A vicious punch interrupted him as he was sent rolling across the ground. Two other kids around 7 or 8 were laid across the floor just like him. The other bullies were laughing at the sight while cheering for their friend.

"Shut up, I'm in a shitty enough mood as it is and you dumbasses have the gall to mess with me?" All the other kids had done was bump into him in the hallway, but he didn't care. He was angry and had found the perfect target to vent his frustrations on. It was even better because they couldn't hit back, the feeling of kicking them was way more satisfying than a lifeless wooden dummy.

"Seriously? Wow, what a coincidence! I'm also having a shitty day because of a certain dumbass. What game are you playing? Is it "kick the retard who doesn't know when to quit" because I just absolutely adore that game, can I join?"

Hearing the hauntingly familiar voice, all the bullies froze before beginning to run without looking back, however, they didn't manage to get far before ending up in a large pile, folded over each other like yesterday's laundry.

Even Itachi didn't have his normal look of subtle disapproval whenever she committed an act of violence. Those jerks deserved it as far as he was concerned.

"Um, thank you!"

"No problem, now hold still and let me see your arm."

The children were visibly confused but didn't question the tall girl, especially after seeing how brutally she just beat up their bullies. They did let out gasps of surprise at seeing her hand glow a soft green. She had taken to helping out in the local hospital and learning from the people there. Not quite like an apprenticeship like she had with Gai, but enough to pick up tricks here and there whenever someone was free. She had to figure most of it out herself and from old scrolls sadly. Gai was still looking for a proper teacher for her.

"Mystical Palm Jutsu," Within minutes she finished healing them of their scrapes and bruises. "There ya go, now how about you all hurry home before your parents worry, eh?"

"Thank you, miss!" They didn't realize the fairly taller girl was the same age as them, and Julia doubted they'd believe her even if she said so. 6-year-olds weren't supposed to be able to take down a gang of older students nor be able to use such an advanced Iryojutsu.

"Well, that's that. Ready to head back, Itachi?"

"Let's stop by Ichiraku first, I need to restock on my Pocky supplies."