[center][color=#FFC0CB][h1]Hyūga Mitsuko[/h1][/color][/center]
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[color=#FFC0CB][sub][b]L O C A T I O N[/b][/sub][/color][hr][sub]Konohagakure Academy Grounds[/sub]


[color=#FFC0CB][sub][b]T A G S[/b][/sub][/color][hr][sub][@Sloth][@Raijinslayer][@Grey][/sub]


[color=#FFC0CB][sub][b]M U S I C[/b][/sub][/color][hr][hider=close after playing][youtube]https://youtu.be/ifd7wY4SPRM[/youtube][/hider][/cell][cell][indent][sub]
For many, the day of academy graduation was a time of excitement. A rite of passage, when one passed from a mere child to a proud member of the village's military, able to represent their clan's interests and honor those who came before. It was a time to say goodbye to the regimented studies of old, to meet new comrades, and to forge boldly ahead to a hopeful future. For Mitsuko, this sanguine feeling could not be more foreign. She felt no optimism, only a clawing uncertainty in her gut, a fear born of a change in scenery she had only just begun to become secure in. The academy was a source of some comfort away from home, where she could—in a rare act of rebellion—relax some of the poise and discipline expected of her station, and savor small moments of happiness in the form of childish fun. Fun that so many of her school mates seemed so ready to throw away in favor of an encroaching adulthood.

Who knew what lay ahead of her? She had only so many acquaintances who tolerated her for however long they dare, and now she was left to drift in uncertainty, whether she would be bereft of them and made to interact more intimately with a small squad of individuals chosen at seemingly random. What of her instructor? Toshiro-sensei had shown her kindness in the way of overlooking her presence. She had worked diligently to maintain that invisibility, never excelling too far in fields she could, and never falling too far behind in fields she struggled with. She had remained in the middle of the pack, unexceptional, another face in the crowd, a member of a class who nobody had reason to ever single out or notice. It fit her, as a member of the branch family, and she took solace in that comfortable anonymity that allowed her only to seek attention on her own terms. Now she could not hide among the herd, and now she would be at the mercy of a sensei personally invested in her growth. She didn't like that. Father was a hard enough master, she did not need another.

It was the young Hyūga's way to withdraw into herself when her nerves became frazzled by the world, and so she sat, alone in her back seat, barraged by an internal cacophony of her own making as the names of her squad mates were called one by one. She might not have even responded, had it not been for Shunpei's voice finding her ear. He was, perhaps, the closest thing to a 'friend' she had in class. He had been kind to her from their first meeting, and respectful of her boundaries for as long as she could recall. Most of those she was acquainted with had come into her sphere of influence by virtue of the Hatake boy, who lacked not for friends himself. It was little surprise, therefore, that she had attuned herself to picking his voice out of a crowd.

And his voice delivered to her a strange message. Honey... bun? What did that even mean? Some kind of nickname? A snack? Mother never let her have sweets, so she was not well versed in honey, or buns for that matter. Did he mean to imply she was sweet? Her cheeks flushed at that thought. Honey was sweet, yes, but why include the bun? She had heard others refer to their rears as 'buns' before. Did... had he meant to say her bottom was sweet? She flushed even darker with indignity at that conclusion. Kuniochi or not, she was not ready for that level of adulthood.

Shaking her head as if it would somehow banish the thoughts from her head, she instead focused on what he had said before that. The same team?... Teams! Yes, teams. She had gotten so into her head that she had missed the announcement. A small mercy, it seemed, as the Gods had blessed her with enough luck to share a squad with Shunpei. It was the best possible outcome for her, for she could at least use him for comfort in the coming trials. Trials that would be quite taxing, she came to muse, as the short girl stood from her seat and followed Shunpei to their appointed sensei. Their fellow Genin, Yakushi-san, had always been loud and bombastic, and for those reasons she proved a natural antithesis to Mitsuko. A wide berth had always been given as a result.

The Jonin did not lessen her apprehension. He seemed rather... odd, for how she had imagined the village's premier leaders. He was rather scruffy, lacking in the carefully maintained posture of a noble born scion that she was intimately acquainted with. The subtle slouch made him seem less the giant of a man he was by comparison to one of her own slight stature, something that may have made him more approachable to others, but all the more alien to her. She was used the pristine, stern faced members of her own kin, not one who was so at ease.

Her feelings mattered little. To allow ones emotions to interfere with ones duty was unacceptable. She had already been too indulgent today. When her sensei bowed to her after lingering a touch in his gaze, she returned the gesture, but deeper and with the immaculate precision of one who had rehearsed the gesture too many times to count. [color=#FFC0CB]"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Kagetsu-sensei. I am Hyūga Mitsuko."[/color]

By the time she straightened, her new teacher had gestured for them to leave, and while the mention of a hospital intrigued her, she dared not to speak out of turn. Instead, she submitted herself to following after him, but only once her team mates had also chosen to do so.
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